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Ghost World - Fall 2001 Written by Daniel Clowes & Directed By Terry Zwigoff |
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 Order it on DVD today!
View the trailer --
Windows Media (300K)
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Steve Buscemi .... Seymour
Based on the popular and highly-acclaimed underground comic book by Daniel Clowes, GHOST WORLD is a raw-edged comedy about two teenage girls, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), who are out of sync with the world around them. Their uncensored commentary spares no one as they try to find a place for themselves in a modern America of endless strip malls and fast-food chains. After graduating from high school, they face an unpleasant immediate future: crappy jobs and slim prospects for romance. While Rebecca gets a job at the local coffee franchise and starts saving for the apartment they always planned on, Enid becomes involved with an alienated malcontent named Seymour (Steve Buscemi). As they edge toward the unfathomable mystery of adulthood in a world in decline, Enid and Rebecca struggle to maintain their identity and the bonds that kept them sane. United Artists Films presents Ghost World, a film by Terry Zwigoff, director of the acclaimed documentary Crumb, and written by Daniel Clowes & Zwigoff based on Clowes's widely read graphic novel. Starring Thora Birch (whose performance in American Beauty garnered critical and audience acclaim) and Scarlett Johansson (who made her striking feature debut in The Horse Whisperer) as best friends Enid and Rebecca, Ghost World features a diverse ensemble of acclaimed actors, including Brad Renfro (Apt Pupil, The Client) as Josh, the unattainable object of the girls' affection; actor/director Bob Balaban (Best in Show, The Mexican) as Enid's Dad; Illeana Douglas (Cape Fear, To Die For) as Roberta, Enid's pretentious art teacher; Steve Buscemi (Fargo, Reservoir Dogs) as Seymour; Academy AwardŽ nominee Teri Garr (Tootsie, Mr. Mom) as Maxine, Enid's unwelcome ex-stepmom; Stacey Travis (Mystery Men, Hardware) as Seymour's love interest, Dana; and Dave Sheridan (Scary Movie) as Doug. Produced by Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich and Russell Smith, Ghost World is executive produced by Pippa Cross and Janette Day. The distinguished behind-the-scenes team is led by director of photography Affonso Beato, production designer Edward T. McAvoy, editors Carole Kravetz Aykanian and Michael R. Miller, and costume designer Mary Zophres. David Kitay composed the score. After garnering worldwide attention, numerous award nominations, and wide critical praise for her role as Kevin Spacey's discontented daughter, Jane, in the Academy AwardŽ-winning film American Beauty, Thora Birch stars as Enid, an equally complex teenager searching for her place in the world. Birch describes Enid as an extrovert who is, nonetheless, not very happy. "I think she doesn't really know what she wants in life," says the young actress. "She just graduates from high school and knows all the things that she really doesn't like and who she doesn't want to be. The only problem is that she has no clue about what she does want to do and who she is, really. I think that's one of the reasons she is constantly changing her appearance and trying different motifs and even testing out, in a subtle way, different personalities." Director Terry Zwigoff says, "Enid is an outsider. She doesn't quite fit in. That's part of her dilemma. She's trying to find some place for herself in a world that's rapidly turning into one big consumer theme park, a monoculture without much of anything authentic remaining. She's trying to connect with something truthful in this culture that's basically designed to just sell you things." The film opens with a musical bang that demonstrates Enid's less-than-mainstream tastes as scenes from an old Indian musical play on her television, with Enid dancing gleefully along. The scene is actually the opening dance number from Gumnaam ("Nameless"), 1965, directed by Raja Nawathe for Producer N. N. Sippy and Prithvi Pictures. Although the name on the drum kit of the band reads "Ted Lyons and the Cubs," the masked actor is lip-syncing the tune "Jaan Pehechaan Ho," which is actually recorded by Mohammed Rafi. Enid's best friend is the slightly more well-adjusted Rebecca, played by Scarlett Johansson, who broke out in a big way opposite Robert Redford and Kristin Scott Thomas in The Horse Whisperer. "Rebecca is this really smart girl who is sort of different," notes