The Truman Show Analysis Essay Example

The Truman Show is a 1998 film directed by Peter Weir. Truman Burbank, played by Jim Carey, is the main character. His entire life is a TV show - everyone in his world is an actor, being told what to do by Christof, the creator. Throughout the film, Truman discovers the truth and escapes Seahaven, the fictional town that he lives in.

The opening scene of the film shows interviews with the actors in Truman’s life. Hannah Gill, the woman playing Meryl Burbank, Truman’s wife, believes what they are doing is noble and the right thing to do. Louis Coltrane, the actor who plays Truman’s best friend Marlon, says “Nothing is fake, it is merely controlled”.

Seahaven is exactly that - controlled. Everything is the same.

The lies start to unravel as a light falls from the sky, or the fake sky. The light is labelled ‘Sirius 9 (Canis Major)’ which is the brightest star in the sky. In the Iliad, Sirius is described as an ‘evil portent, bringing heat and fevers to suffering humanity’. Portent, by definition, is ‘a sign or warning that a momentous or calamitous event is likely to happen’. That is exactly what this moment is - the initial 

disruption leading to a series of reveals in Truman’s life.

Christof controls the world - everything that happens in Seahaven is staged. Things only start to fall apart when Truman grows suspicious. Christof himself said that the whole ruse is dependant on Truman believing it. 

While Christof has control over everything that happens to Truman, he can’t control Truman himself. By the end of the film, Truman knows this - in his confrontation with Christof, he says “You don’t have a camera in my head”. 

Due to this, Christof has to find other ways to stop Truman from escaping Seahaven - he does this using both physical and emotional means. 

The hospital scene when Truman tries to find Meryl and his first escape attempt was prevented by physically blocking him.

A story was written where Truman’s father would drown on a father-son boating trip, causing Truman to develop a fear of water and consequently, never attempt to sail away from Seahaven.

Truman is the only real person in this universe. Everyone else is just an actor pushing him down a path he doesn’t want to follow.

He can never have a truly honest conversation with someone - everything is controlled. 

This is shown in the scene where Truman asks Meryl why she wants to have kids with him. Hannah, who plays Meryl, has no idea what to say so she resorts to what she knows - advertising. 

In another scene with Marlon, Truman reveals his suspicions. Christof tells Louis, Marlon’s actor, what to say through an earpiece.

One of the very few people able to get through to Truman is Sylvia, an extra, who plays Lauren. Truman began talking to Sylvia one day but it took her a while to start talking. She said, “They won’t let me talk to you”. This confused Truman and he pushed. Sylvia took a risk and began talking to him. As soon as she started revealing the truth about Seahaven, she was taken away.

Sylvia ended up being a symbol of the truth. Slowly, as the lies were unfolded, the picture Truman makes of Sylvia grows more and more accurate.

There’s an argument on the morality of what Christof is doing. Most of the world thinks it is fine but some disagree.

In an interview, Christof accepts callers - one of which is Sylvia. She argues that what he is doing is wrong but he rebuts this, asking if Seahaven is like a prison if it is, practically, a utopia.

Like any film, The Truman Show has a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

Diegetic sound is sound coming from within the scene - it is a part of the mise-en-scene.

Non-diegetic sound includes all sounds from outside the scene that the characters can’t hear, such as background music and voiceovers. In a lot of the scenes when Truman is oblivious to the lies, classical music plays in the background. This adds to the happy, peaceful atmosphere of Seahaven.

The camera work in the film adds to the story. Some of the many shots used are the:

• Establishing shot, to set the scene
• Eye-level/point of view shot, to show honesty and realness
• Close up, to create a connection with the character
• Low angle, to make a character feel weel
• Long shot, to make the character feel small in comparison to the world
• There are also many pans, tilts, zooms and tracking.

Fisheye lenses are used in several scenes. This could have been to make Truman seem like a fish trapped in a bowl - Seahaven.

The way the camera moves helps to convey emotion in scenes. When Truman speaks, the camera is relatively still, making it seem real. Then, as we cut to other characters in unnatural scenes, the shot is filled with many zooms, pans and tilts. This creates a feeling of disconnection between the characters.

Light and colour are great ways to shape the mood of a scene.

In the scenes where everything is happy and calm, there are bright lights and vibrant colours.

Then, in other scenes, there is a dark and gloomy look, with blue tones, to evoke a sense of fear and sadness in viewers.

The colours in the film are symbolic of different things.

The bright colours could be a symbol of the artificiality of Seahaven. When Truman meets Sylvia, in character as Lauren, he is wearing dull colours and she is wearing bright red. As they run to the beach, just before she reveals the truth to him, she takes off her jacket, symbolising that she is no longer bound by Christof’s rules - she is her real self, she is Sylvia.

Years later, as Truman pretends to believe the lies, just before he escapes, he wears brighter colours than ever before. 

As Truman literally breaks the fourth wall, just before he is about to escape, he is surrounded by bright blue colours and is wearing the darkest colours he ever has. 

He enters the real world, through a pitch-black door.