Please note: This was screened in
Based on Daniel Clowes’ graphic novel, Terry Zwigoff's sublime film remains a sharp, funny, and deeply relatable portrait of youth, identity, and not fitting in. Two quirky, cynical teenagers - extrovert Enid (Thora Birch) and introvert Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) - are best friends who try to figure out what to do with their lives after high school graduation amid the cultural wasteland of consumerist America. But when super cynic Enid develops an interest in painfully shy fortysomething 78 rpm-record collector Seymour (Steve Buscemi), this causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.
Terry Zwigoff, who had made a documentary on underground cartoonist Robert Crumb, kept things stripped back, the perfect complement to Clowe’s offbeat story telling. With its parade of misfits, highly quotable Oscar-nominated script, and vintage soundtrack, Ghost World is one of the 21st century’s most fiercely beloved cult-classics.
This event is part Other Ways of Seeing, an initiative supported by BFI awarding funds from National Lottery curated by Cressida Williams & Sophie Robinson.