Movie: The Breakfast Club
Director: John Hughes
Date Produced: 1985
Date Watched: September 20
The Breakfast Club wouldn’t be The Breakfast Club without its music, cast playing their roles, and how John Hughes told the story.
The opening of the movie sets the stage for what’s to come. The Bowie quote, then that image “shattering” into an exterior shot of the school. Following that up with Brian, the “Brain,” giving the voiceover of the letter the Club writes to Principal Vernon, lets the audience know this isn’t the same kind of teen movie that’s been prevalent up until this point.
The mise en scene of the opening is also fantastic. As the letter speaks to their labels, the scenes change to an environment that matches the character. Brian’s, as the Brain, was a computer lab. As each of the kids shows up to Saturday detention, we get a 20-second (or so) quick introduction to their lives outside of school. Each of which plays into their character stereotypes. It is exceptionally well done, as the rest of the movie relies on this introduction.
The cast makes The Breakfast Club what it is, and it’s one of the movie’s main strengths. Hughes initially wanted Molly Ringwald to play Allison, the “Basket Case,” but she successfully lobbied him long enough to play Claire, the “Princess.” It’s hard to see what would have been if, say, those roles had been reversed. Emilio Estevez nearly played Bender, the “Criminal,” instead of Andrew, the “Athlete.” While it’s difficult to imagine anyone else playing Claire than Ringwald, Judd Nelson made Bender.
(Info from the above paragraph comes from the “Pop-Up Trivia” track on the 35th Anniversary Blu-Ray of the movie.)
The ending of The Breakfast Club was almost different too. Instead of the Simple Minds “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” a Billy Idol song was nearly used in the iconic scene where the Club is parting ways at the end of the day, and Bender raises his fist in the air. That song has become synonymous with The Breakfast Club.