The Breakfast Club Essay, Research Paper

FILM 7112081 The Breakfast Club. Jane Barr

Introduction.

A film on which inspired me is The Breakfast Club Written and Directed by John Hughes. Released in 1983 it tells the tale of 6 teenagers that spend Saturday detention locked in the library of their High School. With eight hours of confinement they start to form a friendship. The film represents the true high school, with characters such as Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez) playing the athlete, Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall) Playing the brain, John Bender (Judd Nelson) Playing the juvenile delinquent, Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald) as the princess and Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) posing as the basketcase. Another character that played an important role was Principal Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason). With his comical war against John Bender. In this film it deals with the issue of teen angst.

Genre

The film cannot be placed under one specific genre- it could be classed as a romantic film, drama, or comedy. Romance because in the film more than a friendship is formed. It could also be classed as drama because it deals with teen angst and the effects it has on a teenager s life. The film might even be placed under comedy because it contains some witty comebacks between the group and their Principal. Why I class it under so many is because it contains equal amounts of all of them. Romance develops from friendship into love, their lives are told in the film and it has funny lines throughout the script. To me this film is classed under romance with new budding relationships its hard not to place it under this category.

A-The Prinicpal D- When they become friends

B-The Students C- The High School E-Problem being fixed

Narrative Structure

The basic storyline is 6 teenagers spending Saturday detention in High School with their Principal making their lives hell. That A. The opening of the film shows the high school. This would be point C where they meet. A voiceover is telling of their day together. The storyline slowly progresses into a wide and exciting tale of Saturday detention. They are told to write and essay explaining why they are here. The synopsis of the film is that they learn more about each other that day than they ever had. B is the group of teens. Finding out that the athlete (EE) is scared of his father, the brain (AMH) Tried to kill himself with a flare gun, the juvenile delinquent (JN) is abused by his family, the princess (MR) Hates her parents because they always fight and the basketcase (AS) is actually intelligent and has an amazing social life. The Principal plays the best role. Shouting at them for fighting, also giving Bender (JN) three more months of detention and also reading classified files that the Janitor (John Kapelos) finds out about and blackmails him. At the end they learn alot about each other and Bender (JN) and Claire (MR) begin an exciting relationship. The brain finishes it off by writing the essay and leaving it for the Principal to read. Point D is when they finally become friends. The closing scene shows Bender walking past the football field shouting and then the credits role. From this it can be gathered that The Breakfast Club is in the classical narrative style with a beginning, middle and end. This is point E it shows you the problem being took away and friendship put in its place.

Representation

The Breakfast Club is a representation of American High Schools in 1983. With typical characters such as the jocks, who were the letterheaded jacket and only speak to the popular people, juvenile delinquent, who doesn t socialize with the rest of the school, always in trouble and never doing what he s told. They always wear baggy worn out clothes that tell them apart from the rest of the school. Then we have the geek who always wears what his mother tells him too, never late for school, always hands in his homework and doesn t get into trouble. Relating to the athlete is the school snob or princess, always thinking they are better than everyone else, they have a good reputation. Their dress wear is flawless. Wearing new or unheard of things to start a trend. Last is the basketcase, she hides away from the world and keeps to herself, Always late for class, occasionaly hands in homework. Their dress sense is no better than the delinquents, wearing baggy clothes and all black. They stick out a mile away. The film represents the levels of high school standards, which represents where you stand. Not good versus evil but popular versus unpopular. There are not many places represented in this film. It mostly takes place in the high school. With a look at the Janitors room, library, the halls ways and even the basement this films budget kept its filming to a minimum.

Direction

The direction throughout The Breakfast Club is brilliant. Focusing on the most important person at the time was genius. The scene which I found to be the best was when they were running around the school trying to make their way back to the library before the principal noticed them missing. The direction was excellent. The first scene shows of the characters running down a hall, then the camera moves away from them and bringing the audiences attention to the next hall they are going to run down. The direction gives the impression that they are on a wild goose chase and don t know where they are going. After Bender suggesting that he knows a shortcut they proceed with him down another hall. Where the direction moves to the large padlock on the iron gate. Annoyed at Bender the gang decides to all the take the blame. But when Bender tells them to go back. The camera cuts to Bender shouting loudly, ripping posters of the walls and hitting a stick on the wall. The Principal hears this and continues after Bender. It cuts to Bender going down one hall to the Principal going down another. The lighting on the film was mostly dim with the library lights but when it came to the hallways it became more clearer. Also the framing of the film was brilliant with good shots of the cast and the situations with they got themself into. The sound was spectacular, with good music and sound effects. Good quality sound at its best. Editing needed a little repair, cutting out the best scenes, especially the joke scene, I wanted to know how it ended. In the library they had a lot of props, from books, antique furniture and booklets on sex eduacation and more.

Final Response

To conclude The Breakfast Club is a brilliant film for alot of reasons. Firstly it has Romance which everyone loves. The fact that two people who find each other repulsive could be together is something that you must see. Secondly the drama, I love drama, a little bit of crying or being sad never killed anyone and I thinks its great that this film can add it into its super storyline. And lastly the comedy, with the dumb ideas and the witty lines, this film is a must see. Out in 1983 it took the world by storm and gave everyone a chance to be equal in high school. The storyline was unbeatable and flawless. The music in the film was great. With pop songs of the 80 s to dance to it truly was a brilliant film that should be admired for years to come.