that time a director guessed the future 

So...25 years later...how do you think The Truman Show has aged???...Lucky guess or brilliant foresight?

Love the social commentary bit at the very end...the entire world is captivated by Truman's tense escape...but after a few seconds of dead air when the broadcast ends they all flip the channel for something new!

Easy to forget that this was Carrey's first attempt at a mostly serious role. And not that he wasn't well compensated; but he accepted a paycheck that was only 60% of his going rate because he wanted the role so much.

My favorite part is the last line of the movie: “What else is on?” Perfectly represents trends and how they can be dropped in a second.

And thank goodness there was never a Truman Show 2. That ending, that wonderful hopeful ambiguous ending is perfect.

1998: The Truman Show was a dystopian science fiction story 2024: Nothing dystopian about it.

"Cue the Sun" , such a brilliant yet terrifying moment

The casting of Jim Carrey for this role was just *chefs kiss* perfect

This reminds me of a quotes from The Incredibles 2: "You don't talk, you watch talk shows. You don't play games, you watch game shows. Travel, relationships, risk; every meaningful experience must be packaged and delivered to you to watch at a distance so that you can remain ever-sheltered, ever-passive, ever-ravenous consumers who can't free themselves to rise from their couches, break a sweat, never anticipate new life."

still one of my favorites movies and an amazing one to bring us into the next century; the way the tension builds and builds before the movie turns on its head and cuts to the perspective of a 60 minutes type interview of the production was such a unique writing style i think it holds up as one of the great american films of the modern era and delivers great scenes, acting and music tucked in with its bizarre but pretty great cinematography

Jim Carrey is a once in a lifetime ball of energy. Even his semi-dramatic acting is so sharp, always on point. Such commitment to the roles.

When I saw it in theaters in 1998 I thought intrusive reality tv was pretty far fetched. Clearly I was wrong.

Truman show is such a good movie 🍿

I think that rather than predicting the future the movie influenced it. I remember after it’s release at being shocked at people talking about creating something like the Truman show, thinking at people so dumb as not to pick up on the warnings it was issuing. Lo and behold, reality TV showed up a few years later. It wasn’t a coincidence.

The Truman Show is such a great movie, Jim Carey's performance deserved an Oscar

This is one of those rare movies that I actually re watch once every year or two because it’s just so damn well done. Brilliant when it came out, and still brilliant today.

The look of content determination on Carrey's face after the boat storm, it makes me well up every time. Nothing can stop me now. Natascha McElhone was great casting too, memorable expressive eyes.

I love all the small details in this movie. It hasn't aged a day. I like when you can see Phillip Glass (the composer of the score) sitting at the piano playing in the control room. He's just kinda in the background.

The Truman Show literally established its very own unique subgenre of horror.

even if his world was fake, he really was the one true man

Ed Harris is the greatest supporting actor. This, enemy at the gates, Apollo 13, and many more

I think "Jennicam" was probably where they got the inspiration for this btw, she started live streaming her entire life in 1996. She was on Letterman the year this came out.

I still cry every time I see this film

One Jack to another, just to say, the work you're doing is some of the best on this platform. Very exciting to see the genre in such good hands!

Should have won an oscar

My first thought when I saw the Truman Show was that it was an updated version of P. K. Dick's novel "Time Out of Joint". The premise is different but they are both about a man trapped in a fake town constructed by powerful forces to exploit the man for their own purposes, with people around him pretending that the town is real. The premise of the Truman Show is more relevant to our present dystopia, but it does have the advantage of being made almost 40 years later.

Social commentary. The public is just the last to know.

There was a movie that came out several months later called EDtv, that was much, much, more prophetic in foreshadowing the near future’s form of entertainment. It’s often overlooked because of the Truman Show’s massive success prior and it being considered similar, but if you go back and watch it, it nails the reality tv craze to a T. I’m not even saying it was as good of a movie, but considering it was released only 9 months later, it too would have fell into the same pre-reality television era.

This movie still holds up to this day in my opion.

Jeez, this channel is such a treasure! Great job!

The fact that this movie was shot on film adds considerably to the risk taking made on the director’s part (though that was a given in the 90s).

The camerawork was insane

The Truman show was loosely inspired by a French Canadian film that came out 5 years earlier. As the script was shopped around Hollywood for adaptation rights, it later gave birth to EDtv. That came out after Truman Show.

The movie turned out great, I'm glad he didn't go the 1984 or V for vendetta route

Recently rewatched it. Peter Weir was at the top of his game in this era. Because of this we got Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine and Man on the Moon.

I had to laugh when you showed the clip of the "perfect sunset" because it had the wrong moon phase for where it was in the sky as well as both the sun and moon being way too big.

