OUR FAVOURITE ONE-LOCATION FILMS

Words by Georgina Whitehead Words by Alice Lumley

The Breakfast Club is perhaps one of the most iconic 1980s teen movies ever made. It resonates with multiple generations and highlights the ups and downs of the teenage experience, which is what has cemented its place among the greats. The film itself launched many Hollywood careers, including that of John Hughes, who went on to write and direct filmslike Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Home Alone. However, what I think makes The Breakfast Club resonate with so many people is its simplicity. The only location shown in the filmis the school, and the plot follows fivestudents from completely backgrounds and cliques as they attend detention on a Saturday, which sounds like quite a simple premise.

They’re supervised by Vice Principal Vernon (played by Paul Gleason) who gives them one task to complete while they’re sat in detention all day; to write a 1000-word essay on who they think they are. Over the course of the film,the group begin to develop a sense of solidarity and end up sharing their feelings and starting to understand each other. One thing that particularly stands out is the cheerful, hopeful overtone throughout the film,which provides a nice relief from the melodrama. The characters struggle towards the future and understand that life can be difficult,and how they feel now might not correlate to how they feel when they’re adults. Hughes doesn’t shy away from the unavoidable fact that all teenagers eventually become adults. The crucial thing for me, however, and what makes the filmso nostalgic and relatable is that they remain hopeful for the future. The Breakfast Club perfectly captures the importance of teenagers and young adults, as well as the potential they have to infl ence the world. For me, this is one of the key reasons for its great cultural significance When you think of a one-location film,it’s easy to come up with filmsor plays – which can feel theatrical and not as satisfying as pieces of cinema. But one of the best examples of a filmset in one location, which is also an adaptation of a play, is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 filmRope. The story follows two arrogant Harvard graduates attempting to pull off the perfect crime (spoiler: they don’t!)

Rope is undoubtedly as compelling and tense as any multi-location psychological thriller. Not only did Hitchcock constrain himself with the films location, but he also filmedit in real-time - meaning that the whole filmplays out in over 80 minutes at that dinner party. Clearly, filmslike this rely much less heavily on the plot rather than on the character and dialogue - as you never actually see the murder! But the tension that develops as the filmprogresses with the question of whether they will or will not get away with it is literally breathtaking.

Words by Tegan Davies

Indisputably, the magic of The Breakfast Club is the intimate feeling emanated from the setting in which it takes place. It is a trope almost too simple to work: fiveteenagers in their school library for a weekend detention. It can sound boring and lazy to an outsider who does not know (or appreciate) the true thrill of the coming-of-age film.However, as the ninety-seven minutes of nostalgia for a life you never lived progresses, you findyourself enraptured by the lives of this group of misfitsand almost findyourself befriending each character with every evaluation of their truths and experiences.

As an outsider in a Catholic comprehensive school, I for one longed for the rebellious and cheeky experience of high school that was displayed by the majority of American Hollywood films.Throughout each re-watch of The Breakfast Club, I become more and more obsessed with the idea of living an American teenage lifestyle, where your biggest worries were detention and homework. At the same time, you begin to comprehend that all American kids aren’t living the lives of luxury they seem to be, through the abuse endured by John Bender, and the suicidal tendencies of the relatable academic overachieving Brian Johnson cheeky experience of high school that was displayed by the majority cheeky experience of high school that was displayed by the majority ofAmerican Hollywood films. Throughout each re-watch of The Breakfast Club, I become more and more obsessed with the idea of living an American teenage lifestyle, where your biggest worries were detention and homework. At the same time, you begin to comprehend that all American kids aren’t living the lives of luxury they seem to be, through the abuse endured by John Bender, and the suicidal tendencies of the relatable academic overachieving Brian Johnson. Classed as a cheesy ‘must watch’ for adults who crave the normalities of childhood and for teenagers who misunderstand the pressures of life itself, the genius of The Breakfast Club and its solo environment is central to why the film is considered classic. It is real, and it is raw, yet it is still breathtakingly beautiful.

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