The Truman Show
Short description
Truman Burbank leads an unremarkable life in Seahaven, a calm seaside town where nothing much ever happens. He works in insurance, has a wife, friends and neighbours, and no particular reason to question any of it. Then a series of odd incidents unsettles him, and he begins to suspect that his friends, his town and his whole life are not what they seem. In fact, his existence has been staged and filmed from birth as a reality television production, with the people around him playing roles and a vast audience watching.
Peter Weir directed the film, the eleventh of the thirteen features he has made, following Fearless and preceding Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Andrew Niccol wrote the screenplay, and Scott Rudin, Niccol and Edward S. Feldman produced. Jim Carrey plays Truman, with Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor and Ed Harris among the cast.
Released in June 1998, the film cost about 60 million dollars and took roughly 264 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8.2 out of 10 from around 1.4 million votes, and on TMDB 8.2 out of 10 from more than 20,000 votes, while critics rated it 8.7 out of 10 across 160 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Dennis Hopper had already been chosen for the role of Christophe, but he was forced to leave the project shortly after the first day of filming.
- The film was originally going to be directed by screenwriter Andrew Niccol. However, because he asked for too much money, the studio decided to find another director. Among the candidates were Brian De Palma, Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Barry Sonnenfeld, and even Steven Spielberg.
- Andrew Niccol had to rewrite the script 16 times to fully align with the director’s vision.
- Many plot elements were borrowed from Philip K. Dick's 1957 novella, "The Preserved View." This work tells the story of a man from 1998 who is kept in isolation, being led to believe it is 1957.
- Truman's yacht is named "Santa Maria" at the end of the film. This is the same name as Christopher Columbus's flagship in his first expedition to America.
- When Truman speaks with Marlon (the vendor who fills the vending machine with chocolate bars), Marlon displays two yellow packages, then a brown one appears, followed by more yellow ones – one extra (he added a fourth).
- Jim Carrey, while working on this film, wanted to prove to everyone that he could play not only fools, but also quite serious dramatic roles. For this reason, it was forbidden for anyone on set to utter phrases or lines from Jim's previous 'silly' films.
- Harry Shearer played the role of Mike Michaelson, the host of a TV show. In a very similar film, “Ed from TV,” which tells the story of the creation of a television channel where you can watch the life of a man named Ed 24 hours a day, he played an analogous role.
- The film’s director, Peter Weir, decided to present his work in a 1.66:1 format, bringing the image closer to a television format.
- The main character’s name is likely a kind of allusion to the film's plot and a play on words, as the syllable “tru-” sounds similar to the English word true – truth, and “-man,” in turn, means man.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
