Tributes to director John Hughes are all over the Web. (links to Roger Ebert and A.O. Scott)
But few are as personal as this one. (Via Waxy)
I haven't seen any John Hughes films on the big screen. So most of my recollections of his pre-1987 films are linked to cheap, pirated VHS prints. When I think of "Breakfast Club" or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", I can't see the sharp, neon-glow vividness of the 1980s. But still, those colors shone brighter than Indian state television's palette. So here was the perfect combination that young film-makers probably dream of: a new medium (cable TV/VHS), a new musical sound ('80s pop; music just filled his films), a new kind of character (the '80s teenager) and of course, a new audience (again, the '80s teenager).
It seems strange now, but I remember some of his films made me feel a little threatened. Not the content of the films but the form. They were just completely wrapped up in the sensibility of the period and it all felt very foreign - and hence both wrong and desirable - to me. But now when I see some of those Brat Pack films, I feel a mix of nostalgia, recollections of that foreignness and memories of wanting to grow up fast.
But the one film of his, other than "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", that I still enjoy is his road movie. Come Christmas time, I simply must watch that film on TV. (A very affectionate remembrance of the film in today's Opinion page in the Times.)
And finally, one more reason to love the man: in my opinion, John Hughes probably made the FINEST use of a Beatles song in a film. (See other films with Beatles music.)
R.I.P, John.
2 comments:
wow, great post. you know, i haven't seen *any* of his films. but that post you linked to, the personal one, that post was just way amazing.
TR: Thank you. That girl's story is amazing.
I've seen several of his films - probably everyone that he directed (he wrote many more) - and I can't truthfully say I like them all.
But I do know this - he was a very important filmmaker. No one got the 1980s as well as he did. (And by no means was that portrait of the times complete or even accurate.)
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