The Breakfast Club

                                                  

John Hughes' 'The Breakfast Club' was released in 1985 by Universal Studios and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was made with an estimated budget of only $1,000,000 and made a profit of $38,100,000.

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I put this film into the DVD player, I knew it was about teenage stereotypes and had heard my mum talk several times about 'Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club' often with a wistful look as she remembers the good old days of 'Robin of Sherwoood' and a young Gary Barlow. And it did not disappoint. I loved the film right from the beginning and I could tell from the introduction of the characters in the cars outside school this was going to be a film of incredible acting and comical stereotypes.

It follows the story of a group of five high school students who have been put in Saturday detention for each differently flaunting the rules. None of them are impressed at the days activity (writing an essay about who they are) but they start to bond over their common dislike of the teacher and open up about their different 'roles' in the school.

The relationships between the characters were so intricately done and subtly performed that they created s strangely realistic view of life in high school. The immediate submissiveness of Brian towards John, even waiting for him to finish taking off his jacket first, is an example of the slight actions of the cast that created believable and watchable characters without the cringe-worthy, over-the-top acting in many high school shows and films.

The film also has a streak of humour running through the serious undertones and messages it addressed. This is often at the expense of the teacher and I love his building frustration throughout the film, especially when he can't keep the door to the detention room open which never fails to make me laugh.

When watching the film you inevitably relate to at least one of the characters. For me that was Brian, the compliant, studious 'nerd'. I relate to his feelings of immense pressure and desire to avoid conflict, to keep the peace. The fact that you are able to understand at least one of the characters makes the film appeal to individuals differently and I think that's a really special quality that I haven't experienced in any other film. Instead of a scene making the whole audience feel sad or the whole audience feel scared each member could react differently depending on their own experiences in high school and where they fell in the social hierarchy.

What surprised me about this film was the fact that actually, in the whole 92 minutes of run time, nothing really happens. In the end they leave detention and they haven't saved the world or solved a crime or even left the building. I think this is part of what makes it so relatable and so phenomenally clever - they turned real life into an exceptionally entertaining film in which huge social boundaries are crossed and differences resolved but the outside world is left totally unaffected. I think this highlights the importance of high school in a teenager's life that you can't understand until your in it and seem to forget once you've left.

Finally, the last thing that struck me when I finished the film was that, 31 years on, nothing has changed. The story and the characters are still totally relevant and high school is the same social experience. I believe this is a fact that will remain true for many years to come, securing The Breakfast Club as a timeless classic in the world of film.