Movies - Groundhog Day

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	Movies - Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is a 1993 comedy film and box office hit starring Bill Murray as Phil Connors, an egocentric Pittsburgh weatherman who, dreading his hated annual assignment covering Groundhog Day from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, finds himself repeating the day over and over. Andie MacDowell plays Rita, his new producer, and Chris Elliott plays Larry, a station camera operator. The film was directed by Harold Ramis and written by Ramis and Danny Rubin.

Plot

Phil Connors and his crew from the fictional Pittsburgh television station WPBH-TV travel to Punxsutawney (which, in real life, as in the movie, holds a major celebration for Groundhog Day) on February 1 in order to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities with Punxsutawney Phil the next morning.

After the celebration concludes, a blizzard develops, closing the nearby roads and shutting down outside phone service, forcing Phil and company to spend an extra day in Punxsutawney. Phil, however, does not wake up on February 3, but rather on February 2 again. He becomes trapped in a "time loop", living the same Groundhog Day in the same small town again and again. Groundhog Day begins afresh for Connors each morning (starting with his waking up to the same song, Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe, on his alarm clock radio), but with his (and only his) memories of previous instances of the day intact.

He soon takes advantage of his foreknowledge of the day's events, the information he is able to gather about the town's inhabitants, and the fact that his actions can have no long-term consequences. He creates an extravagant life for himself, robbing banks, seducing women, and indulging his every pleasure. However, his attempts to seduce Rita are met with repeated failure. He begins to tire, and then to despair of his existence. He commits suicide several times, but even death cannot stop the day from repeating. He opens his heart to Rita, and her advice helps him to gradually find a goal for his trapped life: as a benefactor to others. He cannot, in a single day, bring others to fulfill his needs but he can achieve self-improvement by educating himself on a daily basis.

Phil goes on to develop many talents such as ice sculpting and playing the piano and he also enhances his own human understanding which, in return, make him an appreciated and loved man, which eventually allows him to ultimately find love and wake up on February 3.

Theme

The film explores existentialist themes (cf. Camus's essay The Myth of Sisyphus), showing how one's own choices influence and dictate one's future; in this respect, it parallels the life of George Bailey in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life
. In contrast to Bailey, Connors gets to manipulate the variables, and then to see the many different outcomes, which seem to repeat countless times.

The concept of the Eternal return, especially that posited by Friedrich Nietzsche, has also been cited as a philosophical inspiration for the film, though Connors' eventual redemption runs contrary to Nietzsche's grim outlook.

Though the film does not specify the number of repetitions, there is enough time for Connors to become a skilled piano player, learn French, become a master ice sculptor, learn the life story of many people in the town, and master the art of flipping playing cards into an upturned hat, which he admits takes six months; director Harold Ramis states the day repeats for about ten years, though the original script continued for thousands of years; in the film there are thirty-three definite repeats.

During the first part of the film, Connors explores the unseemly side of his personality: shallowness, exploitation, gluttony, crime, meanness, self-pity, and dishonesty. Though he first finds enormous pleasure in living a consequence-free existence, he soon passes into desperation and depression, and finally kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil in a bid to kill them both and end the cycle. His attempt is unsuccessful—his own death simply cuts the day short and repeats the process—but he attempts suicide many more times before succumbing to the sad realization that he is immortal.

Connors is eventually inspired to explore the more positive aspects of his personality. He helps the ill, rescues people, takes piano lessons, becomes an expert ice sculptor, and eventually learns to appreciate others. These experiences, and their consequences, fulfill what seem to be his deepest desires: to like himself, to like others, and to be liked. As he comes to realize who he is, he is able to love, and is eventually able to win Rita's heart. In other words, he can now forgive himself for being a jerk. With this, Connors finally awakens to a new day and a new life.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Groundhog Day (film) ]

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