Geek Chic (Ghost World (DVD))

Member Name: MykReeve

Product:	Ghost World (DVD)
Date:	08/11/01 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb script with some great lines, Bravura performances, Well-observed and intelligent satire

Disadvantages: Won't appeal to all, Probably not going to be on at many cinemas thanks to 'Harry Potter', Ending might seem a little disappointing but not majorly so

You've got to feel sorry for Icon Films. There they are with the distribution rights to one of the most thoughtful and intelligent movies of the year, and they discover they've scheduled its release for the same weekend as 'Harry Potter'. It's unlikely that there are going to be many cinema screens showing 'Ghost World' on the 16th November, which makes me all the more glad that I went to see it at the Raindance Film Festival, where it was this year's opening film.

Where 'Harry Potter' appeals to a mass market, 'Ghost World' is almost its antithesis - appealing to the disaffected and the alienated in almost the same way that the former appeals to the masses. Based on the comic book of the same name by Daniel Clowes, and directed by comic book enthusiast Terry Zwigoff (who was responsible for 'Crumb', the biopic of comic writer Robert Crumb), 'Ghost World' is a brilliantly observed satire of modern culture, in a very similar vein to 'American Beauty'.

THE PLOT

In 'Ghost World' we follow the lives of two friends, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), as they graduate from high school, and try to decide what they're going to do with the rest of their lives. We soon establish that the two have kept themselves separate from the rest of their school year, and intend to stay good friends forever, moving into a flat together. However, when they examine their diplomas, Enid discovers that she won't graduate until she completes a remedial art course at Summer school.

The two try to continue their daily routine, meeting up in retro Fifties-style diners for lunch and reading through the local newspaper's lonely-hearts column to mock those advertising their loneliness. One day, Enid spots a particularly sad individual - a man named Seymour (Steve Buscemi) - who helped a woman find her contact lens in the local airport, and felt there was
a connection between them. Enid and Rebecca decide to call him up and suggest meeting up one lunchtime, in their favourite diner, so that they can see what this man looks like.

When the lunchtime comes around, Enid and Rebecca watch as Seymour arrives and waits for the woman to arrive. Some time later, Seymour dejectedly leaves the diner, and the girls follow him back to his apartment. The girls have clearly been struck by their cruelty, but at the same time, Enid seems to have become obsessed with finding out more about the man.

Walking past his apartment one weekend, they discover that Seymour sells blues records from his garage. Enid buys an album from him, and becomes fascinated with his life - describing him as the "opposite of everything I hate in the world" - while slowly drifting apart from Rebecca.

THE FILM

The first thing that I have to admit to about 'Ghost World' is that I found the film to be occasionally uncomfortable viewing, not because of anything openly unpleasant or graphic on the screen, so much as because I felt uncomfortably close to the film's main characters. I could relate to Enid's smug sense of superiority, her belief that she is better than others despite the evidence to the contrary, and her general sense of isolation from the rest of the world. I could relate to Rebecca's confusion, her lack of direction despite making efforts to organise her life, and her sense of disappointment in others. I could relate to Seymour's obsessiveness, his collection of material possessions to compensate for a relative lack of social skills, and to a lesser extent, his awkwardness around strangers.

Having read several opinions on the film at the Internet Movie Database, and indeed opinions on Clowes's graphic novel on book e-tailers, I notice I'm not alone. These are characters to whom many will relate, and they are so brilliantly observed that even those who cannot rela
te to them will feel for them, and recognise the discomfort and angst with the situations the film puts them in.

Not only are the characters spectacularly well drawn, they are extremely well portrayed on-screen. Thora Birch, who will be familiar to many as the disgruntled daughter in 'American Beauty', is absolutely outstanding as the isolated Enid. Steve Buscemi injects incredible pathos to the character of Seymour - watch for the perceptible beat before he comments, "Technically..." to a woman Enid introduces to him in a bar - guaranteed to elicit a collective sigh of sympathy among a cinema full of people. Scarlett Johansson, most recently seen in the Coen brothers' 'The Man Who Wasn't There', also puts in an outstanding performance as the more levelheaded Rebecca. It's also worth mentioning that the Enid's costume designs are very well designed, taking a leaf from Clowes's comic book, her appearance is very much that of a teenager rebelling against stereotypes, decked out in kitsch wide-rimmed black vinyl glasses.

If it weren't enough that the characters themselves are brilliantly presented in the film, the satirical swipes at modern culture are also damningly savage. There's Roberta Allsworth, the absurdly over-enthusiastic art teacher played by Illeana Douglas, who claims to encourage creativity and originality, but like every art teacher in the world seems offer little praise to those offering something different from current trends. Seymour even makes a throwaway comment that you "Give everybody a Big Mac and a pair of Nikes and they're happy." 'Ghost World' is littered with continual digs at popular culture. It's clear that both Clowes and Zwigoff have a fondness for times past, when things were better...

The film's visual style is very well observed throughout, with the cinematography cleverly reflecting the characters' alienation from each ot
her. In many scenes, when two characters face each other, the real action of the scene actually takes place in the area of the frame between the two - a technique that worked well at a few points in 'American Beauty'. For example, when Enid and her father (Bob Balaban) face each other across the breakfast table, the most active part of the scene is the television screen between them - just as in 'American Beauty' when Jane and Ricky are talking to each other, with a television screen between them.

There are so many beautifully well-observed touches in the movie that it's difficult to do justice to them all here. The world of 'Ghost World' is superbly realised, with its cast of peculiar characters - from Norman, who waits for the bus that will never come, to the overly aggressive nunchaku-wielding patron of the convience store - and its believable locations, such as the comic book store, with its morbid staff, and the cinema where Enid half-heartedly attempts to find herself a career.

CONCLUSIONS

At times 'Ghost World' is extremely funny, with its eccentric characters and well-observed criticism of contemporary life. However, 'Ghost World' is so much more than mere satire, there are well observed characters here struggling to understand themselves and each other.

The film's plot is not a complicated one, however, its exploration is well paced and intelligently considered, with a very thoughtful script, and great direction. If I had one criticism, it is that the film's conclusion seems somewhat disappointing in the wake of the rest of the film, however it does resolve the major issues of the plot well enough.

I think 'Ghost World' is unlikely to be a film that will appeal to all. If you ever feel in any way alienated from or disaffected with the world, then you will most likely enjoy it. If not, then you'll probably wonder where the car chases and explosions w
ere and leave disappointed, cursing the fact that 'Harry Potter' had sold out weeks earlier.

Oh, but before you do leave the cinema, remember to stay after the credits for an amusing little scene with Buscemi in the convenience store.

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