(Yay! I'm like Sony!!!)
It is Wednesday, June 8th and the time is 1:08 am. Because I clearly can't keep up with my deadlines, I will post these reviews sporadicly within a short period of time, so you might get a double or even a triple feature review (Or analysis through my experiences like my blog synopsis implies. But whatever) so because of the subject that is a lot of sappines for a short period of time, but I hope you don't abandon me because of this. PLLEEAASSEEE GODDAMNIT!!
So, on to the self proclaimed child hood therapy session.
I am going to go through these films chronologically and, because this is MY list, we will start from the 80s.
(I actually really considered taking Animal House in to the list, but then I thought that nobody really grows in that movie. P.S. The film is awesome).
Now, in the 80s section I wanted to keep the presence of John Hughes as small as possible, but it was hard. (Don't you dare to call them Chick Flicks! Chick Flicks are awesome. Many of my favorites are. There, I said it.)
After much consideration, I managed to squeeze the Hughes flicks into two. I guess you can almost guess the next one based on the one I am talking about in this post. Now, enough chitchat, let's dive into the realm of social deviance and impulsive behavior, the world where every social class of youth is tormented by pressuring elements of their every day lifes and there is only one way to break these curses. This summer from the producer of Indiana Jones and Howard the Duck and the Director of the Godfather and the marvelous piece of cinema, Jack, comes the epic of a generation. Vincent Chase in...you know what, fuck this I am not that funny and I don't even where I was going with that! The point is that the film is The Breakfast Club Written and Directed by John Hughes.
I remember seeing The Breakfast Club for the first time when I was 11 years old. I remember that it came as a matinée film from the television. I remember it was Thursday and it was a spring afternoon. Maybe? This is getting a bit hypothetical, but I remember that I just had came back from school and my dad was watching it and when I sat down to see this joint of nostalgia (?) the scene where they smoke weed and screw up everything started. That's when I realized that I was born to be an adult. (Am I disappointed now that I am, I'm not yet fully prepared for confess.) After that, I never saw it again, but it left me quite an impact, because it gave me a perspective to the social deviance inside modern youth and though the film was made 1985 the concept of the film is so timeless that I would argue that it has stood the test of time better than pretty much any film of this genre and from the 80s. With some hitches of course. Maybe I should explain the plot for those who haven't yet seen this and feel a bit orphan with this introduction. My humble apologies to all of you. Let's have a quite moment.........Okay fuck it and let's move on!!
The Story is simple. Five High School students who have nothing in common have to go together to a detention for nine hours one Saturday morning. Their principal of the High School (Paul Gleason), whom also works as a watchmen through the detention period, gives them the rules of the period: Speaking and moving from the seats isn't allowed and you also can't leave and every violation is met with another Detention Saturday, however they aren't. Each student represents some kind of student clique.
There is a Princess named Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald),
a Nerd named Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall),
a Basket Case named Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy),
a Jock named Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez)
and a Criminal named John Bender (Judd Nelson).
At the Beginning of the day, they don't talk to each other and only presumptions they have of each other are just very two dimensional stereotypes, like a Nerd doesn't know what pressure feels, Princess has the happiest and easiest trust fund baby life and a Rebel is only an obnoxious show off, but as the story progresses, they start to bend the rules a little at a time and as the rules get broken more and more, the characters start open up about their personal lives and as the character s come realization that these characters have personalties beyond their cliques, we as audience come to this realization too.
What I really love about the film is that it has the sense of comedy that you will see a lot in this Coming of Age Saga. the kind of comedy that isn't really set up, but it elevates itself from the quirks of the characters.
(This isn't really any form of intelligent analytic realization. Let me step it up a bit. I'll take a break for a minute. Time is now 15:48 and no, I haven't written this in one streak. Time is now 16:00. Okay, let's try again.)
The sense of comedy mirrors the overall nature of the film. It doesn't really have any dominant colors besides grey and the characters are very reserved. (I'm getting to it. Don't give up.) While the film does try to hammer these aspects down your throat, it is still a John Hughes film and if you have seen Sixteen Candles, you know that this film can't be so down to earth and and quiet all the time and it isn't. When the film feels that it's getting a bit too heavy, even with all the quirkiness, the film puts on the fifth gear and it turns into really sweet and exciting...almost an action film.
After the loud mouth antics, when the characters open up, it is some of the best written drama I have seen, because it relentless and none of the characters get it easy. There is a lot of talks about friends and hobbies and especially parents and how every character in the film has some sort of domestic problems ranging from ridiculous pressures to money and zero responsibilities as terms of raising. There is a lot of shouting and almost humiliation in the air and they finally come to the realization that they have bonded really tightly, but the tough question is that will they continue their friendship after the day or will they retreat back in their own cliques and forget everything that has happened. I wont spoil what happens in the end, but it is satisfying and very uplifting.
We also spent some time with the principal who occasionally checks on the characters. principal symbolizes the parents and overall the strict old school people whom frown upon the modern youth and especially in this case the rebellious John Bender. The chemistry between these two gives us a piece of genuine tension every now and then and you can feel how this person of power is starting to crumble in front of these youngsters whom, he thinks will destroy everything he has worked on. The film is all about inequality of individuals that is based on the lack of communication. Older generation dismiss younger people leaving them on their own and this growing pressure radiates towards them and people in same age group. What the film ultimately tries to say is that we are pretty much floating in the same pond, but we have forgotten that and the dangers of this is that people will be left alone with their issues and even a bit of social connection may help a person these kind of problems.
