I just wanted to share one of my top ten favorite comedy films with you, especially on the eve of the American holiday it is named after, Groundhog Day. This 1993 film, directed by Harold Ramis and staring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, is a must see (over and over again!). Groundhog Day takes place every year on February 2nd and involves a custom that seems to have originated in 18th or 19th century Pennsylvania. This holiday, like many American traditions, has European origins.
Groundhog Day involves releasing a small animal called the groundhog from a burrow and seeing if he "sees" its shadow (or not). if he "sees" his shadow he returns to his shelter and this predicts another six weeks of winter. This tradition may have come from around the time when Europeans were in between the Gregorian and the Julian calendars and using an animal to predict the start of Spring served during this confusion between these two calendar a thousand years ago. This tradition also resembles the pagan holiday called Imbolc, also involving weather prognostication.
When the Groundhog Day film was released it met with some mixed reviews, like many films that prove to be classics/stand (and thrive from) the test of time. It came out the same year as Jurassic Park and clearly is not something you could compare (Jurassic Park one the Hugo Award that year). Groundhog Day is a quirky, charming and endearing film, in addition to being extremely comical, in both its premise of the story and the script. Bill Murray, first being quite an egotistical TV weatherman who is sent to cover the most largest Groundhog Day celebration, in Punxsutawney Pennsylvania, an assignment he does not relish at all. Bill Murray's character, also named Phil, like the groundhog, goes through a metamorphoses by/because he was basically (magically and mysteriously) forced to relive the actual (Groundhog) day, over and over again. This is a romantic comedy as he started out admiring his female lead, Andie McDowell, but he was initially not at all someone she, his wholesome and lovely producer of his news show could admire or want to associate with, let along be involved with. It is "Rita" who recommends to "Phil" that he use this strange phenomenon of having to repeat the same day, Groundhog Day, over and over again, as an opportunity to work on improving himself.
To me, this is a great film about the differences between men and women their varying communication styles and priorities. To have the opportunity (and curse!) of reliving the same day, Bill Murray's character named Phil is basically trained by Andie McDowell's character, Rita, how to speak the "language" that she responds to. This is like a series of first dates, done over and over and over again. I'll try not to spoil the "Hollywood Ending" so will leave it at what a difference there is by the end of the film. At the beginning, you can't picture these two opposite characters together and at the end...
This film is considered one of the more spiritual films of our time, appreciated by Buddhists who feel that it shows how rebirth and selflessness , the Catholic Church feels it is a good example the concept of purgatory.
Jungian psychology has its own angle on this film, feeling that the film signifies how each of us needs to confront our shadow self ("dark side") in order to be whole, through the process of self realization/individuation. These emotional truths include who we really are and how we see the world. Attached is a fascinating link from The Jung Page regarding this Jungian analysis of this film. Groundhog Day touches on a journey that all humans are hardwired to embark on in order to lead a complete life. It is what makes certain movies reflections of our souls/our collective dreams (myths) and are thereby destined to be classics. This "dark side" is also the archetype that Jungian scholar Joseph Campbell influenced George Lucas to incorporate in his Star Wars movies and something that Lucas acknowledges helped make these films so vital.
