Groundhog Day
Today, as I often do on Groundhog Day, I watched the movie "Groundhog Day."
I have loved this movie since it came out. This movie has slowly been climbing my list of favorite movies, and now it is very near the top. It takes repeated viewings and much time to to be sure one's love of a specific movie is true love and not just passing infatuation. For me, "Groundhog Day" has not only passed that test, but grown in stature over the years. I know I'm not the only one who thinks "Groundhog Day" is more than just a piece of romantic fluff, more than a payday comedy.
Roger Ebert says that the value of a movie is not what it's about, but HOW it's about what it's about. I can see his point; I imagine he sees maybe hundreds of movies a year, and with that kind of exposure (so to speak) to movies, you would have to look for the sub-text and technique of the movies you watch or you'd lose your mind. But I think seeing so many movies sometimes puts the professional movie reviewer out of touch with the average movie-goer as regards what is of value and what has merit. Not to mention what's fun to watch.
"Citizen Kane" has won many, many surveys of important movies; here, I think what Ebert says is likely true. Surely not all that many people really care about the life and death of a fictional 19th/20th century newspaper publisher/editor. But anyone can see that "Citizen Kane" has visual impact, and a great presence. But, for me, the story is boring. Story-wise, one viewing, maybe two at the outside, was enough. I've seen it many more times than that, but always to appreciate it as a work of cinematic art, not for the story, not as a movie, per se.
"To Kill A Mockingbird," on the other hand, is a movie I have watched even more often. It is also technically well made, and although not as experimental and flashy as "Citizen Kane," it is much more than merely competent as a cinematic work of art. But it the power and emotional connection of the story of "To Kill A Mockingbird" that draws me back again and again. It pulls me in every time, and fills me with love and respect, with shame and a desire to be a better person. And it must have this effect on others, too, as it wins the "favorite movie" title in polls at least as often as "Citizen Kane."
"Groundhog Day" is not in the same league as either of those movies. It is competently made (and it's fun to watch repeatedly to see some of the visual jokes and subtleties on screen), but like "To Kill A Mockingbird," it is its story which keeps me coming back. Every year, as I watch it again, I get at least one more small, new insight into the human condition, the meaning of life, and the way the world works. "Groundhog Day" always leaves me smiling, because it is, after all a comedy and a love story, but, like the television show "Northern Exposure," it also hangs in my mind for a day or two, feeling more significant and more spiritual than it seemed, speaking quiety to me of much more profound things.
Today, I realized two new things about "Groundhog Day."
First, every day that Phil the Weatherman leaves behind, every February second that he lives through, ends for him when he wakes up the next day only to find that it is groundhog day again, but for the other people in that day just past, their lives go on in their alternate universe, and they have to deal with the detritus he has left behind while he makes his attitude adjustment about life. I imagine the world-wide headlines on February 3rd in the universe where the two Phils plunge over the cliff in the quarry to their fiery demise: "Beloved Groundhog Punxetawny Phil Dead at the Hands of Lunatic Pittsburgh Weatherman," for example. Imagine the real grief Phil the groundhog's owners and/or handlers must have felt, and the anger and resentment they felt toward Phil the weatherman's selfishness. Seriously.
Second, I finally realized that I have always regretted that each of us doesn't have such a day, early in our adult life. A day that repeats over and over again, until we finally get over ourselves and get it right. How many days I've squandered while worrying about some previous day that somehow went wrong - a day that is over and done while I waste the day I'm living while wallowing in regret. How many times I have made the same mistakes over and over, casting many days of my life in much the same light in which Phil Connors saw his seemingly never-ending February 2nd. How I wish I could have had a practice day that repeated as often as it took to get it right. To get me right.
Turns out, they're all practice days.
posted by Mique @ 10:06 PM
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