Ghost World (film)

Ghost World
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Terry Zwigoff
Produced by	Lianne Halfon John Malkovich Russell Smith
Written by	Daniel Clowes Terry Zwigoff
Based on	Ghost World  by Daniel Clowes
Starring	Thora Birch Scarlett Johansson Brad Renfro Bob Balaban Illeana Douglas Steve Buscemi
Music by	David Kitay
Cinematography	Affonso Beato
Edited by	Carole Kravetz-Aykanian Michael R. Miller
Production company	Granada Film Jersey Shore Advanced Medien Mr. Mudd
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	July 20, 2001 (2001-07-20)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7 million
Box office	$8,764,007

Ghost World is a 2001 American comedy-drama film directed by Terry Zwigoff, based on the comic book of the same name by Daniel Clowes, with a screenplay co-written by Clowes and Zwigoff. The story focuses on the lives of Enid and Rebecca (played by Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson), two teenage outsiders in an unnamed American city. The film was released with limited box-office success, but it was extremely well received by film critics.

Plot

Best friends Enid and Rebecca face summer after their high-school graduation. The girls are social outcasts, but Rebecca is more popular with boys than Enid. Enid's diploma is held on the condition that she attend a remedial art class. Even though she is a talented artist, her art teacher, Roberta, believes art must be socially meaningful and dismisses Enid's sketches as "light entertainment."

The girls see a personal ad in which a lonely middle-aged man named Seymour asks a woman he met recently to contact him. Enid makes a prank phone call to Seymour, pretending to be the woman and inviting him to meet her at a diner, and when he goes there, the two girls, and their friend Josh, secretly watch and make fun of Seymour. However, Enid begins to feel sympathy for Seymour, so a few days later the girls follow him to his apartment building, where they find him selling vintage records in a garage sale. Enid buys an old blues album from him, and they gradually become friends. She tries to find women for him to date.

Meanwhile, Enid has been attending her art class and in order to please her art teacher, Roberta, Enid persuades Seymour to lend her an old poster depicting a grotesquely caricatured black man, which was once used as a promotional tool by Coon Chicken Inn. In the film, "Coon Chicken Inn" has been renamed "Cook's Chicken', the fried-chicken franchise where Seymour works in a managerial position. In class, she presents the poster as a social comment about racism, and Roberta is so impressed with the concept that she later offers Enid a scholarship to an art college.

Around this time, Seymour receives a phone call from Dana, the woman he had previously written to in the personal ad. Enid encourages him to pursue a relationship with Dana, but she becomes jealous when he does and then begins avoiding her to spend time with Dana. At this point, Enid's and Rebecca's lives diverge. While Enid has been spending time with Seymour, Rebecca has found a job and become more interested in clothing, boys, and other typical things. Enid finds a job so she can afford to rent an apartment with Rebecca, but she is fired after only one day. After Enid loses her job, the girls argue and Rebecca gives up the idea of living with Enid.

At the end of the summer, Enid's and Seymour's lives fall apart. When Enid's poster is displayed in an art show, school officials find it so offensive they force Roberta to give her a failing grade; when Enid discovers she has lost her scholarship, she visits Seymour for solace, resulting in a drunken one-night stand. Seymour then breaks up with Dana, and is called-to-account at work when the poster is publicized in a local newspaper. He unsuccessfully tries to contact Enid, and Rebecca tells him about Enid's prank phone call and about mocking him earlier at the diner. Seymour is upset and later hospitalized after assaulting Josh, the boy who was with the girls at the diner. Enid comes to apologize, but Seymour realizes he has no chance with her.

Finally, Enid gives in to her childhood fantasy of running away from home and disappearing. Throughout the film, she has repeatedly seen an old man named Norman, who has been waiting at an out-of-service bus stop for days on end, before finally boarding a bus that inexplicably arrives at the "out-of-service" bus stop. The next day, while Seymour discusses the summer's events with his therapist, Enid goes to the bench and boards the "out-of-service" bus when it arrives.

