A tale of two movie theatres

It was a strange experience - going to see two films, on separate occasions and at different cinemas, with one of the theatres empty and the other a sell out.
To add to the bizarreness, the film at the empty theatre was the brand new release, Chappie, while the movie with the packed audience was the 30 years old The Breakfast Club.

It was a case of "pick a seat, any seat" at the afternoon matinee showing of science-fiction movie Chappie, the latest offering from director Neill Blomkamp, who also made the acclaimed District 9 and Elysium (blog post here). Despite the popular location of the theatre in downtown Santa Monica, there was not another sole in the auditorium to see this entertaining, action-packed adventure featuring an armour-plated police robot with artificial intelligence.

The film had some roughness around the edges, but it was enjoyable and certainly deserving of more than an empty theatre. As Heather and I departed the cinema I did wonder if having the film poster accidentally back-to-front outside of the theatre might have harmed its audience-pulling potential.

And so to The Breakfast Club, which didn't even get to have a poster outside the shopping mall cinema where it was being shown.
So how did anyone know it was on? The trailer above helped to spread the word, as did a number of newspaper articles that tied in with the 30th anniversary of the film's release in 1985.

For two nights only the restored film was shown at 430 theatres across the US. I discovered there was a one-off 30th anniversary showing nearby when I read the newspaper that morning. The theatre was all but sold out for the re-run of John Hughes' classic teen film.

On entering the auditorium the affection that many people hold for The Breakfast Club was clear. The audience consisted of a wide cross section of people, some of whom had obviously returned to see a film they remembered watching first time around, when they too had been teenagers. And then there were audience members much younger who had probably not even been born when the film first hit the silver screen. They appeared to be the same age as the characters in the film, but a generation removed from the music and sensibilities of the 1980s.

Not that that mattered one jot, because The Breakfast Club has a timelessness, and it is graced with universal themes that resonate across the ages. It is the story of five very different high school students - the punk, the princess, the brain, the jock and the basketcase - who are thrown together to serve a Saturday detention in the school library.

I've long admired the films of the late writer-director John Hughes. He was gifted in his ability to make teen movies and coming-of-age films that showed empathy with the lives of young people, capturing truths through memorable moments.

Two of the film's stars, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy, attended a re-showing of the film last month at the South by Southwest Film Festival, in Austin, Texas. Ringwald told USA Today that the Millenials generation "totally get it".  She said: "It hits on universal themes that resonate for each generation. Now The Breakfast Club is a touchstone, in the way JD Salinger books were for me growing up."

Watching the film on the big screen I was taken back to my younger days and recollections of seeing the film long ago, and also memories of being at school and recognising in others the archetypal character-types from the film. In truth, we probably all carry a portion of each within our identities.

It was wonderful to be in a full house watching such a touching classic. As the Simple Minds' song Don't You Forget About Me played out at the climatic end of the film it was time to go, but in the knowledge that I'll revisit this memorable film again as the years roll by.