Lmaoo when she said she was an actress playing an actress playing a character I realised how the actors pulled it off so well

I was working at Paramount Studios when they filmed the boat stuff and the walk up the blue sky. We called it the B-tank, and they had re-painted the more normal looking sky to what is seen in "The Truman Show." Hightened reality. However our current world puts celebrity above all else. Most of us are not smart enough to realize that reality shows are just as scripted as everything else. It has spawned personal narcissism and selfishness. From RU-vid creating some of the worst people around (and some good people too) to reality shows helping to put a dimwitted demagogue in our White House. (i.e. The Celebrity Apprentice) And everyone eats it up, in that case, just like the Truman Show. The tragedy of Jim Carrey is he was so good at the rubber face comedy stuff that he was never taken seriously as an actor. "The Truman Show" worked because it tip-toed on that fine line between comedy and drama.

You'll never see a film like The Truman Show or Pleasantville in theaters these days. They won't make movies like this anymore.

Tons of valuable insights, and I love the way you present your thesis. Your explanation of the cinematographic techniques used to make this unique film absolutely shine is truly enlightening. However, I disagree with your basic premise that The Truman Show is some kind of foreshadowing of the future, intentional or not. The main reason is that reality TV is mostly scripted, except perhaps for some of the skill-based competitions like Project Runway (although these are highly engineered regardless, from what I understand). The contestants know that they are on television and are actively participating in the drama. Truman of course is not in on it and is not there of his own will. If anything, the movie is in the same vein as other movies of the Y2K era, such as The Matrix and Office Space: "I'm stuck in a box. I need to get out!" I see the link you are making between the two, but I think the fundamental message of The Truman Show is pointing in a completely different direction than the nature of reality TV. Regardless, wonderful presentation. Thank you for all the hard work you put into this, I learned a lot about one of my favorite films!

That movie made me so paranoid

These videos seem like those “The Simpsons predicted the future” videos. No, the showed us what was already happening. Remember, “You don’t need to be a weatherman, to know what direction the wind is blowin’”.

Jim Carreys best film. Not his FUNNIEST. But his best.❤

It has subtle comedy, but primarily its a mystery/drama. It's actually hard to pinpoint what style it actually is !! So, choosing to hire a really whacky over the top comedian like Carrey, I think was a huge risk, that paid off incredibly well. This film will go down (or has) in history as a modern classic. It's SO well filmed, written, prophetic, everything, charming, touching.. Also, Paul Giamatti can add another classic to his acting CV. Although its only a small part, he's still great. He's incredible in everything he does. One of my favourite actors. Sideways and John Dies at the End are standouts for his acting,

I remember watching this in my film class and then suddenly yelling out ‘oh my god, the clouds aren’t moving!’ And everyone was like ‘ooooohhhhhh’

The "sponsor" segments are uncanny now.

The ending editing was a nice sendup

Gen X, "What a dystopia". Gen Alpha, "I wanna be Truman"

So happy to hear Runaway Quartet by Moments as background music. Really love the piece.

Picnic at Hanging Rock, Truman Show, AND Master and Commander? One of the low key greats.

Oh, how I love this movie so much...

One thing I love is the holiday attendant coming out the room with a napkin on her neck & I always assumed she was coming out from just eating but she’s coming out from having her makeup done 😂

im glad I watched this not knowing what the plot was and slowing finding out along with Truman

Like 1984, it’s supposed to be a warning, not an instruction manual.

I’m stopping this video to go rewatch this movie

Still my favourite movie of all time. So well done, and it doesn't hurt that it really taps into my absolute hatred of reality TV!

Truman show is my comfort movie

Never heard of Truman show but if it has Jim Carrey I should check it out. He was great in Sonic

One of those movies I just wish I could forget, just to discover it again…

One of my favourite films. This and Eternal Sunshine are easily his best roles. I watch them regularly, along with Groundhog Day and Pleasantville. It's more akin to putting on a favourite record than being in the right mood to watch a film. There's something about an unreal concept set in a real world that draws me in. I'd love to know about more films that fit into that category. I guess Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Amelie, Pan's Labyrinth, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, most Studio Ghibli films, Your Name, Akira / Stranger Things also fit the bill. All fantastic, timeless productions.

jury duty was crazy

Watching the Truman Show through a lens of how we consume social media today is startlingly scary.

The Truman Show sequel should have them reboot the show with another person and Truman teams up with the old director to stop it

I know sci fi movie from 70's with selfie stick in it...that is the real future guessed.

They really should have done a follow-up. Though I'm not sure (nor anyone could know) how he would behave in the real world.

One of my favourite movies. Probably in my top 5 movies of all time.

This movie was ahead of its time, but not so much as to alienate the audience, just enough to be amazing. And it still is.

You should do a video analyzing the Safdie brothers work very underrated 👏👏

if i am not mistaken the book written by some author in the 1990s that almost predicted the invention of iphones to a ‘t’ accurately had already published that book. I mean just, like, societally culturally et ceterally….. all those items and things were conglomerating and begetting the additional future things almost all at the same time. You like, comparatively how, various ancient cultures around the globe all built pyramid structures around the same times or whatever and had like, no contact with each other due to the spherical oblong nature of this planet which we inhabit

One of my all time favourite movies

And ten years later, the channel that was supposed to be based on discovery, that once aired shows about science, technology, the earth, and space, became nothing but dirty crab fishermen literally 24/7 save for one single, extremely begrudged episode of Mythbusters every other Wednesday. And it hasn't stopped since...

one of the best movies of all time

This is essentially CCTV Surveillance stuff Which exists

Still love this movie I could watch it again!

