Ghost World
There is something so hauntingly wonderful about movies centred on its people in a small town. No big events, nothing; it’s just the ever turning shades of life that are engaging and thought provoking. This engagement is difficult to level. Linklater, especially with his latest feature, is a master at it. Films such as Napoleon Dynamite can unearth the funniest moments from showcasing the tenderness of humanity and the comedy that comes with it (if particularly quirky too.) Lazy towns with lazier people, these thrive on the action of words and the history of flesh and none has seem so engaging than 2001’s Ghost World.
Ghost World is a cult film that was birthed from a series of comics by Daniel Cowes. Starring Thora Birch and Scarlett Johnasson, it centres on Enid. Just leaving high school, her summer is full of promise with her best friend Rebecca. As they face moving out, getting jobs and generally departing into adulthood, Enid finds the transition a little bit more difficult than Rebecca. When she taunts a lonely man named Seymour, she starts to feel sorry for him and slowly befriends him. Encouraging more of a gap between herself and Rebecca, Enid starts to see her world drastically change.
Terry Zwigoff’s unforgettable near masterpiece is an intensely clever flick. It never tries to over compensate on the intelligence and wit and divulge into a typical hipster farce. In fact, it’s mainly because of its writing. Cowes and Zwigoff work together to give depth to cookie cutter independent movie characters. Enid is a brilliant example of a character who differentiates in her attitude and tastes but is wholly dynamic and developed. Juxtaposed with Seymour and Rebecca, Enid’s journey is much more about her fitting into an adult society while clinging on to her naivities and personality. It’s a rather fresh and incredibly written movie.
It helps that this leading role is given to the acting talents of Thora Birch. Though disappointingly, she’s faded away to obscurity, here she levels Enid with gusto, might and unnerving passion. Not afraid to hold back but still being restrained enough for us to empathize with her, Enid may feel like a petulant child at first when really she is struggling with this very real struggle. Birch makes her likeable even when she isn’t being likeable. And we grasp her character, embracing her every flaw because Birch strongly portrays her as so. Steve Buscemi as Seymour is also an enthralling character. While the initial age gap is worrying, the chemistry between the pair entwines delectably that its compelling and utterly visceral.
Ghost World is such an impressive piece that bites at a lot of different white sub cultures and indie inklings. It sparks with this dialogue and wonderful imagery. Never wavering from its intellect but fizzling with this heartbeat, and with a soundtrack unlike any other, Ghost World is a happy slow burn that you’ll eat up, understand and want to watch a million times other. Impressive, unforgettable and wonderful.