the Groundhog Day

The Groundhog Day is a romance as well as a comedy. It mainly tells a story of the hero, a weather forecast man called Phil, who has an astounding experience of living in the same day: the Goundhog Day. All of it happens in a small town named Punsutawney where is renowned for groundhog’s prediction of spring. In the whole story, great change has been made by Phil from a selfish person to a helpful person.

In the façade, it’s a romance undoubtedly because it tells how the two main characters- Phil and Rita, finally become lovers. However, the film tells us more than that. It also teaches us a lesson on the philosophy of life.

 At the beginning of the film, as we can see, the hero Phil is an arrogant, selfish man who treats others ignorantly and rudely. He has no friends and nobody likes him. The accident comes accompanying his arrival in the town to report the Groundhog Day’s ceremony that his life lingers at the date of Feb.2rd. He goes through always the same day and the things he meets are unchanged. At first, it is wonderful for him because he can know what will happen tomorrow and do whatever he wants for no need to pay for his disobeying of common rules. However, he feels tired of such kind of life soon and is overwhelmed by this monotonous mode. Then he wants to end the tragic life by resorting to suicide. But whatever ways he tries to end life, everything will come back to its regular form the next day. At this time, the film’s conflicts come out. One is the outer conflict that Phil wants to jump out the repeating Groundhog Day but fails. Another is the inner conflict that he begins to desire a meaningful life but finds himself lost in self-centered world all the time. The turning point comes when Phil set out to think who he is and how to live a meaningful life. Actually, Phil is not only the imaginary character in film but he can also be the person in reality, even the reflection of us. Under many occasions, we people do things only in the consideration of ourselves. We seldom care about what others think and feel. We look for things that can meet our own needs but feel increasing emptiness. How can we escape this emptiness? I think the film has given a sound answer. In the motivation of fleeing from the repeating day and living meaningfully, Phil learns to care others and love others, thus achieving the growth. He overcomes the shadow in the film which is right his self-center.、

Rating: ★★★★