Jim has talked about how prophetic this movie is

This would never work IRL. people would get bored of watching after a week.

Love this movie. When I was a kid, it was one of my go to movies when I was sick lol

The Truman Show Is Forever Amazing.

Absolutely brilliant film! Still have my original VHS copy!

Natascha criminally underated

I think not only did this guess the future of 'reality tv' but of thr constant filming people take upon themselves like on family channels. Children grow up with their life broadcast out to the world- whether they are told about it or not, they will not understand the truth/ real ramifications till they're much older. A very scary thought

You can't possibly think reality shows are not scripted. The Truman Show is great but I see it more of an allegory of control and privacy but it should not be connected to reality tv.

A few observations about the movie: -After living his entire life in his "bottle universe" (for want of a better term) Truman starts noticing details all at once things aren't what they seem, like the same car repeatedly passing by. Maybe he should have *gradually* been noticing things until he slowly starts suspecting his reality or his sanity. - My biggest problem with the movie: Truman's debate with the director is televised to the world, *which destroys the reason people watch his show,* because if Truman now knows his world is phony, why should anyone keep watching? My extremely subversive take on the movie's entire premise: Seeing Truman making a run for it, the director turns the screen black and the TV host apologizes for "technical problems" losing the signal from Truman's world. While the show's viewers are anxiously awaiting its return the director now has a private conversation with Truman without the real world learning Truman is aware of his predicament...after a while, the signal is "restored," and everything is back to normal - *but now Truman is acting along with everyone else,* fully aware he's part of a reality show but now has a voice in what's supposedly happening to him... Of course this version of the movie could never be made, because it might suggest to the audience *your* world is equally phony - not in the movie's sense, but that everything we're subjected to lacks legitimacy and meaning, and is just designed to keep us happy consumers. One last thought: there's an episode of the 1960s sci-fi series "The Outer Limits" called "O.B.I.T" - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Lw6Ic5rTZog.html - one of the series' best, that turns on an alien eavesdropping device allowing its users to spy on anyone without their knowledge; the aliens' goal: to wipe out any sense of trust or privacy between people, demoralizing the human race. The closing narration reminds the viewer of the danger of this coming to pass - except here and now in the real world *people line up to appear on "reality" TV shows >hoping< their private lives will be seen by everyone.*

Side note: Another movie that surprisingly nailed it out of the park is PCU.

Right up there with The Matrix and Groundhog Day for me as far as films that keep you up all night wondering.

The movie was inspired by JenniCam. About a year earlier Jennifer Ringley set up web cams all over her apartment that showed everything she did 24-7. Of course there was no video streaming then but they uploaded a still photo once per minute.

Reality TV existed well before this movie. You hand American family in 1971 for instance. And the 90's the tv reality explosion really started.

I have loved Peter Weir since I saw "Picnic At Hanging Rock" in the mid-70s at the Nuart Theater in the westside of L.A. He has made so many great movies, in some many different genres.

i love this movie with all my heart

The Ultimate Method acting experience?

I would like a remake of The Truman Show where the meta doesn't break and we just see it from Truman's point of view

For anyone who has left a high demand religion, this movie is canon.

I feel like we're all living in the Truman show now. well, not all of us. the only people watching are the richest people who have no clue what everyone poor goes through. but they sure do micro manage every part about your life.

1:03 theres a word for this…and it starts with a P

I thought thought this video was going to be talking about the low key smart phone in portrait mode like it's playing a RU-vid short at 1:33.

The best of Jim Carrey along with Eternal Sunshine

having rewatched this movie over the years I've found it's different every time, and you made me realize that it actually became MORE unsettling, whereas Children of Men I'm almost desensitized to the violence and almost more comfortable with the plot and setting there, whereas Truman Show something feels way more OFF than I detected before.. it has a lot to do with the camera work, I'm likely more aligned with being able to immerse myself in that liminal space of the "observer" behind truman, idk it's just strange how these movies are not perfect, but still achieve that meta level of dynamic transformation just right. and when I say they aren't perfect I mean there is no 1:1 adaptation here, if you go over that threshold you enter the more whimsical imaginative, stylistic space, and at the perfect 1:1 it's just a reality show or something without any way for the creative mind to get lost in, so by creating this almost NEAR perfection, .8 to 1, we get this space where the mind can literally inhabit and build on the imagination of the work.

The truman show is an excellent piece of cienmatography but also a terrifying (pre) retrospective on modern television and how it's all fake.

He didn't predict anything, he just showed us our world metaphorically. But your perception of reality is too limited to see if so you missed the entire point.

In addition to modern day reality tv shows, even scarier, perhaps, is the film’s parallel to things such as family channels on RU-vid where children, like Truman, are literally raised surrounded by cameras under the watchful eye of strangers on the internet. Yes, they are actually able to see the cameras but most likely unable to comprehend the true significance of the camera and what it means until they’re older and already have their whole childhood on the internet. Scary times….