It’s Groundhog Day again and again . . .
About Holte EnderHolte Ender will always try to see your point of view, but sometimes it is hard to stick his head that far up his @$$.
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I have always been a fan of Bill Murray and will watch any movie he is in. A particular favorite is Groundhog Day (1993) . When I first saw it, I though it a typical Bill Murray performance, but there was something about it that was more than charming, something deeper.
On seeing it again and again and again, (in the true spirit of the movie), I was always seeing for the first time, I find it very thought provoking, and a very creative look at the human condition.
Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, a weatherman for a Pittsburgh TV Station, along with a crew of two, goes to Punxatawney to film a short segment on the annual Groundhog Day celebrations. Phil Connors is a Scrooge-like, mean spirited, cynical man, who has no time or patience for anyone. He does the piece and wants to leave immediately, but a snowstorm forces the them to stay another night. When he wakes up it’s Groundhog Day again, and he is forced to re-live the previous day all over. Science Fiction would call it a time loop, he is stuck in the same day for many years.
Canadian futurist George Dvorsky says this:
As Phil struggles to come to grips with his predicament he goes through a number of phases: disbelief, shock, hedonism, scheming, depression, nihilism, depression (including numerous suicide attempts) and social detachment. Ultimately, he learns that his happiness is only attainable through acceptance of his situation and constructive behavior that furthers his own life and those around him. Once Phil gets his personal act together he is able to snap the cycle.
At another level the film explores the topic of personal accountability in the absence of repercussions. Phil knows that no matter what he does he will never have to be held responsible for his actions – he’ll just wake up again with a clean slate. Though Phil learns to control his actions, the film raises an interesting point about our motivations and why we choose to obey the rules.
Groundhog Day’s power comes from its remarkable simplicity. By experimenting with one single repeated day the film explores many complexities and intricacies of life and the human condition as a whole. A timeless classic.
Infidel753
February 2, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Sounds interesting.
Phil knows that no matter what he does he will never have to be held responsible for his actions — he’ll just wake up again with a clean slate.
The mind reels to imagine what some people would do in that position. Of course, that wouldn’t be a Bill Murray movie.
Holte Ender
February 2, 2010 at 12:34 pm
INFIDEL – The mind reels to imagine what some people would do in that position. What happened to Murray’s character is, he went insane, killed himself many times. It makes you think?
MadMike
February 2, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I have to confess I never saw any deeper meaning in GD than the fact that Bill Murray can be funny. I am not much of a fan, but I did like the movie. Sorry my friend
Holte Ender
February 2, 2010 at 1:32 pm
MIKE – I watch a lot of movies, it sure beats the majority of what’s on TV, so I see depth, or lack of, in most films.
Beekeepers Apprentice
February 2, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Star Trek Next Gen did it in one hour!
teeluck
February 3, 2010 at 1:02 am
Bravo Bee!
(O)CT(O)PUS
February 5, 2010 at 12:36 am
This may sound like a stretch, but there are two old films by Luis Bunuel with similar time-warp conundrums, “Land Without Bread” (a documentary), and “The Exterminating Angel.”
The former is a documentary about life in a remote region of Spain where there is extreme poverty. As one watches the film, this question keeps popping in the mind: “Why don’t the people move to a more hospital place? What keeps them there?”
In the latter film, there is a dinner party (similar decadent characters as in “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie”). After dinner, they cannot leave the room … a mysterious force keeps them there, and keeps out rescuers massing outside the mansion. Only after reconstructing every detail from the prior evening can the dinner attendees escape and free themselves.
Holte Ender
February 5, 2010 at 2:34 pm
(O)CT(O)PUS – Hope I spelled your name right. Ah, a fellow movie fan, you must be to know Luis Bunuel. I haven’t seen either film you mention, but I will look out for them. Thanks.
Holte Ender
January 30, 2011 at 11:34 am
This was originally posted in February 2010, thought I would resurrect in honor of Groundhogs everywhere.
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Michael John Scott
January 30, 2011 at 12:16 pm
I didn’t like this movie when I first saw it. The second time I liked it a little. I saw it again a few years ago and realized that it was pretty good after all.
oso
January 30, 2011 at 12:30 pm
It was a great movie Holte.
oso
January 30, 2011 at 12:30 pm
It was a great movie Holte – hey I thought I already wrote that?
Holte Ender
January 30, 2011 at 12:40 pm
HA
Holte Ender
January 30, 2011 at 12:54 pm
HA HA
Krell
January 30, 2011 at 8:01 pm
That was a great movie, Holte. Watched it and thought it was a funny movie.
Then when you start thinking about the birth, death, rebirth…caught in an endless karmic loop until he achieves nirvana by doing the right thing.
THEN you start thinking….wait a minute, did I just get a Hindu lesson?
Holte Ender
January 30, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Not just a funny film, thanks to two great comedy actors Bill Murray and Chris Elliot, but interesting on so many levels.