 The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] Tagline: They're high school graduates, and the world's got hell to pay! Terry Zwigoff's first fiction film, adapted from a cult-classic comic by Daniel Clowes, is an idiosyncratic portrait of adolescent alienation that is at once bleakly funny and wholly endearing. Set during the malaise-filled months following high-school graduation, Ghost World follows the proud misfit Enid (Thora Birch), who confronts an uncertain future amid the cultural wasteland of consumerist America. As her cynicism becomes too much to bear even for her best friend, Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), Enid finds herself drawn to an unlikely kindred spirit: a sad-sack record collector many years her senior (Steve Buscemi). With its parade of oddball characters, quotable, Oscar Nominated script, and electric soundtrack of vintage obscurities, Ghost World is one of the twenty-first century's most fiercely believed comedies. When their classmates head for college, Enid (Birch) and Rebecca (Johansson) focus their energies on tormenting those around them! From a goofy convenience store clerk (Renfro) to an eccentric art teacher (Douglas), these two saboteurs wreak havoc on all those who cross their paths. But when they zero in on an oddball loner (Buscemi) looking for Miss Right, their seemingly innocent meddling threatens to shatter one of their hearts… not to mention their lifelong friendship! Storyline: This is the story of Enid and Rebecca after they finish the high school. Both have problems relating to people and they spend their time hanging around and bothering creeps. When they meet Seymour who is a social outsider who loves to collect old 78 records, Enid's life will change forever. Written by eric from Mexico City Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov, May 16, 2017 Terry Zwigoff's "Ghost World" (2001) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new documentary film with new interviews with actors Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, and Illeana Douglass; new audio commentary with Terry Zwigoff, comic creator and film cowriter Daniel Clowes, and producer Lianne Halfon; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Howard Hampton and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked". It is obvious now that very few people knew how fast the internet would change America's socio-cultural landscape. Around the year 2000 there was already a consensus that it is a place where serious business can be done, but it was unclear precisely what its social role could be or how it would be managed. So when people suddenly started shifting the bulk of their social activities to the internet -- first in group chat rooms and then to the large dating networks where they were matched with potential 'friends' -- an odd vacuum emerged with two different groups of explorers. Those from the first group were perfectly fine with their choice and were basically enjoying their time in the new virtual reality that the internet had revealed to them. When not in front of their computers, these folks enthusiastically discussed their experiences and the many wonderful relationships they had been able to create with 'friends' they never knew existed. Those from the second group acted differently, at least while they were in public. They were not entirely comfortable admitting that they were spending time in the new reality because it had a different social code that was mostly at odds with the one from the real world. So they thought that the right thing to do was to protect as much of their privacy as possible. Then at one point the barrier that separated the two groups fell and the big social networks earned permanent spots in people's lives. (Whether this was a good thing will surely be debated in the future, but this writer is already convinced that the old days when people still had some genuine privacy in their lives were the far better option). Terry Zwigoff's film Ghost World is set in the beginning of the short transitional period before the formation of the groups that are motioned above and follows closely two young girls who have just graduated from high-school. Enid (Thora Birch) is the more outspoken of the two and a rebel of sorts who is convinced that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way the world functions. She isn't on a mission to change it, but whenever she recognizes its flaws she enthusiastically points them out and scolds the people around her that willingly ignore them. Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) is a pragmatic thinker who understands that to get things done in life -- like renting a new apartment -- it is best to contribute to the system rather than critique or even fight it. Because they don't have boyfriends, the two girls spend just about all of their free time together, and while they don't always agree on everything, they absolutely love being together. But Enid and Rebecca's friendship is put to the test shortly after they decide to have a bit of fun with Seymour (Steve Buscemi), a loner in his mid-thirties who has published a small personal ad in a desperate attempt to reconnect with a mysterious woman. Much to their surprise, Seymour turns out to be a pretty decent guy with an incredible record collection and a brain that actually functions properly -- at least according to Enid, who quickly realizes that he sees the world they live in a lot like she does. Eventually, Enid becomes attracted to Seymour, and while trying to figure out how to have a meaningful relationship with him slowly begins to drift away from Rebecca, who has been planning to have her as a roommate in her new apartment. The film has an interesting dual identity that at times can be a bit tricky to defend. One part of it focuses on the existence that social outcasts in America were forced to endure before the explosion of social media. Ghost World is actually a very appropriate title for it because most of these people were essentially ghosts that only occasionally stepped into the real world where 'normal' people had normal lives and relationships. So when Enid and Rebecca encounter Seymour, a classic social outcast, the film begins comparing what it looks and feels like to be on both sides of the barrier that separates the ghost world and the real world. This is the better of the two parts that offers some quite interesting food for thought. (The segments with the seemingly invisible old man that patiently waits for the canceled bus to show up are particularly good). In the other part there is an obvious desire to be funny in the same way some of Sam Mendes, Kevin Smith and Todd Solondz's films are. In other words, there are a number of gotcha moments that add a special flavor to the narrative. The trouble here is that quite a few of them are too carefully timed and instead of being effective because they are spontaneous, more often than not they actually look and feel incredibly artificial. (The two segments with the kooky guy in the convenience store are prime examples). The cast is mostly good. Buscemi is clearly in an entirely different league, however, and it also easily shows that he is a lot more comfortable with his character. There are some very effective segments with Birch, but also quite a few where her emotions and reactions look remarkably overdone. Johansson occasionally looks a bit wooden, but it is something that works rather well for her character. *Ghost World is based on the comic book of the same name. It was the first film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay based on a Graphic Novel or Comic Book. I find Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World to be much more effective as a time capsule than as the quirky comedy that it frequently aspires to be. To be honest, I think that it would have been a much better film without the many carefully timed 'gotcha' moments. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release is sourced from a solid new 4K remaster of the film, and offers some quite good new supplemental features with director Terry Zwigoff and cast members that fans of the film will surely appreciate. RECOMMENDED. (Based on Comic Book) [CSW] -4.4- Ghost World is remarkable in that it's fundamentally about the slow death of a friendship, which expires very gradually over the course of the entire movie without ever quite receiving the last rites. Gradually and authentically this black comedy depicts the unraveling of that friendship. Enid's unexpectedly rich relationship she develops with Seymour is basically unimportant as the heart of the film is the failing relationship between Enid and Becky. Even though they never have a major tiff what really makes this entire movie work is Scarlett Johansson's performance as Becky. She doesn't strain to make Becky seem like a sellout or a shallow caricature of nascent materialism-she just sort of shrugs at everything Enid says, unable to agree, but unwilling to start an argument. Enid does not know what she wants to do, but instead she knows what she does not want to do. It could take her whole life to figure out what she wants if she only focuses on what she does not want. She is denying herself happiness because she is too concerned about the things that make one unhappy. The title suggests that ghosts live in "the-in-between" and Enid was trying to avoid this in between that everyone else seems to be living in. [Show Spoiler] [V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box Cast Notes: Thora Birch (Enid), Scarlett Johansson (Rebecca), Steve Buscemi (Seymour), Brad Renfro (Josh), Illeana Douglas (Roberta), Bob Balaban (Enid's Dad), Stacey Travis (Dana), Charles C. Stevenson Jr. (Norman), Dave Sheridan [I] (Doug), Tom McGowan [II] (Joe), Debra Azar (Melorra), Brian George [I] (Sidewinder Boss), Pat Healy (John Ellis), Rini Bell (Graduation Speaker), T.J. Thyne (Todd). IMDb Rating (10/26/12): 7.5/10 from 63,466 users IMDb Rating (02/13/02): 8.3/10 from 3,004 users Top 250: #171
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