Review of Pleasantville (1998) by Ariane L — 10 Mar 2009

90's twins David and Rachel are pulled into the 50's American sitcom 'Pleasantville' by a magic remote control. In Pleasantville, everything is perfect and the citizens are all 'swell'.

There is no violence, no sex, no art, no colour, and there is nothing outside of Pleasantville - The roads all lead back to this idylic town. As David and Rachel become characters in a real life version of the show, they can't help but bring a bit of the 90's with them.

Strange things start to happen... Pleasantville gets a bit more realistic. The residents develop personalities and make their own decisions, they learn to break from the routines that the writers of Pleasantville have set for them.

Suddenly colour starts to appear, but there are some residents that don't like this change. Confrontation and violence follows, leading to a divide of 'black and white' and 'technicolour' residents.

There are obvious racial undertones here. This is a clever and interesting movie, with some beautiful imagery. A particular scene is shot in black and white with pink blossom falling from the trees, amazing!