John Hughes 1950 – 2009
Ferris Bueller’s Day off is just one of my most favourite films. There is something just so right about it or maybe it is that I just unashamedly love it… I remember very clearly the first time I saw the movie. I was 7 and on holiday with my family in Florida, we had jet lag and were trying to recover in the hotel room. It was 1989 and looking back everything was very very 1980’s (I have photo evidence!) I think because I watched the film in the States my view is slightly tainted but FBDF just seems so American to me. The clothes, the cars, the high school, the characters it really is quintessential Americana. As I grew up I wanted to be Slone Peterson, she was sexy, cool and had the most amazing hair… most men I know still want to be Ferris Bueller, but the character that most people love is Cameron, he is the core of the film and the one we really root for. Hughes knew how to get the audience to invest in his characters and this is never more obvious than the scene in which Cameron destroys the Ferrari. It gets you every time.
Hughes was underrated, to many he made silly films about silly teenagers and their angst but really if you were to look at his work as a whole I think you could make quite an interesting study of his vision of American Society in the 1980 (I’m starting an MA in Film Studies soon and this wouldn’t be a bad dissertation!).
What I love most about John Hughes is that he stepped out of the limelight at the height of his power to enjoy his success away from Hollywood and to be with his family. How rare is that?! The saddest thing is that he didn’t get to spend longer with them. He will be missed but his legacy lives on. I for one will be watching Ferris Bueller this evening and for many many more years to come.
Ferris Bueller’s Day off is just one of my most favourite films. There is something just so right about it or maybe it is that I just unashamedly love it… I remember very clearly the first time I saw the movie. I was 7 and on holiday with my family in Florida, we had jet lag and were trying to recover in the hotel room. It was 1989 and looking back everything was very very 1980’s (I have photo evidence!) I think because I watched the film in the States my view is slightly tainted but FBDF just seems so American to me. The clothes, the cars, the high school, the characters it really is quintessential Americana. As I grew up I wanted to be Slone Peterson, she was sexy, cool and had the most amazing hair… most men I know still want to be Ferris Bueller, but the character that most people love is Cameron, he is the core of the film and the one we really root for. Hughes knew how to get the audience to invest in his characters and this is never more obvious than the scene in which Cameron destroys the Ferrari. It gets you every time.
Hughes was underrated, to many he made silly films about silly teenagers and their angst but really if you were to look at his work as a whole I think you could make quite an interesting study of his vision of American Society in the 1980 (I’m starting an MA in Film Studies soon and this wouldn’t be a bad dissertation!).
What I love most about John Hughes is that he stepped out of the limelight at the height of his power to enjoy his success away from Hollywood and to be with his family. How rare is that?! The saddest thing is that he didn’t get to spend longer with them. He will be missed but his legacy lives on. I for one will be watching Ferris Bueller this evening and for many many more years to come.
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