The best movie of the last decade

Rating: 10/10 (8 June 2005)

"The Truman Show" is probably one of the most underrated movies ever. It was a success at the time, and it got some Oscar nominations, but somehow it didn't get the recognition it deserves. When I say to friends the sentence in the title of this comment, I usually get a reaction between laughter and astonishment. It is much easier to pick Scorcesa's movies, and to prefer De-Nero over Jim Carrie, that absurd comedian.
Why is this movie so underrated? One reason may be the identity of the hero, and the disbelief that the star of "Ice Ventura" can be part of a masterpiece. Another reason may be that people find it hard to believe that a film can be both entertaining, and funny, and light in character, and yet deep and sophisticated. And maybe the reason is the prejudice against what is "Holiwoodic". Whatever the reasons are, they are wrong. Truman is a movie that should be watched again and again, and to those who will do it, a very enjoyable experience is promised.
To make things short, I will skip the obvious details (such as acting, directing etc.) and move to the most important stuff, and that is: what was the movie trying to say. There are three levels of meaning in the movie. The first is a satire of the current media, predicting the current trend of "reality TV". This level is obvious enough not to discussed thoroughly.
The second level is a subject dealt with quite a lot in our era: the tension between "high" and "low" art, or between art and kitsch. While Truman is a film beautifully designed, "The Truman show" is not only a bizarre TV show, but also an extremely low-standard show. Anything around Truman's life is a kitsch, and this is a paradox which is in the basis of the movie. In addition, the movie brilliantly moves between the "inside" and "outside", between the atmosphere of the movie and of the TV series. Philip Glass' music has an extremely important part in that, making this movie an outstanding example for the importance of film music.
The third level is in my opinion the most interesting, and that is the religious one. The creator-created relations between Truman and The director, which holds the name "Chrostoph" are clearly of religious context. But it takes several views of the movie to see that these relations are really what the movie talks about, and are apparent in almost every scene. Many questions arise from that topic, and they are dealt with brilliantly, with the climax of the last minutes. One does not expect a light Hollywood comedy to be a deep theological essay, but that is exactly what "The Truman Show" is. Go and see for yourselves.