The Truman Show is a satirical, postmodern film that critiques the capitalist television and advertising industries
Peter Weir is an Australian director who was born in Sydney in 1944. He has directed a number of classic films: Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Gallipoli (1981), Witness (1985) and Dead Poet's Society (1989). Weir's style as a director focusses on the compelling and authentic representation of intense emotion while often leaving viewers with a distinct sense of disquiet about the human experience at the end of his films.
The film is an overt criticism of the immense influence of the media in our lives, specifically television and advertising. While the film's premise was imaginary in 1998, in that reality television shows such as Big Brother had not yet been made, it ultimately reflects the growing fascination with representations of 'authentic' human experiences and emotions.
However, through Truman's desire for the truth and freedom the film ultimately communicates the lack of authenticity in the media and the problems that arise when people seek the ideal version of the real.
The film opens with the creator and director of the The Truman Show, Christof, describing the nature of this new type of pseudo-documentary where one man, Truman Burbank, has grown up unknowingly within a manufactured world, Seahaven Island, which is in fact an elaborate studio set under a giant dome.
One morning as Truman is leaving for work one of the set lights falls from the top of the dome (which Truman believes is the sky) and crashes onto the road outside his house. While he is curious about this event, the radio on the way to work claims it has fallen from a plane passing overhead. At work we discover that Truman has a secret: he is trying to find a women named Lauren or Sylvia who he believes lives in Fiji. After a scene where Truman fails to cross the bridge to Wells Island, as he is afraid of water, he sits on the beach with his best friend Marlon and reveals his desire to travel to Fiji. We see a flashback to the moment that Truman's father drowns at sea, revealing the cause of his fear of water.
The next day Truman is in town and he seas a homeless man who looks just like his father. When he attempts to speak to him people come and drag the man away. Truman is rattled by this experience and begins fantasising about his escape to Fiji, which results in a flashback to his teenage years where he first met Lauren (played by the actress Sylvia). Lauren and Truman go for a walk on the beach and kiss but then she reveals to him her name is Sylvia and tries to tell him that his life is a façade as it is a television show.
While driving to work the next day Truman's car radio transmits the walkie-talkie conversation of the actors and producers and Truman becomes even more suspicious about his reality. In town he takes a different route and, entering a building he does not work in, discovers that the elevator is not real. He tries to speak to Marlon about his discovery but Marlon plays down his concerns. Truman turns his attentions to his suppose wife, Meryl, who he suspects is part of the façade and chases her to work, where he inadvertently interrupts a mock surgery, resulting in an actor having her leg amputated without anaesthetic.
Truman then forces Meryl to go with him on a drive, resulting in him finally crossing the bridge off the island but being stopped by an imaginary leak at a nuclear power plant. Truman has a moment of realisation when a policeman he does not know says, "You're welcome Truman." Truman tries to escape but is captured and returned 'home'. At home an increasingly distressed Meryl tries to distract Truman with a cup of hot chocolate, which she promotes like an advertisement and this pushes Truman over the edge and he takes her hostage. Marlon arrives and saves Meryl.
Truman and Marlon are having a heartfelt conversation over a beer at an abandoned bridge when Kirk, Truman's (pretend) father, arrives and the two reunite. The focus shifts to behind the camera and we are reintroduced to the show's creator, Christof, who reveals via live interview that Truman has been on television for twenty-nine years. Sylvia calls up and interrupts the interview, criticising Christof for keeping Truman hostage.
Truman has begun sleeping in his basement and late one night Christof discovers that he has set up a pretend body in the bed and escaped the oom. A search party is launched and it is discovered, after turning the sun on in the middle of the night, that Truman is sailing on the ocean, seeking his escape. Christof orders a storm to be produced above Truman and the world watches on as he battles the rain and waves. The storm subsides and Truman's boat hits and rips the edge of the dome. Truman gets out of the boat and walks along the side of the dome and up a set of stairs. At the top he finds a door labelled 'EXIT' and, after a brief attempt by Christof to stop him, Truman opens the door and leaves into the real world. The audience celebrates and then seeks something else to watch on television.
Use the plot summary above to write a dot-point chronology of the events in the film.