The stuff of which the world of our experience is composed is, in my belief, neither mind nor matter, but something more primitive than either. Both mind and matter seem to be composite, and the stuff of which they are compounded lies in a sense between the two, in a sense above them both, like a common ancestor.
-Analysis of Mind (Bertrand Russell)
Rama, the seed for this world appearance is the body within, with all it’s notions and concepts of good and evil. That body also has a seed which is the mind, which flows constantly in the direction of hopes and desires and which is also the repository of notions of being and non-being and the consequent sorrow. The world appearance arises only in the mind, and this is illustrated by the dream state
- Vashishta to Rama when he asks about the seed for this world apperance (from Yoga Vasishta)
The question of the nature of the world has occupied the minds of many great philosophers and thinkers. And each one of them explains it in their own terms. If you ask a follower of Buddha, he will say the world is an illusion. An atheist might answer that the world is very much real. Some might think that we are being controlled by a super power. A follower of Adi Shankara might say that the world is both real and unreal if we view it in different perspectives. Some believe in God .Some don’t believe in God. But imagine this: what if the world is actually a stage and our experience is the drama and we are all actors?? We can think of God being the director of this play. Our life has all the elements of a good film or a TV show – a lengthy TV show.. These thoughts must have led Andrew Niccol to write “The Truman Show” which is one of the best films I have ever seen.
Truman Burbank(Jim Carrey) is an insurance salesman. He is leading a very normal life like any one of us. His father had died when he was young. He remembers that his father was drowned.So, he is afraid to venture into the sea. His wife, Meryl(Laura Linney) wants to have a baby. He has a very close friend to whom he confides. But then, one day, he gets a strange feeling that he is being watched. And he has a big desire : he wants to travel and get out of his small town, Seahaven.But, then, either the flight is full or the bus stops because of some mechanical problems. He is not able to get out of his town. That makes him even more frustrated. And he also notices something strange about his wife and his mother. But then, the turning point is when he sees his dead father on the street. When he tries to reach out to him, he is stopped by the people around him. Are the people around him hiding something from him that he should know? Why is it that he is not being allowed to get out of this town? He suddenly feels as if he is a jail and wants to break out of it free…What he does not know is that his whole life is being shown as a TV show…Everybody around him are actors : his mother, his father, his wife, his close friend…everybody…Christof(Ed Harris) is the director of this show. The rest of the story deals with how Burbank comes to know of this truth. That his whole life, till now, is a drama and the people around him, actors….
There are so many symbols and metaphors in this film which can be interpreted in many ways .A deep analysis of the story and characters gives us profound meanings and lessons, in my opinion. Even the names have been chosen cleverly : SeaHaven(indicating a perfect world) , Truman(because he is the man searching for the truth) , Christof(meaning “similar to Christ(God)”.He is the director of the drama and controls the life of Truman ).At one point of time, you feel sorry for the character of Truman. He is trying his best to understand the truth of the world that he is being given. And Christof gives him a very tough time. He suffers many hardships : while trying to cross the sea, Christof creates storms in the sea….His main intention is to see how determined Truman really is. We can compare it to our life too, (This is for those who believe in God). We sometimes think that God is giving us a tough time, but then we reconcile thinking that if we are determined and do our duty without expecting any result, then we can cross all the barriers and obstacles we are having.
The movie also tries to convey another thing: that love is a natural phenomenon and cannot be forced. In this movie, Truman falls in love with Sylvia(Natasha Mcleone) which was totally out of the script. The drama creators were successful in getting her out of his life physically but they were not able to get her out of his mind.
Jim Carrey(“The Mask”) does a great job as Truman.Actually, it should have been a big challenge for him because of the complexity of the character. The audience should be able to identify with him .He should have got at least a Oscar nomination. But then, I suppose the Academy didn’t take him very seriously probably because of his reputation as a comedian.Ed Harris (“The Abyss”) was great as Christof.This character has to be really ruthless and he has done a great job. Natasha as Sylvia plays a very short but significant role as Sylvia. Laura has done a brilliant job as Truman’s wife. Her character has to be artificial and forced and should be as if she is just acting that role and not living it.
The dialogues and the screenplay are great in this movie. When Christof says “Cue the Sun” , I just said Wow! It just explains the power that his character had.
Explaining the concept of the nature of the world, our existence is not a easy task for anybody.Great people have written treatises about it. To explain it in a movie with only 2 hours of screen time is a very challenging job .And I think we should congratulate the director and the screenplay writer for doing an excellent job in this!
Definitely see this movie if you have not seen it already!!!!