Today the same as Yesterday ? Film Review

Watched through the filters of our spiritual work.

Just the other day we re-watched the 1993 film Groundhog Day directed by Harold Ramis from a screenplay by him and Danny Rubin - it stars Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.

The way that we make choices about films follows the way in which we make choices about pretty much everything. We follow, what Karen calls, the breadcrumbs or following our noses; making connections with what life presents us with, where our learning takes us and/or where are conversations lead.

Often, as is the case with this film, we have both seen the film before but in different versions of ourselves. Rewatching a film with new perspectives, realisations and connections enables us to bring our learning to a different level. One of the things that we believe is that our spiritual learning and awareness must be brought into life. After watching a film it is always unpicked for what it says about the world and how it can be of use to illustrate the events in our own lives.

A film, we realise, is the product of many people and influences and because the production of big box office films is always subject to the often nefarious money orientated world this gives us another dynamic to think about. How is film used to siphon the energy of people? How is film used to feed us with dark energies? How is film used to show us ‘in plain sight’ what is actually going on on this slave planet? The story of film production, finance, individual motives can lead to analysis in a number of ways.

Our take on the film Groundhog Day is that it involves an interesting portrayal of one man’s awareness of how patterns of behaviour create the same circumstances in life. The Neuro Linguistic maxim ‘If you always do, what you have always done, you will always get, what you have always got.’ is presented here in the life of a weather reporter for an American news channel who presents as a character full of ego and self importance. It is the story of him reporting on a famous celebration that takes place yearly in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He gets stuck here in a snow storm that closes all routes out of the town. However this is not the only way in which he gets stuck. Days, to him, no longer seem to be progressing in the usual sequence. Every day seems the same – a complaint of many people who are caught in soulless jobs, in difficult relationships, in the endless ‘fight’ to pay the mortgage or cloth their children. Our understanding about this planet being a ‘slave planet’ fits this description.

Everyday seems the same in this film becomes everyday is the same..the same things happen with slight variation brought about by slight changes made by Phil, the Weather presenter. This continues until Phil becomes at first perplexed, then increasingly annoyed, dismayed, frustrated and finally seeks to involve himself in activities that risk his life and that of others causing discomfort and abusing others to try to force time to move on in what we think of as a 'normal' way. In reality the frustration felt by some people in life does lead them to take extreme actions to try to heal their pain, indulging in anti social behaviour and swinging a wrecking ball at others and themselves. While many in this life resort to alcohol, harmful drug abuse and crimes against others Phil resorted to driving wrecklessly and eventually attempting to take his own life in an attempt to push himself into tomorrow but everyday continues to turn out to be a repeat of Ground Hog day.

Gradually, after driving his car off a cliff and the explosion of his car with him in it - an extreme action of frustration that for most people would end up being recorded as suicide, but to him becomes the same repeated day yet again, he realises that he needs to do something different. He starts to find out about all the people in the town their personal lives and histories. He takes advantage of what is offered to him learns how to play the piano. He accepts the position he finds himself in, he surrenders to what life has brought him and to the present moment. He uses his intelligence and active mind, previously employed to be sarcastic and biting to those around him, to develop himself and his self awareness gradually creating friends of the people in the town. Eventually to he becomes highly thought of and regarded as someone who is full of kindness and generosity.

Throughout the plot he becomes more and more attracted to Rita played by Andie MacDowell. At first he adopts a distorted masculine aspect where he seeks to control and force himself upon her. What he finds finally works though, to propel him into tomorrow, is his new found kindness, generosity, diligence and purity.

The magic of film presents this transformative story in the brief minutes available with a fairy tale feel but nonetheless it lays out the importance of key concepts such as the death of the ego, the Spirits of Christ and made us think of the Natural Laws of Mentalism, Law of Correspondence and the Law of Polarity.

Note: words and concepts in bold are ones that we will expand on either in our events or further posts