Ghost World (film)

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For other uses, see Ghost World (disambiguation)
Ghost World

Theatrical poster
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Produced by Lianne Halfon
John Malkovich
Russell Smith
Written by Daniel Clowes (comic)
Daniel Clowes
Terry Zwigoff (screenplay)
Starring Thora Birch
Scarlett Johansson
Steve Buscemi
Brad Renfro
Music by David Kitay
Cinematography Affonso Beato
Editing by Carole Kravetz
Michael R. Miller
Distributed by United Artists
Release date(s) United States (Seattle International Film Festival): June 16, 2001
Canada (Fantasia Festival): July 2001
United Kingdom:
November 16, 2001
Running time 111 minutes
Country US
Language English
Budget $7,000,000
Gross revenue $8,761,393 (Worldwide)
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Ghost World is a 2001 film by Terry Zwigoff, based on a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes, also titled Ghost World. It stars Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi. Although the film was not a box-office blockbuster, it was heavily praised by critics and established a strong cult following.

The story focuses on the life 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.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film begins with Enid, the main character, dressed in her red graduation robe 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 and outcasts among their class mates) 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 the finger to the school they've managed to survive. After checking her diploma, Enid is angered to discover that it was awarded only conditionally and that she must attend a remedial art class that summer. Later, Enid and Rebecca attend the graduation party, where they are annoyed by various students they don’t like, including Melora, an overly enthusiastic would-be actress, who pops in and out of the narrative. In the background, the valedictorian can be seen drinking liquor from a flask.

The next day, 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, pretending that they are the woman he is infatuated with. He shows up at the café with their friend and reluctant accomplice Josh, 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. Enid purchases one 33 1/3 RPM blues record from him. He wraps it in his own plastic bag, which delights her.

Enid also begins to attend her art class, which is taught by Roberta Allsworth, an arty, self important performance artist. She dismisses Enid's talented drawings as cartoons, preferring the mediocre artwork of another student because it is "serious" and "political." Enid becomes more depressed and withdrawn. Rebecca, on the other hand, finds a job in a trendy coffee shop and seems more and more content to lead an ordinary life.

Despite her growing alienation, Enid finds some solace in her growing friendship with Seymour, becoming increasingly infatuated with him as her relationship with Rebecca fades. She learns more details about Seymour's life, including his middle management position with a fast food franchise called Cook's Chicken. Seymour informs Enid of Cook's secret racist past (it was originally called "Coon Chicken") after Enid discovers an old poster from Cook's depicting a grotesquely caricatured black man. Seymour unwisely lets Enid have the poster (he stole it from work). Enid brings the poster to her art class, presenting it as a found art object. Her classmates are appalled, but Roberta is impressed and later offers Enid a scholarship to an art college.

As much as Enid grows to like Seymour, she is not entirely honest with him. First, she sets out to arrange dates for him and eventually encourages him to develop a relationship with Dana, the woman he originally became infatuated with. However, Enid becomes jealous when Dana begins to end her friendship with Seymour. After Seymour turns down Enid's invitation to her art class's end of term show, Enid is too upset to attend the show alone and skips it, unaware that her contribution, the racist found art object, has created a scandal that makes the papers (and costs Enid her scholarship and Seymour his job). Later Enid, intentionally or not, sabotages Seymour's relationship with Dana by having a drunken one-night stand with him. Seymour, whose feelings towards Dana have been fading anyway, now hopes to have a serious romantic relationship with Enid. Enid, on the other hand, flees Seymour's apartment the next morning before he awakens and refuses to take his calls.

In the meantime, Enid and Rebecca get in a heated fight, and the two, who originally wanted to rent an apartment together, reconsider; Rebecca thinks she would be better off living on her own, but Enid, after discovering that she has lost the scholarship and that her father's former girlfriend is moving back, insists that she still wants to live with Becky. On the night before she is to move in with Becky she is unable to finish packing, and she does not show up at Becky's the next day. Seymour turns up though, frustrated because Enid has been ignoring his calls (and that he has lost his job because of her). Becky, angered herself by Enid's not showing, spitefully tells him about the telephone prank she and Enid played on him earlier. Seymour turns up at Josh's workplace, a convenience store, to take out his anger and humiliation on Josh, but a customer intervenes and injures Seymour, putting him in the hospital. Enid visits him and lets him know that she has in fact come to like and respect him a great deal, showing him the art portfolio she made with Seymour being prominently featured in it. Enid and Rebecca also have a reconciliation of sorts, half-heartedly speaking of “calling each other” sometime. As time passes, Seymour has a therapy session with a bored psychiatrist to work out his issues. Enid, who is still trying to figure out what to do with her life, boards a bus — once thought to be on a defunct line - and the bus drives off into the distance.

