By Miela T.
Imagine it’s a Monday morning and you wake up to that screaming sound of your alarm clock. You slowly get up understanding that today is just another day of BS and highschool. Your mom is yelling at you to get in the car because she doesn’t want to be late for work. The whole day is filled with boring teachers talking about topics you don’t care about and the only thing more interesting than them is the clock ticking on their wall. Now imagine once again it’s a Monday morning. Imagine you hit your alarm clock… and don’t get up. Because today, you are ditching school.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off directed by John Huges is a life changing movie that every person struggling with walking the fine line of following the rules and tasting freedom should watch. The use of camera work, soundtrack, plot, dry humor and dramatic irony, and the use of character development are just the start of what makes this movie absolutely worth watching.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has gained a reputation of being a fun, lovable, hilarious movie that holds onto the perfect amount of comedic effect throughout the film. This movie has a 4 star rating and deserves every part of it. It's funny, creative, and interesting as it dives deep through demonstrating the real consequences of craving freedom and already having it through a day in the life of teenage best friends who ditch school and even fake sick to get out of it. From Ferris who messes around and ignores every rule in the book to his best friend Cameron who’s afraid to even leave his house, these two characters take you on the best day off ever. Not only does it give such a nostalgic feeling to what its like to break the rules, but it’s also fun and genuinely feels like you are ditching them.
When looking at the camera work of this film, Huges is without a doubt a brilliant director. During the dramatic scenes that need more tension, Huges films the boys with a close up and constantly uses the rule of thirds when creating the setting of the film. The transitions from each scene on its own is set up in such a unique way from transferring cuts through phone calls, establishing shots, close ups, zoom outs, and my personal favorite a low camera shot when Ferris’s parents are introduced. Typically a low camera shot is used to make a character look powerful and intimidating, but Huges went and broke his own rules by making this low camera shot make Ferris’s parents appear as gullible.
Next we have this lighthearted music that does nothing but add to the comedic effect of the film. Each joke is hit home with the way that Ira Newborn adds in music at the perfect timing makes the story in the film even more interesting and keeps the audience hanging onto the story. Two moments to show this was when the song “Oh Yeah” by Yello plays in the background as Ferris pulls up in a stolen car. Another great soundtrack moment was when Ferris himself lip syncs “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles. This movie creates an aesthetic that matches the soundtrack and time it took place so well and it’s nothing short of impressive to watch. The soundtrack is just as good as other movies that Hughes directed like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles.
Something else that stands out to me about this movie that is almost impossible not to notice is the mood of the plot in the movie as a whole. The plot is so unique and it’s not just another boring love story between Ferris and his girlfriend but rather a real genuine friendship and family issue that is so accurately shown through Cameron. Ferris in this film is more than just Cameron’s best friend, but he’s someone that Cameron needs in his life. Ferris is everything that Camerson wants to be and does everything to make Camerson see that he is allowed to have fun and that he doesn’ have to be afraid of controlling his own life a little bit.
The comedy in this movie is so dry and the perfect amount of it is directed at teenagers and adults. Even teachers would find the way that they depict school and follow the stereotypes as relatable and a genuine touch to how we see highschool. It’s unique and fun that it did nothing but captivate me and kept me laughing throughout most of the film. Having the principle be anti-Ferris and chasing the boys down absolutely kills me because he follows this power hungry stereotype so well.
Overall this movie is something that I will love forever. No matter what age I am in my life I know there will always be a strong part of me that relates a little too deeply to Ferris Bueller.