Paranoia (A Truman Show Fanedit)

What a compelling re-structuring this truly is!

I have not re-watched this since it was on the big screen (disc remains shrink wrapped)....and yet this is the story I recall BUT now incredibly more compelling.

I was forewarned about the B&W from having read the reviews, and for the most part I found it was consistently used and when it was not, frankly I forgot to notice since I was so immersed in this.

My only minor quibble I communicated to the editor directly, and it would be churlish of me to dock points or even re-state it hear since it is a minor "preference" observation only...so it's a 10 in that category.

THIS IS WHAT FANEDITs are all about for me...peeling back the layers of the onion to reveal more of what was already there....
EXCELLENT WORK!

Such a cool edit. Concept was great and execution was nearly flawless. The B&W scenes were great, but I can't say I was a fan of the “Technicolor-esque filter" on the rest of it. Looked off and distracting. But the concept was brilliant and the narrative was a very creative take on the original. I love edits like this that take something that's already great and present a new spin on it. Highly recommended to fans of the original.

I like The Truman Show a lot more than I think I should. In fact, I'll even go so far as to say it's one of my favorite movies! The acting performances are wonderful. Jim Carrey's performance as the title character might be his finest. Ed Harris is great as the main villain. Laura Linney and Noah Emmerich are both fun as well as disturbing in their supporting roles. And the plot manages to succeed at being both chilling and inspiring at the same time. A powerful combination that few movies are able to pull off. So being the diehard fan of anything revolving around Truman, it should come as no surprise that I wanted to see this edit the moment I heard of its existence. This edit is very close to being amazing. But there's a problem with it that kicks it down to just very good. This is still worth your time, and my overall advice is "go watch this." But there's one thing this edit could've done differently that would've made it even better. I'll explain what it is in a minute.

First off, there is a lot that I love about this alternate take on The Truman Show. I think the aesthetic gives it a nice crossbreed between David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, Darren Aronofsky, and quite a few Twilight Zone episodes. I'm also a huge fan of Vertigo, and it'll come as no surprise that I enjoyed hearing Bernard Herrmann's legendary score throughout this edit. The removal of everything outside the show gives the film a good paranoid thriller feel (similar to movies like The Conversation, for example), and I have to say that quite a few of the static effects freaked me out in all the right ways.

Unfortunately, this edit has a flaw, and it breaks my heart to say it, but my problem is with the color grading. On paper, the combination of color and B&W is a great idea. The fictional town of Seahaven is deserving of this kind of treatment, and it makes sense in a '50's-60's era sort of way. So, what's wrong, you ask? The problem is that the color and B&W cameras are all at random. In the first two scenes, you might think there's a pattern. The tiny, microscopic camera in Truman's bathroom is in B&W, and when he heads out the door, the faraway cameras are in full color. I like that idea, and I wish the rest of the edit stuck with that kind of pattern. But when we get to Truman's office, and there's a hidden camera when he's looking through the magazine, the hidden camera shot is now in full color. My beef with this is the lack of attention to detail. You see, back in the 1950s and 1960s, black and white film was cheaper and more affordable, and while it is true that color film was increasing in popularity at this point, it was still risky to shoot in color. This is why the 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead was shot in B&W. This is also why Alfred Hitchcock shot Psycho in B&W as well despite shooting Vertigo and North by Northwest in color a few years back (courtesy of VistaVision, mind you). So if we are going to apply '50's-'60s aesthetics to something like The Truman Show, a director like Christof would probably place the color cameras in safer or less risky places, while B&W cameras would be placed in more dangerous situations (like the button cameras or the cameras on the ocean, for example). This is because B&W cameras would be easier to replace if something bad happened to one of them (and knowing that there are 5000 cameras around from watching the original, Christof would very much be concerned about the costs since those cameras ain't cheap). I know that what I'm suggesting is about as much fun as a root canal for the editor, but having a working knowledge of the differences between B&W and color film is necessary for an edit like this.

It's such a shame too, because if it hadn't been for that mistake, this edit could arguably be one of my favorites. I love The Truman Show, and I love the general idea and philosophy behind this edit. Had the color grading been less distracting, this edit would be a huge winner for me. As it stands, it's still worth watching, and I'm going to recommend this one wholeheartedly anyway. Just be aware that if your camerawork senses tingle a lot, this edit might bother you a little.

Outstanding edit, the kind of idea that I wish I had come up with myself. The Truman Show is already a brilliant film in its original version, but I think this reimagining may be even better. Not only is it more intriguing, but also more arty and less conventionally Hollywood in its presentation. It brings Hitchcock to mind, all right, but also David Lynch: I don't know if this was intentional, but the way Christof's scenes are presented in this one reminded me a lot of the Fireman's Palace in Twin Peaks: The Return, particularly his (Christof's) introductory scene.

Loved the approach, loved the visual style, loved the use of the Herrmann music, loved the Vertigo-homage credits. All extremely creative. 10/10 across the board.

I loved this version, I hadn't seen the movie for a long time and I decided to see it again in this edit, and I loved it. One of the best I've seen.