comicstr i
It’s the coolest film of the Festival, but beyond being a cult comic adaptation what exactly is Ghost World? Creators DAN CLOWES and TERRY ZWIGOFF sketch in the details. Words: Miles Fielder
hat the hell is (i/mst ll’orlrl‘.’ It’s an adaptation of
Daniel Clowes‘ underground comic strip. co-written
by Clowes and filmmaker 'l’erry Zwigoff. who also directed an acclaitned documentary about another underground cartoonist. Robert Crumb. It's a slice into the life of two angsty teenage girls. Jewish linid (played in the film by Thora Birch) and WASPy Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson). covering the summer following their high school graduation. The film introduces a new character. geeky record collector Seymour (prince of indie filmtnaking Steve Buscemi). who becomes an object of fascination for linid.
For Clowes. however. (ilmst World. the title of which originates in graffiti he found scrawled on a wall in his hometown Chicago. is about himself. "l'he dialogue those girls have with each other is the internal dialogue I've had between the id and the superego.~ he says. ‘Rebecca just wants to go along with the programme. linid wants to tear down everything and find something new in the rubble.‘
Here‘s some choice acid dialogue from linid. commenting on a classmate and her new boyfriend: ‘She better watch out. or she‘ll get AlI)S when he date rapes her.‘ And a note she pins to the door of a ‘friend‘: ‘l)ear Josh. we came by to fuck you. but you weren‘t home. 'l‘herefore. you are gay.‘ (Later [wigoff would ask Clowes how he wrote dialogue so well for teenage girls: ‘l)o you just eavesdrop in playgrounds‘.")
‘l was making a different statement to Dan.’ says '/.wigoff. "lo me. (ilmst ll’urld is about the disappearance of anything genuine in America. in the world for that matter. This monoculture sweeping over the world. whether it's (iap or
8 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE if} 22 Aug; 1200‘:
‘The dialogue those girls have with each other is the internal dialogue I’ve had between the id and the superego’
McDonalds. It's hard to find anything that comes in any authentic way out of some tradition in this country. Culture here is very contrived by corporations just to sell you crap.‘
I‘m thinking about linid and Rebecca wandering from diner to mall to diner in what '/.wigoff calls the film‘s ‘Anyplace L'SA‘ setting when our phone conversation is interrupted. A few minutes pass. the transatlantic line humming. then Zwigoff is back. ‘Sornebody pestering me to do an add for (iapf
Surely he’s kidding? Didn’t he just mention . . ‘Sl().()()().’ he says. ‘I thought they wanted me to direct. but they want me to pose in (iilp clothing and take my picture. They‘re doing an ad campaign on young. hip filmmakers. l‘m 53—years-old. I don’t wear blue jeans. backward baseball caps and Nike shoes. And I don‘t like (iap: I just did a film decrying the whole world being swept over by capitalist corporate consumerism. I'd like that $10,000. but Jesus Christ. I gotta haye a little bit of integrity after doing that lilm.‘
’/.wigoff read Ghost War/(l live years ago. when it first appeared in Clowes‘ comic. [Light/ml]. He asked old pal Robert Crumb about Clowes. ‘Robert liked his work.‘ says '/.wigoff. ‘but he likes all undergrouml comics. so that didn‘t have much influence on me.‘ But '/.wigoff‘s wife kept pushing him to tnake the film. ‘lloney. I love the characters. the guy's very talented with dialogue and very funny. but it wouldn't make a good film. it‘s this episodic. slice—of—life thing without a plot.‘
Zyvigoff met Clowes anyway — they live relativer near to each other. in San l’rancisco and Berkeley. respectively. Since making Crumb. the third most successful documentary ever released in America. Zwigoff had been inundated with Hollywood film offers. none of which he could relate to. When he discovered he was ‘on the same page‘ as Clowes. he decided to write the film with him. liasier decided than done. as it turns out.
‘We started trying to adapt it very directly. turn it into this small. episodic lilm.‘ recalls Clowes of a process that ended tip