The Truman Show: Andrew Niccol’s Screenplay of a Life Broadcast Live From Birth
The life of a boy from birth to adulthood, televised from the very first moment. His life is quiet, in a small place called Seahaven full of neighbours and friends, and viewers have grown used to following him live since the day he was born. The reviewer read Andrew Niccol’s script in Spanish as El show de Truman (Una vida en directo).
Author: Andrew Niccol (born 1964), screenwriter
Title: The Truman Show (screenplay; film directed by Peter Weir, 1998)
Format: English paperback (Newmarket Shooting Script Series), 160 pages
Scope: Screenplay
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/1557043671 (ASIN 1557043671)
Something Is Not Right
When Truman wants to travel around the world, a series of events makes him wonder whether what Sylvia once warned him about is true: that he is trapped in a world full of cameras and actors. Strange things happen, as when it rains on the beach and the rain falls only on him, following him when he moves.
The World Outside
He realises he is living on a film set and wants to get out into the real world. Christof, the show’s creator, warns him that the world made for him is safer and more peaceful than the dangerous world outside; even so, once he knows the whole truth, Truman chooses to leave the place where he grew up.
Andrew Niccol
Andrew Niccol was born in New Zealand in 1964 and worked in advertising in London before moving to Hollywood. The Truman Show was one of his first scripts to attract attention, but it was a long time in development, and in the meantime he wrote and directed Gattaca (1997), another film about a man trapped in a controlled world. His later films include S1m0ne and In Time, all exploring similar themes of technology, identity and manipulation.
From Script to Screen
Niccol’s early drafts were darker and set in a version of New York; the director Peter Weir gave the story a sunnier, more fable-like tone, and Seahaven was filmed in the real planned town of Seaside, Florida, whose pastel houses and perfect lawns seemed made for the purpose. Jim Carrey, then known mainly for broad comedy, played Truman, with Ed Harris as Christof and Laura Linney as Truman’s wife, Meryl.
Recognition
The film was a critical and commercial success and received three Academy Award nominations, including one for Niccol’s original screenplay. Ed Harris won a Golden Globe for his performance as the godlike creator who watches over Truman from his studio in the sky.
A Story That Entered the Language
The film’s influence has gone well beyond cinema. Psychiatrists have even described a "Truman Show delusion", in which patients believe they are being secretly filmed for a television programme. With social media and reality television now part of everyday life, Truman’s discovery that his whole world is a performance feels more relevant than ever.
Reading a Screenplay
Reading a script is a different experience from reading a novel: the descriptions are brief, and much depends on dialogue and on the reader’s imagination. This edition is a good way to discover how a great film looks on the page.
Famous Lines
Truman’s cheerful greeting to his neighbours, "Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening and good night!", is one of the most quoted lines in modern cinema, and readers will enjoy finding it on the page, along with the many other moments that made the film a classic.
Why Read It
Released in 1998, before reality television took over, the story now looks prophetic. Reading the script shows how precisely Niccol built its satire of media, surveillance and manufactured happiness.
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