Film critic names 5 “Groundhog Day” movies that will make you think about life

What is Groundhog Day? Putting aside the fact that such a holiday exists, the expression is used to describe a routine, monotonous life. Day after day is the same. A person already knows exactly what, where and when it should happen, and he does not expect new things. Life seems to stop, although time continues to pass. We’ve collected a few movies about the time loop.

cultural critic, writer, film critic.

Sometimes reality borders on the fantastic. There are times when the cycle of events confuses a person, and there are times when nothing happens in his life. Someone manages to bring a rational grain into his life. And someone – “stuck” in his own story. What to do? The best thing is to look at the story from the outside and make the right conclusions. One such way is the movie about “Groundhog Day”, in which the heroes are looking for a way out of their story and sometimes find it. But more often this way out is noticed by the viewer.

“The Maid”, 2018, Mexico, directed by Lila Aviles

Age limit: 16+.

The meaning of the Mexican motion picture is significantly expanded and supplemented with each repeated viewing. It would seem that what is interesting in the routine actions of a hotel clerk? But not so.

First of all, the hotel is not a simple one, but one of the most expensive in Mexico City. Secondly, the maid had a very high standard of living.

According to the “official” version for the viewer, the girl wanted to get to the 42nd floor, which provides a pool and a helipad for rich guests.

This floor was given to another maid to clean. Where’s the high bar here, you ask? Director Lila Aviles showed how often we forget about the higher dream, frustrated that we didn’t achieve the small goal. The hunt for small things turns our lives into a dull existence where one day is like another. In fact, the protagonist wanted to become a rich woman. She touched the guests’ forgotten things to imagine what it is like to have the lifestyle of an unattainable person?

The maid is a smart girl, she studied quite well on courses from the hotel. She should get an education, and then her life would start to change. But she doesn’t see it. She thinks that if she cleans rooms on the 42nd floor, she will be closer to the life she imagined before. But the 42nd floor is too small a goal to give up to another maid who has no expectations of life.

“Maid.”

“A Time to Live and a Time to Die,” 1985, Taiwan, directed by Hou Saoxian

Age limit: 16+.

The cameraman also “tells” the movie and does it just as well as the director. If you watch “A Time to Live and a Time to Die”, you will notice a lot of “talking” scenes. There is not much music in the movie, but it is not necessary to set the viewer in the right mood.

Silent filming of different locations gradually assembles the plot into a coherent whole. Details often replace dialog, for example, blood on paper means that the hero’s father has tuberculosis. At the beginning of the movie, this man was sitting in a chair, and it was clear that he was thinking about the future. Later, he sits in the same position, but he has no thoughts of the future, for he is dying.

It will seem to you that the action of the movie is slow, but in fact the plot develops incredibly fast. Nothing is “stuck” in time, the characters move from class to class, adapt in a new country, the children grow up. Even the grandmother’s mood changes imperceptibly, although she makes coins out of tinfoil throughout the movie.

The locations and times of day are the same. And the rain, it would seem, also repeats itself. But no, nothing repeats itself. It turns out that the biggest changes in our lives happen unnoticed. When we do notice them, they are irreversible.

“A time to live and a time to die.”

“A Man Without a Past”, 2002, Finland, directed by Aki Kaurismäki.

Age limit: 12+.

You can make a movie and then turn down an Oscar yourself. That’s what Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki did. At the very beginning of watching his movie, the viewer will have a feeling of “breaking the pattern”. He will feel that his brain perceives something unique, although the plot is banal. Such a story can happen to anyone.

In fact, it is an art to shoot in such a way that the characters do not show their emotions and their facial muscles do not tremble according to the plot of the movie when they feel good or bad. Midway through the viewing, the viewer will realize that their eyes don’t blink either.

“It’s Friday night,” the friend says to the protagonist, “shall we go out to dinner?”. The viewer will, of course, think that the two are going to a restaurant. But no! They stand in line for free food for the homeless. The director allowed himself to play such games with the viewer countless times, although the inner feeling of “Groundhog Day” will not leave him until the end of the movie.

“A Man Without a Past”

“Expiration Date”, 2010, Uruguay, directed by Frederico Veiroch.

Age limit: 16+.

Life itself has eloquently hinted to the hero that it’s time to reboot. To change something in his destiny at last. And the movie theater where he has worked for 25 years has lost its financing. And the girl is already inventing various excuses not to see him. Life is booming around, people meet, work, plan, rejoice. But the hero of the movie is as if frozen in time. He does not behave like a visitor of an institution, a listener of a lecture or a lover.

The hero observes the lives of others and stubbornly stays with his worldview. He proves to be more persistent than fate. The viewer is surprised to find such boring people. On the other hand, are we not like that ourselves? Didn’t any of our friends or acquaintances show senseless persistence? This movie is about our stubbornness, which keeps time and space unchanged.

“Expiration Date.”

“The Misplaced Man”, 2006, Norway, directed by Jens Lien.

Age limit: 16+.

A movie about a too comfortable life, when the window is opened only on Mondays and Wednesdays, but if someone dares to do it on another day, the act is perceived as a shift in the system.

The Norwegian movie “Misplaced Man” does not leave indifferent. The plot is similar to every day of our lives. “You’ll get used to it,” it says twice in the frame. Indeed, we get used to plastic feelings, tasteless food, indifferent smiles and lack of empathy.

The hero hurts his finger, falls on the office floor and starts to faint, but his coworkers tell him, “You can’t just sit there.” The hero tells his girlfriend, “I’m leaving you.” Instead of sadness, she reminds him, “But we have company on Saturday.” Finally, the hero asks his boss, “Am I fired?”. The man answers him, “No, we don’t call it that.”

This is a reality in which there is no room for love, emotion, delicious pie, unusual couch choices, children’s voices, life off the clock. It’s a plastic reality where everyone works in glass identical offices, goes to the bar in the evenings, and spends weekends with the same friends. If you want something different, then you’re irrelevant. No, you’re not fired, because they don’t call it that.

“Inappropriate person.”

Don’t tie yourself to a routine, the time loop can be broken. All you have to do is find joy in the little things, the ordinary everyday things. Discover new things: new people, new places and even a new you. Do not forget that the situation largely depends on you, look for positivity around you and radiate it yourself, because good attracts the best.