“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
It’s an even more true sentiment after the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic showed just how long a year feels like with a lot of the fun and entertainment stripped away. The messages of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” are as important as ever.
‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ Turns 35
On June 11, 1986, audiences met the carefree Ferris Bueller as he takes a break from his normal boring, school-oriented life and goes on an epic adventure. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” has since remained a cult-classic film with a valuable lesson — “leisure rules.”
All he wants to do is take a day off, well-deserved or not, from school.
During “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” Bueller talks his friend Cameron into hijacking his father’s prized Ferrari for a day trip to the Windy City, Chicago. Bueller brings along his girlfriend Sloane for the trip as well. They watch a game at Wrigley Field, visit the Sears Tower, the Art Institute of Chicago, and even take part in the Von Steuben Day Parade.
As one of the most iconic, hilarious, and free-spirited characters in film history, Bueller bops around and lip-synchs to songs like “Twist and Shout.” According to Mental Floss, Paul McCartney would complain that the version of the Beatles song had “too much brass” in it.
According to IMDb, this iconic movie’s script only took six days to write. John Hughes is the writer and director of the 1986 hit movie starring Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, and Jeffrey Jones. He’s one of the most iconic coming-of-age storytellers ever. He’s the mastermind behind “The Breakfast Club,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink,” and “Home Alone.”
Matthew Broderick Talks About His Iconic Role
Perhaps the most iconic scene in the film, and in 1980s film history, is Matthew Broderick dancing through the streets of Chicago during the famous float scene.
As it turns out, Broderick actually injured himself right before it was time to film the sequence. He may have done a little too much twisting and not enough shouting.
“I had destroyed my knee while I was doing a scene while I was running through [a] yard. I had twisted it and it was, like, swollen, so I couldn’t do all the choreography that we had worked on,” Broderick said during a 2016 “Role Recall” interview.
John Hughes and the rest of the crew filmed the parade sequence over two weekends. One was at the actual parade in downtown Chicago. The other was at a film shoot location with nearly 10,000 extras. Hughes used local radio stations to spread the word to Chicago locals about filling the streets for the scenes.
The movie has a really interesting blend of humor and exotic film technique. Hughes has Broderick break the “fourth wall” and talk to the audience on several occasions. It makes audiences feel that much more connected to the story unfolding.
“When he’s alone getting ready or at the end of the movie when I’m alone talking to camera were really fun because John Hughes would sort of make stuff up and I would make stuff up and we would have the freedom to try anything … I love that for some reason. And he said, ‘You’re an interesting actor because you’re best when you’re alone,’ John Hughes told me, which I hope isn’t true,” Broderick said.
It’s as good as any day to listen to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and just take it easy.
“You’re still here? It’s over. Go home.”