[edit] Cast

  • Thora Birch as Enid, an alienated teenage girl--intelligent, witty, artistic, cynical, sarcastic. A keen observer of the world around her, she has been compared to Holden Caulfield.
  • Scarlett Johansson as Rebecca, Enid's best friend since childhood, also alienated though slightly less so.
  • Rini Bell as the self righteous, handicapped graduation speaker
  • Steve Buscemi as Seymour, Enid’s partner in loneliness. A record collector, 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 unhappy convenience store clerk, whom Enid and Rebecca enjoy tormenting. Low key and mature, he often disapproves of the two girls' pranks but is usually cajoled into going along with them.
  • Brian George as the irritable Greek owner of the convenience store where Josh works
  • Debra Azar as Melora, an aspiring actress who graduated with Enid and Rebecca
  • Illeana Douglas as Roberta Allsworth, Enid's art teacher. Affected and pretentious, she nevertheless comes to Enid's defense when Enid is attacked for her politically incorrect found art project.
  • Bob Balaban as Enid's kind but ineffectual father.
  • Stacey Travis as Dana, Seymour's love interest. She is attractive and likable, but her conventional tastes bore Seymour and he eventually dumps her.
  • Teri Garr as Maxine, the girlfriend of Enid's father. Enid dislikes her, as she does most adults.
  • Dave Sheridan as Doug, an eccentric loiterer who frequently clashes with Josh's boss at the convenience store.
  • Tom McGowan as Joe, a housemate and garage-sale partner of Seymour's.
  • David Cross as Gerrold, the Pushy Guy
  • Ashley Peldon as Margaret, another student in Enid's art class, the teacher's pet.

[edit] Differences from the graphic novel

The film departs from its source material in a number of ways.

  • The character of Seymour is entirely absent from the novel, and the sequence involving the prank call and the personal ads involves an unnamed older man who bears little resemblance to Seymour, and is only seen for a few panels.
  • The summer art school scenes are not in the comic, and are based on another Clowes comic, Art School Confidential.
  • The comic featured a story in which Enid is applying to a prestigious college, which causes a rift to form between her and Becky. This subplot is absent from the film.
  • The tall zine store employee who sells videotapes to Enid early in the film is actually an amalgam of two characters from the comics, John Ellis and Johnny Apeshit.
  • The character of Bob Skeets, an astrologer and psychic, is dropped from the film entirely. The satanists are also given more focus in the comic.

[edit] Reception and cult following

Ghost World premiered on June 16, 2001 at the Seattle International Film Festival, to lower than average recognition by audiences, but admiration from critics. It was also screened at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Deauville American Film Festival, Bergen International Film Festival, Turin International Film Festival of Young Cinema, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Moscow International Film Festival and Helsinki International Film Festival.

With a limited commercial theatrical run in the US, Ghost World’s commercial success was extremely minimal – grossing less money than used to make the film, and from small attention from audiences and box office recipients – however its critical reception was far greater than a certain degree of films released that year, sitting at a lofty eminent position on many critical lists, significantly praised in many reviews. The overall box office tally for Ghost World in 2001 was US$6,944,894, on its estimated $7,000,000 budget.[1][2]

Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said "I wanted to hug the film [Ghost World]. It takes such a risky journey and never goes wrong. It creates specific, original, believable, lovable characters, and meanders with them through their inconsolable days, never losing its sense of humor. The Buscemi role is one he's been pointing toward during his entire career; it's like the flip side of his alcoholic barfly in Trees Lounge, (1996) who also becomes entangled with a younger girl, not so fortunately." He also listed on his "Top Ten of 2001" list.[3] Its rating on Rotten Tomatoes certified that Ghost World had a 92/100 rating of fresh reviews and this proved to be so large in amount, it effected that of the commercial success, giving it a position as one of the most-rented films from March of 2002 – December 2002, sitting at number 7 on its first release into video stores.

The film had its DVD release to retailers in the US on February 5, 2002, and was one of the most popular sales in the DVD sales chart of 2002.[citation needed] The film is now widely observed and accepted as being a cult classic film.

The critical and commercial success was summed up with the following nominations and wins for Ghost World, including a Golden Globe nomination for Thora Birch’s performance as Enid for Best Actress in a Motion Picture.