Johansson. "That's why she befriends Enid, who is really outrageous and loud. Even though they're best friends, in a way they're total opposites. Rebecca and Enid are always finding some interesting person to follow and exploit and embarrass, just for their own pleasure. But Rebecca is eager to get an apartment and get on with her life." In their post-high school meanderings, Enid and Rebecca find themselves drifting apart. "Enid really screws with her relationships," comments Birch. "She is constantly testing the people that are closest to her, especially Rebecca. They constantly feel each other out for weak spots, and yet they get along and are so comfortable with each other. Enid doesn't really know what she wants from her relationships." "This is not a typical teen film," adds Johansson with a hint of a smile. Adds Zwigoff, "I wasn't interested in making just another one of these Hollywood teen comedies, which are basically bad sitcoms with high production values. But I certainly didn't want to make some pretentious, self-indulgent art film either. I wanted to make a film that was entertaining as well as thought-provoking." By calling the number of an especially pathetic personal ad, Enid and Rebecca cross paths with Seymour (Steve Buscemi), a lonely collector of rare 78 rpm blues and jazz records. "They decide to play a joke on this guy who has put in an ad trying to look for this woman in a yellow dress that he met in an airport," says Buscemi, who has played signature roles in films as diverse as Armageddon and Pulp Fiction. "So they call him and pretend they're the woman in the yellow dress. He goes to this diner looking for his dream girl and she's not there. Later on in the film they find out that he has this garage sale every Saturday, and so Enid buys an old record from him. They find out that he is a record collector. And then they develop this friendship from there." "Enid and Seymour develop this interesting relationship," says Birch. "They meet and at first she sees him as just some guy that she is basically having fun with, but then she starts to feel bad for him because he doesn't have the most glamorous life and he's not very socially active. Then she starts to really like him because he's different. She admires that he sticks to who he is, even if that means being a real loser. Seymour becomes to her a last ditch attempt at trying to find someone who she thinks maybe understands things on her level, and sees the world the way she does. And then it even changes from there." Populating the story are offbeat but real characters whom Enid and Rebecca encounter in their lives. Illeanna Douglas plays the art teacher, who she describes as "the ex-hippie art teacher everybody had in high school that was always into self-exploration and always wanting you to look within yourself and that mystical stuff," says Douglas. "She probably spent too much time in Santa Fe or something." The girls make daily trips to a convenience store where their teen crush Josh, played by Brad Renfro, works amid the burnouts for a demanding, screaming boss (Brian George). "Enid and Rebecca always try to make Josh feel uncomfortable," says Renfro. "And yet at the same time he's the only person they really have to toy with during the day because he's stuck at work and can't really ask them to leave." Enid also becomes increasingly uncomfortable at home, where her dad (Bob Balaban) is in the process of reconciling with his ex-wife Maxine (Teri Garr). "Apparently, they had a relationship before, and Maxine had quite an influence on young Enid," says Garr. "Now she's coming back and Enid isn't really happy about that prospect." With Enid's encouragement, Seymour manages to connect with the original object of his furtive personal ad (Stacey Travis). But Enid discovers she has mixed feelings about this. Without the distraction of Seymour and the security of her friendship with Rebecca, Enid is faced with some unthinkable decisions. "Enid and Rebecca have this symbiotic relationship where each supplies qualities that the other one lacks, and they both have enjoyed that about each other," says Zwigoff. "They're two smart outsiders who gravitated to each other. They complement each other's personalities. Rebecca is this reserved introverted weirdo (albeit a rather cool, aloof, beautiful one), while Enid's this outgoing, imaginative, slightly abrasive character. It's a complicated relationship, and they're coming to a point in the relationship where they're facing adulthood and going their separate ways."
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