The Groundhog Day, known as Groundhog Dayis the traditional celebration that takes place in the rural American town of punxsutawneystate Pennsylvania. There, a folk method is used by farmers to predict the end of winter, based on the behavior of a groundhog when it comes out of hibernation on February 2.
According to the local belief, if the marmot does not see its shadow when leaving its burrow because it is a cloudy day, it will leave the burrow, which means that winter will end soon. Conversely, if the groundhog sees its shadow because it is a sunny day and goes back into the burrow, this means that winter will last six more weeks.
Locals claim that the rodent, whose name is Punxsutawney Phil, It has an accuracy between 75% and 90%. However, a Canadian study of thirteen cities over the past 30 to 40 years puts the hit rate at a level of 37%. In addition, reports from the North American organization National Climatic Data Center have established that the overall accuracy of the prediction is around 39%.
Beyond the successes and the statistics, the celebration provided the plot base of a film that has not lost its validity over the years. Groundhog Daystarring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowellis among the best romantic movies of all time according to the American Film Institute.
Translated as “Spell of Time” for the Spanish-speaking public, the feature film directed by the actor, screenwriter and filmmaker Harold Ramis premiered 30 years ago and managed to win the award BAFTA for Best Screenplay. In 2006, the romantic fantasy film was added to the United States National Film RegistryI know how “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”.
The argument is attractive from the beginning, the meteorologist of a television station, Phil Connors (Bill Murray), is accompanied by his new producer, Rita (Andie McDowell) and his cameraman Larry (Chris Elliot) to Punxsutawney for the famous Groundhog Day. Phil is a man frustrated in his ambitions and bored with his job, selfish and rude with his team. But a strange spell in which he must continually relive the day will transform him and spark a crush on his coworker.
One of the curiosities of the tape is that most of the scenes were not recorded in the traditional town where the celebration takes place. For budgetary and production design reasons, the chosen location was the city of Woodstock, Illinois. Beyond that decision, the choice of the acting duo was extremely successful. Later, catapulting Bill Murray as a partner in tapes of the same tune as “Lost in Tokyo” and the British Andie MacDowell in romantic films like “Four Weddings and a Funeral”.
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