Cast

• Thora Birch as Enid
• Scarlett Johansson as Rebecca
• Steve Buscemi as Seymour
• Brad Renfro as Josh
• Pat Healy as John Ellis
• Illeana Douglas as Roberta Allsworth
• Bob Balaban as Enid's father
• Stacey Travis as Dana
• Teri Garr as Maxine
• Dave Sheridan as Doug
• Tom McGowan as Joe
• David Cross as Gerrold
• Brian George as the convenience store owner
• Debra Azar as Melorra
• Rini Bell as the graduation speaker
• Ezra Buzzington as Weird Al
• Ashley Peldon as Margaret

Release

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 several film festivals all over the world including the Fantasia Festival in Montreal.

With a limited commercial theatrical run in the United States, Ghost World’s commercial success was minimal. The film was released on July 20, 2001 in five theaters grossing $98,791 on its opening weekend; it slowly expanded to more theaters, reaching a maximum of 128 by September. It went on to make $6.2 million in North America and $2.5 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $8.7 million, just above its $7 million budget.

Critical reaction

The film's critical reception has been highly positive; it currently has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 88 metascore on Metacritic. Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "I wanted to hug this movie. It takes such a risky journey and never steps wrong. It creates specific, original, believable, lovable characters, and meanders with them through their inconsolable days, never losing its sense of humor." In his review for The New York Times, A. O. Scott praised Thora Birch's performance as Enid: "Thora Birch, whose performance as Lester Burnham's alienated daughter was the best thing about American Beauty, plays a similar character here, with even more intelligence and restraint." In his Chicago Reader review, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "Birch makes the character an uncanny encapsulation of adolescent agonies without ever romanticizing or sentimentalizing her attitudes, and Clowes and Zwigoff never allow us to patronize her." However, Andrew Sarris of the The New York Observer disliked the character of Enid: "I found Enid smug, complacent, cruel, deceitful, thoughtless, malicious and disloyal...Enid's favorite targets are people who are older, poorer or dumber than she is." Kevin Thomas, in his review for The Los Angeles Times, praised Steve Buscemi's portrayal of Seymour saying, "Buscemi rarely has had so full and challenging a role, that of a mature, reflective man, unhandsome yet not unattractive, thanks to a witty sensitivity and clear intelligence." Time magazine's Andrew D. Arnold wrote, "Unlike those shrill, hard-sell teen comedies on the other screens, Ghost World never becomes the kind of empty, defensive snark-fest that it targets. Clowes and Zwigoff keep the organic pace of the original, and its empathic exploration of painfully changing relationships."

Michael Dean of The Comics Journal said, "Those with higher expectations - and, certainly, Ghost World purists - are likely to experience at least a degree of disappointment. Some of the comic's air of aimless mystery has been paved over with the semblance of a Hollywood plot, and to that extent, the movie is a lesser work than the comic. But it's still a far better movie than we had a right to expect." According to Dean:

It's ultimately a testament to Clowes' original creations that so much of Enid and Becky shines through all the tampering and compromises. And it's a testament to Zwigoff that he was able to keep the film as quiet and understated as it is and draw first-rate performances from his primary cast....The injection of a relatively trite plot situation into Ghost World's more enigmatic stream of events is perhaps forgivable, since the film might otherwise never have been produced. Its greatest sin, the misappropriation of Enid's longing, is not so forgivable, though the overlap between Zwigoff's distaste for modernity and Enid's distrust of social acceptability makes it almost palatable. In any case, we want to forgive it, because so much is right about the movie.

Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A-" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "Ghost World is a movie for anyone who ever felt imprisoned by life but crazy about it anyway." In her review for the LA Weekly, Manohla Dargis wrote, "If Zwigoff doesn't always make his movie move (he's overly faithful to the concept of the cartoon panel), he has a gift for connecting us to people who aren't obviously likable, then making us see the urgency of that connection." In Sight & Sound, Leslie Felperin wrote, "Cannily, the main performers deliver most of their lines in slack monotones, all the better to set off the script's wit and balance the glistering cluster of varyingly deranged lesser characters." In his review for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw wrote, "It is an engaging account of the raw pain of adolescence: the fear of being trapped in a grown-up future and choosing the wrong grown-up identity, and of course the pain of love, which we all learn to anaesthetise with jobs and mundane worries."

Legacy

Ghost World topped MSN Movies' list of the "Top 10 Comic Book Movies", it was ranked number 3 out of 94 in Rotten Tomatoes' "Comix Worst to Best" countdown (where #1 was the best and #94 the worst), ranked 5th "Best" on IGN's "Best & Worst Comic-Book Movies", and Empire magazine ranked the film 19th in their "The 20 Greatest Comic Book Movies" list.