Throughout Junior High when the clique phenomenon came more and more evident, I always came back to this film. Although, I never told about it to anyone, it was always cracking the back of my skull. Junior High can be extremely cruel period in growing up and same goes to High School which is pretty much a grown up version of the Junior High. The social recession of youth is at that point pretty much as high as it gets in terms of cliques. I am personally really lucky, because I have double degree studies, so I have a very tight class, therefore cliques won't form. But in High School I have watched different people and their perceptions of one another are sometimes REALLY offensive and shallow. It is pretty depressing and you really can't be surprised when you hear that the mental well being of youth is at risk nowadays. I would argue that at the field of youth, equality matters are more WAY more screwed up than, for example in the gender field.
The Breakfast Club bodies these issues really well, but it also has a very uplifting feel to it. The film tells that these boundaries can be broken and if they don't get, you can always tell yourself that you are equal with everyone else and you are from the same wood as everybody else. You are a Jock, a Criminal, a Princess, a Basket Case and a Nerd.
You are a part of The Breakfast Club.
-Arttu "is for some reason burning his shorts" Hypén
P.S. I'm in love with Ally Sheedy in this film. Do you have the time to listen to me wine......
The Story is simple. Five High School students who have nothing in common have to go together to a detention for nine hours one Saturday morning. Their principal of the High School (Paul Gleason), whom also works as a watchmen through the detention period, gives them the rules of the period: Speaking and moving from the seats isn't allowed and you also can't leave and every violation is met with another Detention Saturday, however they aren't. Each student represents some kind of student clique.
There is a Princess named Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald),
a Nerd named Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall),
a Basket Case named Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy),
a Jock named Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez)
and a Criminal named John Bender (Judd Nelson).
At the Beginning of the day, they don't talk to each other and only presumptions they have of each other are just very two dimensional stereotypes, like a Nerd doesn't know what pressure feels, Princess has the happiest and easiest trust fund baby life and a Rebel is only an obnoxious show off, but as the story progresses, they start to bend the rules a little at a time and as the rules get broken more and more, the characters start open up about their personal lives and as the character s come realization that these characters have personalties beyond their cliques, we as audience come to this realization too.
What I really love about the film is that it has the sense of comedy that you will see a lot in this Coming of Age Saga. the kind of comedy that isn't really set up, but it elevates itself from the quirks of the characters.
(This isn't really any form of intelligent analytic realization. Let me step it up a bit. I'll take a break for a minute. Time is now 15:48 and no, I haven't written this in one streak. Time is now 16:00. Okay, let's try again.)
The sense of comedy mirrors the overall nature of the film. It doesn't really have any dominant colors besides grey and the characters are very reserved. (I'm getting to it. Don't give up.) While the film does try to hammer these aspects down your throat, it is still a John Hughes film and if you have seen Sixteen Candles, you know that this film can't be so down to earth and and quiet all the time and it isn't. When the film feels that it's getting a bit too heavy, even with all the quirkiness, the film puts on the fifth gear and it turns into really sweet and exciting...almost an action film.
After the loud mouth antics, when the characters open up, it is some of the best written drama I have seen, because it relentless and none of the characters get it easy. There is a lot of talks about friends and hobbies and especially parents and how every character in the film has some sort of domestic problems ranging from ridiculous pressures to money and zero responsibilities as terms of raising. There is a lot of shouting and almost humiliation in the air and they finally come to the realization that they have bonded really tightly, but the tough question is that will they continue their friendship after the day or will they retreat back in their own cliques and forget everything that has happened. I wont spoil what happens in the end, but it is satisfying and very uplifting.
We also spent some time with the principal who occasionally checks on the characters. principal symbolizes the parents and overall the strict old school people whom frown upon the modern youth and especially in this case the rebellious John Bender. The chemistry between these two gives us a piece of genuine tension every now and then and you can feel how this person of power is starting to crumble in front of these youngsters whom, he thinks will destroy everything he has worked on. The film is all about inequality of individuals that is based on the lack of communication. Older generation dismiss younger people leaving them on their own and this growing pressure radiates towards them and people in same age group. What the film ultimately tries to say is that we are pretty much floating in the same pond, but we have forgotten that and the dangers of this is that people will be left alone with their issues and even a bit of social connection may help a person these kind of problems.
Throughout Junior High when the clique phenomenon came more and more evident, I always came back to this film. Although, I never told about it to anyone, it was always cracking the back of my skull. Junior High can be extremely cruel period in growing up and same goes to High School which is pretty much a grown up version of the Junior High. The social recession of youth is at that point pretty much as high as it gets in terms of cliques. I am personally really lucky, because I have double degree studies, so I have a very tight class, therefore cliques won't form. But in High School I have watched different people and their perceptions of one another are sometimes REALLY offensive and shallow. It is pretty depressing and you really can't be surprised when you hear that the mental well being of youth is at risk nowadays. I would argue that at the field of youth, equality matters are more WAY more screwed up than, for example in the gender field.
The Breakfast Club bodies these issues really well, but it also has a very uplifting feel to it. The film tells that these boundaries can be broken and if they don't get, you can always tell yourself that you are equal with everyone else and you are from the same wood as everybody else. You are a Jock, a Criminal, a Princess, a Basket Case and a Nerd.
You are a part of The Breakfast Club.
-Arttu "is for some reason burning his shorts" Hypén
P.S. I'm in love with Ally Sheedy in this film. Do you have the time to listen to me wine......
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