Essays on The Breakfast Club

John Hughes' Immortal Teen Movie Classic

A sample of the teen drama that divided American cinema into a before-and-after era. The film was directed and written by John Hughes, author of the "Home Alone" trilogy and master of teen cinema. On a budget of $1 million, The Breakfast Club grossed $50 million at the worldwide box office, achieved audience and leading critic acclaim, and achieved cult movie status before the turn of the 21st century.

Storyline

Early on a Saturday morning, five teenagers show up at the school's doorstep. They all have a severe punishment by school standards - to spend the day off to realize their "misdeeds". For nine hours, people whose worlds do not intersect are forced to sit in the school library alone with each other and write essays on "Who Are You."
"High school queen" Claire (Molly Ringwald) and handsome athlete Andrew (Emilio Estevez) are popular kids. They don't care about "outcasts" like the straight-A student Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) and the "white crow" Allison (Ally Sheedy). And badass bully John Bender (Judd Nelson) defies categorization and has trouble getting along with other people. But this Saturday will change a lot in the lives of the high school kids and show how similar they are in their loneliness.

Reasons to watch

• The film is an exemplary teen movie classic.
• The picture has had a tremendous impact on youth cinema, has been the subject of numerous social and cultural studies, has sparked a boom in teen tragicomedies of the late 80s and 90s, and has gone down in the history of world cinema forever.

Interesting Facts

• The script for the film was written in two days.
• The scene in which the characters tell what they were punished for was completely improvised by the actors.
• Judd Nelson tried to stay in character even outside of filming. He picked on actress Molly Ringwald so often that his contract was almost torn up.
• In the opening credits of the film, you can read lines from the song "Changes" by David Bowie. It was suggested by Allison's performer, actress Ally Sheedy.
• Brian's mother and sister were played by the actor's real-life female relatives.
• Molly Ringwald was originally to play Allison, but the actress convinced the director and producers to give her the role of Claire.
• Nicolas Cage and John Cusack were considered for the role of John Bender. The former demanded too high a fee, and Hughes replaced the latter with Judd Nelson at the last second. Moreover, the creators secured the role of Bender for Emilio Estevez. Hughe was unable to find a suitable candidate for the role of Andrew, and Emilio had to agree to play him.
• The Princess outfit was purchased for the film at Ralph Lauren's only Chicago boutique.
• There were plans for sequels. Due to an uneasy relationship between director and actor Judd Nelson, the idea had to be abandoned. Judd Nelson wears the same clothes he wore to the audition.
• The film's script was adapted for a play that is still internationally popular today.
• The film's title comes from a friend of John Hughes' son. At the school where the teenager attended, the "breakfast club" or "weekend club" was tacitly called a punishment for students who broke school rules. They were forced to spend one day off within the walls of the school for guilt awareness.

Related videos to "The Breakfast Club"

1. The Breakfast Club -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 100)

Interesting Infographic About "The Breakfast Club"

1. All characters of "The Breakfast Club"