Movie Review by Bill Rendall

Pleasantville

Racism, fascism and censorship are central issues in Pleasantville. Initially it seems to be like The Wizard of Oz in reverse with the central characters going from a coloured world to a black and white world. However, the movie turns out to have more serious intentions than most comedy fantasies. It is directed by Gary Ross who wrote the screenplay for the movie Big which is also a comedy fantasy. His father, Arthur Ross, was one of the Hollywood screenwriters who suffered blacklisting during the fifties. This influences the direction that Pleasantville takes.

The central characters are teenage fraternal twins (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) in a stereotype nineties family where the parents are divorced and don't seem to have much time for their children. Witherspoon is desperate to be popular and one of the cool kids. Maguire is a nerd and his isolation from the cool kids is cleverly shown in an early scene. He initially appears to be chatting up a pretty girl but the camera then reveals that he is standing way back across the schoolyard pretending to talk to her.

The twins are magically transported into a fifties sitcom TV show about life in an idyllic town called Pleasantville. There have been other movies which have mingled real life characters with movie or TV characters. A good example is The Purple Rose of Cairo which features one of the Pleasantville actors, Jeff Daniels. There have been other movies which have created humourous culture clashes by transporting people back into the fifties, such as Back to the Future.

The concept that sets Pleasantville apart from other movies is the imaginative use of colour. Everything in Pleasantville starts off in black and white but gradually colours start appearing. What causes colour to appear is unexplained and inconsistent but it seems to be triggered by people discovering new things within themselves and changing as a result.

The first appearance of colour is a single red rose seen by the captain of the school basketball team after Witherspoon introduces him to sex. Since sex is something new in Pleasantville it seems to be the catalyst for a change to colour for many of the residents. The local Lover's Lane becomes a place of glorious colour.

Sex is nothing new to Witherspoon so she stays in black and white while the kids of Pleasantville turn to colour around her. She eventually turns to colour after turning down an offer of sex in favour of reading a book about it. The book is Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H.Lawrence, which was the subject of a trial under the Obscene Publications Act 1959.

Maguire also stays in black and white until late in the movie. I found this a bit puzzling as I got the impression that he had his sexual awakening in Pleasantville. Eventually he changes to colour when he protects his Pleasantville mother from an attack by a group of local youths.

Colour is just one of the changes the twins bring to Pleasantville. Initially all the books in the town library are full of blank pages but text starts to appear in them. Significantly the first book that text appears in is 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' This book has been the subject of much controversy and censorship regarding racism.

Early on Witherspoon tries to change the world of Pleasantville while Maguire urges her to leave things as they are. However, Maguire doesn't follow his own advice. He tells his boss at the soda shop (Jeff Daniels) that it is okay to change your routine. Later he introduces Daniels to colourful art through a large illustrated library book. Significantly the first illustration shown is the Expulsion of Adam and Eve.

The movie reaches its climax in a courtroom scene where the remaining black and white people have Maguire and Daniels on trial for painting a colourful and subversive mural in town. Symbolically the coloured people are segregated in the balcony, as in the movie To Kill a Mockingbird.

Pleasantville is one of the best movies I have seen but I was disappointed with the way it ends. The movie tries to cover too many issues and loses focus. However, it is worth watching for the wonderful colouring effects alone.

As well as being amusing the movie is thought provoking and chock full of symbols, references and ironies. It also makes effective use of popular songs in the soundtrack. Early on we hear easy listening songs by Johnny Mathis and Pat Boone. As things start to change in Pleasantville the music becomes more adventurous with 'Take Five' by Dave Brubeck. Later on Buddy Holly blasts out from the jukebox urging people to 'Rave On.' Ironically the movie ends with the song 'Across the Universe' with its refrain of "Nothing's going to change my world."

Director: Gary Ross

Screenplay: Gary Ross

Music: Randy Newman 

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