''The Breakfast Club''

Right i know this isn't exactly a new film, but my sister has recently told me to watch a couple of classics recently. The first was ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off''', which i had seen, but in small parts, never the whole thing. But this isn't about that, this is about The Breakfast Club which was similarly recommended.

The Breakfast club is the story of 5 teenage kids who have been given saturday detention for a series of punishable misgivings.
    We are introduced to these people one by one as they arrive at school with their parents. Now as we are introduced to these kids each of their parents pulls up in front of the school and we get several over the shoulder shots to show the conversation they are having. What they say in these brief few words gives you an insight into these kids lives. We have the posh rich girl who's daddy loves her and is his princess the poor rebellious kid, the weird girl, the nerd and the Jock. Filling a pretty classic string of stereotypes who have all been thrown into a room having been, essentially, living on different planets for their entire lives. The majority of the film is shot in their detention room where they sit and have to write an essay as punishment, because of this a lot of the scenes are very dialog based and often use close ups on faces, from the shoulders up.

Allison Reynolds

John Bender

Claire Standish

Brian Johnson

Andrew Clark

The close ups of the characters make us study their faces and expressions more closely which gets us to know them better as the film progresses. Identifying with kids as well as sympathising with them is also another benefit as the closeness of the shot puts full focus on the emotion being displayed, and because of this we are affected more by said emotion.

             The film focuses heavily on the backgrounds of these kids as well, as their backgrounds have clearly affected which social group they have been put into. Claire Standish has always had everything and gets what she wants, Bender has had the opposite treatment entirely and we see how both ends of the spectrum can still make people bitter, with a good or bad upbringing. It also helps put into perspective what good and bad upbringings are and perspective is very important on judging it. A rich environment might be all well and good but if theres no love or compassion from their parents then they will obviously be unhappy and the same works visa versa. The different homes they come from make them all smart in different ways, Brian's good at Physics, Andrew at sport, where as Bender is street smart he has good common sense and self awareness and has the ability to pick out an insecurity and manipulate it. Bender's talent would never be appreciated at that school because there is no place for his talent, despite being able to read and judge peoples faces and body language is a valuable skill to have. But as it has no place there Bender is rendered an outcast because he doesn't fit the norms.

The film is a very good representation of 'Never Judge A Book By Its Cover' all of the kids are very different on the surface, but its only after spending time and talking with (people who they would never usually associate with) teaches them all valuable lessons in life. 

        They eventually pour their hearts out to each other each telling their story and all the hardships that each of them face are actually really similar, such as: Parents. All teenagers have beef with their parents and because of these stereotypes they also have the same kind of parents, disappointed fathers in one way or another, whether it be being bad at sport or being bad with girls. Embarrassing mothers, no more needs to be said about that really, that will never change.

John Bender

The above shot I put in because i think its the best shot in the film and possibly one of my favourite shots in film. The pure simplicity of punching the air in victory just shows that its not all bad and there are always things to smile about. This also signifies Bender's 'change' as a person during his time in 'The Breakfast Club'. Even though this shot doesn't directly show his growth and change i think it represents it. 

Right this is supposed to be a review so here goes. I think the film is shot fantastically well with the shots capturing the mood really well everytime. Its also written really well shown by how a normal calm conversation in the breakfast club can get heated and angry really quickly. Showing the volatile personalities of the teenagers. Its the characters are also very acted and created. The clash of stereotypes brings out the main traits of each stereotype and accentuates them to demonstrate how nurture has affected both good and bad. All round a fantastic film and I'd give it a solid:

7/10

I say 7 because it would have been nice to see more of their backgrounds so we can see why they are the way they are.