Ghost World (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Ghost World (disambiguation)
| Ghost World | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Ghost World |
|
| Directed by | Terry Zwigoff |
| Produced by | Lianne Halfon John Malkovich Russell Smith |
| Written by | Daniel Clowes (comic) Terry Zwigoff (screenplay) |
| Starring | Thora Birch Scarlett Johansson Steve Buscemi Brad Renfro |
| Distributed by | MGM United Artists |
| Release date(s) | June 16, 2001 (premiere) |
| Running time | 111 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Ghost World is a 2001 film by Terry Zwigoff, based on a graphic novel (comic book) by Daniel Clowes, also titled Ghost World. It stars Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi. Although the film wasn't a box-office blockbuster, it was heavily praised by critics and established a strong cult following.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story focuses on the relationship of two teenage friends, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), who are outside of the normal high school social order in an unnamed suburb, often assumed to be in or around Los Angeles, where much of the movie was shot.
The film begins with Enid, the main character dancing to an Indian dance video in her bedroom. It then cuts to shots of a graduating class, and a girl in a wheelchair making a speech. Enid and Rebecca (best friends, who are outcast by their class mates) appear to find the speech ironically humorous, noting that the girl went from being considered troublesome to being considered saintly by virtue of a car accident. Then the class throws off their graduation hats, and Enid and Rebecca wander off in the distance and give a rude finger gesture to the rest of the graduating class mates.
Later, Enid and Rebecca attend the graduation party, where they are annoyed by various students they don’t like, including Melora, who pops in and out of the narrative. While in a café, Enid and Rebecca decide to make a prank call to a lonely man named Seymour who has placed an ad in the personals section in the newspaper. They stand him up and pretend that they are the woman he became infatuated with. He shows up at the café, and Enid begins to feel sorry for the man. In the next few days, Enid and Rebecca follow up on Seymour and go to look at a garage sale, where Seymour is selling records, some of which Enid buys.
During the next part of the film, Enid becomes infatuated with Seymour, as her relationship with Rebecca fades. However, she is not honest with Seymour, first encouraging him to develop a relationship with the woman he became infatuated with, then sabotaging the relationship by having a one-night stand with him. Enid and Rebecca get in a heated fight, and the two, who originally wanted to rent an apartment together, reconsider; Rebecca decides to live on her own, while Enid tries to figure out what she wants to do with her life. In the end of the film, Enid and Rebecca half-heartedly speak of “calling each other” sometime. Enid then travels on a bus — thought by Enid to be on a deleted line — and the bus drives off into the distance.
[edit] Cast
- Thora Birch as Enid, a very intelligent and artistic girl with a great sense of humor, but also with a myopic view of the world that limits her to achieve her full potential, she is often quite cynical as well.
- Scarlett Johansson as Rebecca, a slightly more mature and optimistic version of Enid and Enid's best friend since childhood. She cannot bring Enid to her level of maturity no matter how she tries.
- Steve Buscemi as Seymour, Enid’s partner in loneliness. Only Seymour can understand Enid’s trouble with individualizing herself while, at the same time, trying to find some happiness because he has had the same problem all of his life.
- Brad Renfro as Josh, the goofy convenience store clerk, who Enid and Rebecca enjoy tormenting.
- Illeana Douglas as Roberta Allsworth, Enid's art teacher
- Bob Balaban as Enid's father
- Stacey Travis as Dana
- Teri Garr as Maxine
- Dave Sheridan as Doug, an eccentric loiterer
[edit] Trivia
- The opening sequence of the film includes a clip from the 1966 Bollywood musical Gumnaam, in which the famous singer Mohammed Rafi sings the lively dance tune "Jaan Pehechaan Ho."
- The Coon Chicken Inn was a real restaurant chain, founded in 1925 in Salt Lake City. However, it folded in the late '50s and never changed its name to Cook's Chicken, as in the film. The second Coon Chicken Inn opened in Seattle in 1929, on Lake City Way, the same street where the original Ghost World comic's publishing company, Fantagraphics Books, sits today. Located directly across the street from the former location of the restaurant is a "Cook's Auto Rebuild."
- The Coon Chicken Inn mascot painting used in the film was made by Robert Crumb.
- Besides being an adaptation of the comic book of the same name, originally serialized in Eightball magazine, Ghost World includes some material from other Eightball shorts such as "Art School Confidential". The character played by Steve Buscemi appears only as the victim of the girls' prank in the comic and was made significant at Zwigoff's suggestion. Another change includes Rebecca having a rather diminished role compared to her role in the comic, which gave a more balanced amount of attention to both girls.
- Seymour's room was modeled after director Terry Zwigoff's own — particularly the shelved record collection, pinup art and historical memorabilia.
- When Enid asks Seymour's opinion of a certain blues record, the audience can see that it is by Robert Crumb's Cheap Suit Serenaders, of which Zwigoff was a member. Seymour says that it isn't very good.
- Enid's notebook was created for the film by Sophie Crumb, Robert Crumb's and Aline Kominsky-Crumb's daughter.
- Interested in directing Ghost World as a feature film for some time, Zwigoff sat in on an acting class in San Francisco. Zwigoff said that after the class had wrapped up, he had approached the instructor and asked if she could hold a crash course for him in how to direct actors.
[edit] Goofs
The following continuity errors occur during the film:
- The broken sculpture gains and loses pieces at random.
- The amount of liquor in the bottle on top of Doug's car increases and the bottle changes positions on the car several times.
- When in the diner after Enid buys the record, its location shifts from the table down to the bench beside her between shots.
- When Enid and Rebecca are laughing at Seymour's name, Rebecca puts her hand over her mouth. In the next shot she has her arms crossed.
[edit] Alternate Versions
- In the theatrical trailer, when Seymour is asked by Enid if he would go out with anyone, he says "As long as she's breathing". In the movie, he replies with a non-comedic answer.