Soundtrack

Ghost World: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by various artists
Released	August 14, 2001 (2001-08-14)
Genre	Bollywood, string band, blues, jazz
Length	62:58
Label	Shanachie

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Music in the film includes "Jaan Pehechan Ho" by Mohammed Rafi, a dance number choreographed by Herman Benjamin from the 1965 Bollywood musical Gumnaam (which Enid watches and dances to early in the film), and "Devil Got My Woman" by Skip James in 1931, 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. Track 14-19 are not in the film, being selections from Zwigoff's collection.

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."

Missing from the soundtrack is "What Do I Get?" by Buzzcocks, which can be heard when Enid dresses up like a punk, and the song "A Smile and a Ribbon" by Patience and Prudence.

Ghost World: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Jaan Pehechan Ho" (1965)	Shankar Jaikishan (music); Shailendra (lyrics)	Mohammed Rafi	5:28
2.	"Graduation Rap"	Nicole Sill, Guy Thomas (music); Daniel Clowes (lyrics)	Vanilla, Jade and Ebony	0:32
3.	"Devil Got My Woman" (1931)	James	Skip James	3:00
4.	"I Must Have It" (cover of King Oliver, 1930)	Davidson Nelson, Joe "King" Oliver	Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks	2:59
5.	"Miranda" (1933)	Thomas Pasatleri, Louis Phillips	Lionel Belasco	3:02
6.	"Pickin' Cotton Blues"	Terry Zwigoff, Steve Pierson, Guy Thomas	Blueshammer	3:35
7.	"Let's Go Riding" (1935)	Freddie Spruell	Mr. Freddie	2:55
8.	"Georgia on My Mind"	Hoagy Carmichael (music) Stuart Gorrell (lyrics)	Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks	3:11
9.	"Las Palmas de Maracaibo" (1930)	Belasco	Lionel Belasco	3:15
10.	"Clarice" (cover of Tiny Parham, 1928)	Tiny Parham	Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks	3:29
11.	"Scalding Hot Coffee Rag"	Ventresco	Craig Ventresco	3:02
12.	"You're Just My Type" (cover of King Oliver, 1930)	Nelson, Oliver	Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks	2:33
13.	"Venezuela" (1931)	Victor Colon	Lionel Belasco	3:15
14.	"Fare Thee Well Blues" (1930)	Calicott	Joe Calicott	3:12
15.	"C. C. & O. Blues" (1928)	Anderson, Brownie McGhee	Pink Anderson and Simmie Dooley	3:08
16.	"C-h-i-c-k-e-n Spells Chicken" (1927)	Sidney L. Perrin, Bob Slater	McGee Brothers	2:59
17.	"That's No Way to Get Along" (1929)	Wilkins	Robert Wilkins	2:55
18.	"So Tired" (1928)	Lonnie Johnson	Dallas String Band	3:20
19.	"Bye Bye Baby Blues" (1930)	Jones	Little Hat Jones	3:10
20.	"Theme from Ghost World"	Kitay	David Kitay	3:58

Awards

Won

• Chicago Film Critics Association—Best Supporting Actor (Buscemi)
• Golden Space Needle Award—Best Actress (Birch)
• Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay (Clowes and Zwigoff)
• Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor (Buscemi)
• L.A. Film Critics Association—Best Screenplay, runner-up (Clowes and Zwigoff)
• National Society of Film Critics—Best Supporting Actor (Buscemi)
• New York Film Critics Circle—Best Supporting Actor (Buscemi)
• Toronto Film Critics Association—Best Actress (Birch)
• Toronto Film Critics Association—Best Screenplay [Runner-up] (Clowes and Zwigoff)
• Toronto Film Critics Association—Best Supporting Actor [Runner-up] (Buscemi)
• Toronto Film Critics Association—Best Supporting Actress (Johansson)

Nominated

• 74th 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
• Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics
• Independent Spirit Award—Best First Feature – Terry Zwigoff
• Writers Guild of America—Best Adapted Screenplay – Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff

See also

• List of films based on comics

External links

• Official website
• Ghost World at the Internet Movie Database
• Ghost World at AllMovie
• Ghost World at Box Office Mojo
• Ghost World at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ghost World at Metacritic