[edit] Soundtrack

Ghost World: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack by various artists
Released August 14, 2001
Genre Bollywood
String band
Blues
Length 62:58
Label Shanachie
Professional reviews

The score to Ghost World is composed by orchestrator and arranger David Kitay, and excerpt of his work for the film is heard on the last track of the soundtrack album.

Music in the film includes the Bollywood dance number, "Jaan Pehechaan Ho" by Mohammed Rafi and "Devil Got My Woman" by Skip James, as well as "Pickin' Cotton Blues" by the bar band, Blueshammer.

There are songs by other artists mentioned in the film, including Lionel Belasco, which are reflective of the character Seymour, and of director Terry Zwigoff himself, who is a collector of 78 RPM records, as portrayed by Seymour. Other tracks are by Vince Giordano, a musician who specializes in meticulous recreations of songs from old 78 RPM records.

Referenced in the film is R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders, a band that Zwigoff played in. Enid asks Seymour about the band's second album, Chasin' Rainbows, and Seymour replies, "Nah, that one's not so great."

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Jaan Pehechaan Ho" (Mohammed Rafi) – 5:28
    • From the opening sequence of the film, during which Enid is watching and dancing to a video clip of a dance number from the 1966 Bollywood musical Gumnaam.
  2. "Graduation Rap" (Vanilla, Jade and Ebony) – 0:32
  3. "Devil Got My Woman" (Skip James) – 3:00
  4. "I Must Have It" (Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks) – 2:59
  5. "Miranda" (Lionel Belasco) – 3:02
  6. "Pickin' Cotton Blues" (Blueshammer) – 3:35
  7. [Let's Go Riding" (Mr. Freddie) – 2:55
  8. "Georgia On My Mind" (Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks) – 3:11
  9. "Las Palmas De Maracairbo" (Lionel Belasco) – 3:15
  10. "Clarice" (Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks) – 3:29
  11. "Scalding Hot Coffee Rag" (Craig Ventresco) – 3:02
  12. "You're Just My Type" (Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks) – 2:33
  13. "Venezuela" (Lionel Belasco) – 3:15
  14. "Fare Thee Well Blues" (Joe Calicott) – 3:12
  15. "C. C. & O. Blues" (Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley) – 3:08
  16. "C-h-i-c-k-e-n Spells Chicken" (McGee Brothers) – 2:59
  17. "That's No Way To Get Along" (Robert Wilkins) – 2:55
  18. "So Tired" (Dallas String Band) – 3:20
  19. "Bye Bye Baby Blues" (Little Hot Jones) – 3:10
  20. "Theme From Ghost World" (David Kitay) – 3:58

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • 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.
  • Enid's notebook was created for the film by Sophie Crumb, Robert Crumb's and Aline Kominsky-Crumb's daughter (mentioned in closing credits).
  • 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. [citation needed]
  • According to Zwigoff, Steve Buscemi was so uncomfortable playing Seymour that whenever he completed his work for that day, he would immediately change his attire.[citation needed]

[edit] Awards

Won

  • Chicago Film Critics Association —Best Supporting Actor–Steve Buscemi
  • Independent Spirit Award—Best First Screenplay–Terry Zwigoff, Daniel Clowes
  • Independent Spirit Award—Best Supporting Actor–Steve Buscemi
  • L.A. Film Critics Association—Best Screenplay–Terry Zwigoff, Daniel Clowes
  • New York Film Critics Circle—Best Supporting Actor–Steve Buscemi
  • Toronto Film Critics Association—Best Actress–Thora Birch
  • Toronto Film Critics Association—Best Screenplay [Runner-up]–Terry Zwigoff, Daniel Clowes
  • Toronto Film Critics Association—Best Supporting Actor [Runner-up]–Steve Buscemi
  • Toronto Film Critics Association—Best Supporting Actress–Scarlett Johansson

Nominated

  • 73rd Academy Awards—Best Adapted Screenplay–Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff
  • Golden Globe Awards—Best Actress - Musical or Comedy–Thora Birch
  • Golden Globe Awards—Best Supporting Actor–Steve Buscemi
  • American Film Institute—Best Screenplay–Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff
  • American Film Institute—Best Supporting Actor–Steve Buscemi
  • Independent Spirit Award—Best First Feature–Terry Zwigoff
  • Writers Guild of America—Best Adapted Screenplay–Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Box office/business for Ghost World
  2. ^ Rotten Tomatoes
  3. ^ Ghost World BY ROGER EBERT

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_World_%28film%29"
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