A Film Review: Pretty In Pink

Hi!

So today, I thought it was time for something different than the usual gap year posts.
I've mentioned that I was thinking about writing film reviews in earlier posts and today, the moment is finally here. I'm pretty excited to write these since I feel like I can now write about something a bit more concrete.

Beforehand I do have to admit that I'm not a film expert (I wish!), and these reviews will mostly be about my own opinion about the films in general. I wish I had more knowledge on films to be critical but hopefully that will come sometime soon.

So for now, here it is; my first ever film review: Pretty In Pink

This film had been on my list for quite some time and every once in a while I would check Netflix to see whether it was in their collection or not. After being disappointed several times, I was browsing my Netflix dashboard once again to suddenly see it was there. Finally, no hard decisions on what to watch that night; I instantly pressed play.

Pretty In Pink is a movie from the eighties written by John Hughes, who I think is one of the most iconic filmmakers of that decade, especially considering films about life as a teenager. He is responsible for several movies from the eighties that are about teenage life and I think he managed to do a great job on that. Like in his iconic movie the Breakfast Club, which is one of my favourites.
He perfectly shows the differences between teenagers and the way they act and think, especially the differences between high school stereotypes seem to play a big part in his work.

Pretty In Pink was the second John Hughes film that I watched and just like in more of his films, one of the main parts is played by actress Molly Ringwald. In this movie she plays teenager Andie Walsh, who is living alone with her unemployed dad in one of the bad neighborhoods of her town. Her friend Duckie has a secret crush on her. At school Molly, Duckie and their other friends are considered the unpopular kids and are frequent targets of bullies: the rich kids. Although Molly therefore actually dislikes all the rich people in her school, a relationship between her and ''richie" Blane develops. This causes trouble; not only do both Molly's and Blane's friends disagree with their relationship, seeing each other is hard for them as well and they both question their relationship because they have a different "social status". However, when Blane asks Molly to prom, which she had always refused to go to, she is overjoyed. But there is trouble in paradise when Blane doesn't show up on one of their dates and Molly loses all faith in their relationship. Suddenly, prom seems even worse to Molly than it did before. Meanwhile, Duckie has realised that Molly is not interested in dating him and he is so mad at her for dating Blane instead, that he avoids her and ignores her as a friend. Without Duckie and Blane, Molly seems helpless, but now she has changed her opinion on going to prom she
won't give that up so easily.

What I really love about this movie, as well as The Breakfast Club and many other movies from some years ago, is the kind of 'retro feel' that it has. Not only is the whole setting of course in 80's style, there is just something about the sound and the cinematography that really gives the movie this kind of blurry, vague feeling. Not that the quality is notably blurry or anything like that, but I don't really know how I can describe it ohterwise. I guess that it's just the difference in filmmaking techniques and equipment in comparison to films that are made nowadays. I actually really love this somehow, maybe because it looks a bit more casual than the films of today, and also kind of old-fahsioned.

I also liked the characters in the film a lot, especially Duckie. Although he's an unpopular kid, I think he is the best dressed character of the whole school. I just loved his style and how funny he is. Just like Duckie, I think Molly had a really fancy style as well, and although Duckie is actually having a crush on her, I do think that they are the best friends. The way that they dress shows that they kind of make a team, and the way they get along with each other as friends is just so nice to see. I also liked the whole stereotype thing that is going on in the film. You can clearly see the difference between the popular and the unpopular kids, not only in the way they are dressed but also in their behavior. This is something that John Hughes is well known for and I totally understand that.

Furthermore, the storyline was quite classic with the unpopular girl dating the popular guy, and then the struggles they have and the fact that their friends totally disagree with their relationship and get in the way of it. Then, it all goes wrong and the relationship seems to be over. What happens at the end of the movie I won't tell, you should just go see for yourself. Another thing that you should definitely keep in mind is all the music used in the movie. I got some great new tunes to add to my Spotify after watching. I just loved the songs used in the film, especially the one called Copocabana (what? you'll know it when you hear it ;)

After all, I absolutely enjoyed watching Pretty In Pink. Although I don't think the storyline was that exciting, I just loved the characters, feel and music in the film and it is therefore definitely worth watching.

Hopefully, you enjoyed reading this first film review and I can say I will soon write another one.

Love,

Leyla