However there’s more to our little fur-ball buddy than meets the eye; if he catches a glimpse of his shadow we’re in for another six months of winter (at least traditionally). Everyone huddles together to see Phil’s response, anxiously anticipating his answer.
…Everyone but Phil Connor that is. Our protagonist Phil (played by Bill Murray) already knows that there will be another 6 months of winter, since he’s been trapped living this same day countless times before. Every night he goes to bed and every morning he wakes up to I Got You Babe on the radio. Following a roller-coaster of emotions and numerous attempts to escape the loop, he is finally able to break the spell after learning to become a more selfless person and live for something other than himself.
…Everyone but Phil Connor that is. Our protagonist Phil (played by Bill Murray) already knows that there will be another 6 months of winter, since he’s been trapped living this same day countless times before. Every night he goes to bed and every morning he wakes up to I Got You Babe on the radio. Following a roller-coaster of emotions and numerous attempts to escape the loop, he is finally able to break the spell after learning to become a more selfless person and live for something other than himself.
While Bill Murray alone is sometimes enough to make a movie, the director Harold Ramis uses a number of film and writing techniques to really bring his story together. The film opens with a sped up clip of rolling clouds against a blue sky, an introduction that is very telling of the rest of the movie.
Like each cloud, each day in Phil’s life is completely indistinguishable from the day prior. We have no idea when the shots of these clouds were taken, or if they’re even in chronological order. Likewise, every day to Phil is the same. There is no distinguishable difference to Phil from one day to the other except for the actions he makes. The clouds fade away and we are left with only a blue screen, which we soon realize is a screen our protagonist is presenting the weather on. As Phil ever-so sarcastically describes the week’s forecast, we can see that the film is extremely unsaturated, a trait that carries on through the rest of the film. This along with the unflattering lighting makes Phil’s skin looks gray and saggy, making Bill Murray look like a cranky middle-aged man. The movie takes place in the winter too, and the unsaturated film technique helps establish that by giving everything a cold, bland, washed out look.
Groundhog Day’s writing is really interesting as well. The story-line is pretty unique to movies of the time-travel genre, as most of them are darker, more serious movies. In addition, while the subject matter itself is not linear, the timeline of events that takes place is. This is pretty special for movies involving time loops; many will have the scenes mismatched, matching the time-travel tone of the film (12 Monkeys, Donnie Darko, etc.) By writing the movie this way Ramis lets the audience know that this isn't supposed to be a movie about time travel so much as it is about the characters and how they develop.
Like each cloud, each day in Phil’s life is completely indistinguishable from the day prior. We have no idea when the shots of these clouds were taken, or if they’re even in chronological order. Likewise, every day to Phil is the same. There is no distinguishable difference to Phil from one day to the other except for the actions he makes. The clouds fade away and we are left with only a blue screen, which we soon realize is a screen our protagonist is presenting the weather on. As Phil ever-so sarcastically describes the week’s forecast, we can see that the film is extremely unsaturated, a trait that carries on through the rest of the film. This along with the unflattering lighting makes Phil’s skin looks gray and saggy, making Bill Murray look like a cranky middle-aged man. The movie takes place in the winter too, and the unsaturated film technique helps establish that by giving everything a cold, bland, washed out look.
Groundhog Day’s writing is really interesting as well. The story-line is pretty unique to movies of the time-travel genre, as most of them are darker, more serious movies. In addition, while the subject matter itself is not linear, the timeline of events that takes place is. This is pretty special for movies involving time loops; many will have the scenes mismatched, matching the time-travel tone of the film (12 Monkeys, Donnie Darko, etc.) By writing the movie this way Ramis lets the audience know that this isn't supposed to be a movie about time travel so much as it is about the characters and how they develop.
Along with the story-line structure, Ramis uses symbolism in his writing to good effect. A repeating symbol in Groundhog Day is the appearance of clocks. The clock represents Phil’s futility to beat the loop he’s stuck in; no matter what he does he has no control over time. Clocks are put all over scenes in the movie as a constant reminder that Phil is stuck. The most notable clock (our antagonist) is the one set to go off at exactly 6:00 every morning. Every time the song is played it lets us know that Bill hasn't escaped his perpetual loop yet.
Ramis does a good job of tackling the cinematographic aspect of each scene too. Following yet another futile attempt to break the loop, Phil is awoken to the clock radio, just as he had been yesterday and the countless days before that. Here however, we have a close up of the clock from a low angle, making the clock appear colossal. The time begins to change, but unlike real time where the change is almost instantaneous, we watch as the shutter slowly falls. We hear the inner-workings of the clock make a deep roar, and then a loud thud as the shutter comes to a rest. This combination of visual and audio techniques gives the impression that the clock is much larger than it actually is, symbolizing the insurmountable force that time is.
Cut to the next shot, we have Phil laying down alone in his queen-sized bed, engulfed in his covers. The camera is slowly zooming out and looking down at him, giving the impression that he is small and powerless. This scene, in comparison to the one immediately prior, makes Phil look helpless to the unbeatable power of time.
Works Cited
- Monahan, D., Barsam R. Looking at Movies. 4th Edition ed. N.p.: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.
- Coffey, Donnacha. "Groundhog Day FilmGrab." Web log post. Film-grab.com. N.p., 5 Sept. 2010. Web.
- Woods, Conley. "Punxsutawney Phil." N.p., 2007. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
- Ebert29, Roger. "Groundhog Day" All Content. N.p., 29 Dec. 1993. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
- Groundhog Day Dir. Harold Ramis. Perf. Bill Murray. 1993. DVD.
- Richards, Evan. "The Cinematography of “Groundhog Day" @ Evan E. Richards. N.p., Aug. 2010. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
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