The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club is a timeless classic about teenagers. It is still very popular today because just about every teen today can relate to one of the 5 in the film. It is set in a suburb in Illinois and starts off by introducing 5 very different teens. They are known as the typical stereotypes, Princess, Brain, Athlete, Basket Case and a Criminal. In the beginning they all think they have nothing in common except for having detention on the same day, but as the day progresses they find out that they are more connected than they thought.
The writer and director of this film was John Hughes and he made several other teen films in the 1980's as well, such as Weird Science, Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He is very famous for these films that he made because they are well-written, relatable and have superb acting. The Breakfast Club stars upcoming actors at the time such as, Molly Ringwald (Princess) and Emilio Estevez (Athlete). Molly Ringwald starred in one of Hughes earlier films Sixteen Candles in 1984. Now even though you can tell through the clothes and language that this was in the 80's, the teens are still dealing with the same problems as kids today.
The look of this movie is very distinct. The costumes and look of the school really represent the stereotypes and aspects of high school. Each character has there own style and way of talking, which in the beginning separates them a lot. Throughout the film there are a lot of wide shots to show all 5 characters and how they react to each other. There are also solo shots where one character will be talking and it is a close up of them. Some of the famous scenes incude them running from the teacher in the hallway and they so some jump cuts of them running from hall to hall which was an interesting technique.
One of my favorite scenes and I think one of the most emotional is the scene where they are all talking about how they got into detention and about their more personal lives. In this scene they all talk about what they are worrying about or their personal problems which I think is a great way to weave all of their stories together.
Overall, I give this movie 4.5/5 stars. I love this film because of its timeless quality and effect it leaves on you. I recommend this to anyone really, but especially ages 14-19 to really relate to it.
