where is john hughes? uxeta labrit
Why does somebody abandon his career as a scriptwriter, director and producer at the peak of his success? How do the bosses of the US cinema industry, who won so much money with him, let somebody like that do it? Welcome to John Hughes' special world. Bio
He was born in 1950 in Michigan. His family moved to north Chicago when he was 13 and it was there that he spent his High School years, which were going to be so important for him. His well-known films take place in the fictional town of Shermer, which is based on the towns where he spent his youth: Skokie, Winnetka and Glencoe. Hughes has always denied that there was anything traumatic about this High School years, but nobody believes him. Something certainly happened to him then. John Hughes' films were the first, at their time, in which characters who normally stay in the background, and who are foolish or peculiar, become the leading characters. Hughes invented a new way of understanding the idea of the "outsider". Rather than taking inspiration from the marginalised fighters who Marlon Brando played, the rebels in his films are people you never look at, ugly, geek, strange young people. John Hughes was 20 when he married Nancy. They left university and worked in various different jobs. He started to write stand-up comedy scripts and quickly became successful as a scriptwriter. He soon started to write film scripts, but he was not at all satisfied with the way they were made into films and, along with Nancy (Nancy has always been by his side) he produced one of his scripts and started to work as a director.
Cinema Career
Nobody portrayed the youth of the 80's in the USA like John Hughes. He was the creator of teen comedy-dramas and became the real architect of the genre. 1985's The Breakfast Club is the best example of this and is probably his best remembered film. Hughes also understood cinema in an all-round sense. He worked as a scriptwriter, a producer and a director. His best work was when he did all three jobs at the same time. Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Weird Science (1985), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), She's Having a Baby (1988), Uncle Buck (1989), Curly Sue (1991). He also wrote and produced many others, amongst them Pretty in Pink (1986) and Home alone (1990).
A Cinema Era and a Generation of Actors
John Hughes' films were an icon for a whole generation. And a new generation of actors also had its first opportunity. A strange thing happened to nearly all of these actors who, like Hughes, disappeared one by one. Most of their names don't mean anything to us, but we've seen them on television time and again: red-haired Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Brad Packer, Anthony Michael Hall, John Capelos, Andrew McCarthy and Jon Cryer, for instance. And a whole generation who began their careers in his films owes John Hughes a lot: Ben Stiller, Judd Apatow, the Wilson brothers, Wes Anderson É and many more. The director Kevin Smith gives a short description of John Hughes' influence in his life: "He's our generation's J.D. Salinger. He amazed a whole generation and then disappeared. If it weren't for him I wouldn't be making films. When it comes down to it, my films are like John Hughes' films with "fuck" word in them".
Greta Garbo Syndrome
Let's go back to the question at the beginning of the article. Why does a director who has earned more than 1.5 billion dollars in cinema tickets alone suddenly stop working? There are very few examples of something like this happening in Hollywood. Many people in the dream factory see how their "share prices" fall until they reach rock bottom. It's well known that stars disappear in the universe every day. But John Hughes' story is very different. Greta Garbo stopped making films a the height of her career (and her beauty). James Cagney too, at the age of 60, with a drawer full of projects, decided to retire to his New York State ranch. John Hughes explained his position clearly in an interview he gave in 1989: "When I start to lose my voice, I'll know it's time to retire". Many people say this, but very few keep their word. John, Nancy and their children returned to north Chicago and there, in a three-squarekilometre estate in the hills, built a house. And it's there that he spends most of his time enjoying his two main hobbies: skiing and fishing. Many theories have been suggested: Illness, family problems ... It didn't seem possible that a workaholic such as Hughes could stop working and just bring up his family and do day-to-day things. But it was. And, quite simply, very few people have achieved what Hughes has: he left the dream factory without having any nightmares.
music in john hughes' films:
Our youth wasn't the same as youth in the USA. During the 80's here we wore different clothes and listed to different music, but, whether we liked it or not, we enjoyed those stories, aesthetics and music. One of the great successes for Hughes' 80's cinema for young people was the music. They featured music of the time and always in the best of taste. A few examples:
- Pretty in Pink. The Psychedelic Furs. (Pretty in Pink)
- Don't you (Forget about me). Simple Minds. (The Breakfast Club)
- Apron Strings. Everything but the girl. (She's having a baby)
- Elegia. New Order. (Pretty in pink)
- Please please, please let me get what I want. The Smiths. (Pretty in Pink).
- Mess Around. Ray Charles. (Planes. trains and automobiles).
- Can't help falling in love. The Tins. (Some kind of wonderful).
He was born in 1950 in Michigan. His family moved to north Chicago when he was 13 and it was there that he spent his High School years, which were going to be so important for him. His well-known films take place in the fictional town of Shermer, which is based on the towns where he spent his youth: Skokie, Winnetka and Glencoe. Hughes has always denied that there was anything traumatic about this High School years, but nobody believes him. Something certainly happened to him then. John Hughes' films were the first, at their time, in which characters who normally stay in the background, and who are foolish or peculiar, become the leading characters. Hughes invented a new way of understanding the idea of the "outsider". Rather than taking inspiration from the marginalised fighters who Marlon Brando played, the rebels in his films are people you never look at, ugly, geek, strange young people. John Hughes was 20 when he married Nancy. They left university and worked in various different jobs. He started to write stand-up comedy scripts and quickly became successful as a scriptwriter. He soon started to write film scripts, but he was not at all satisfied with the way they were made into films and, along with Nancy (Nancy has always been by his side) he produced one of his scripts and started to work as a director.
Cinema Career
Nobody portrayed the youth of the 80's in the USA like John Hughes. He was the creator of teen comedy-dramas and became the real architect of the genre. 1985's The Breakfast Club is the best example of this and is probably his best remembered film. Hughes also understood cinema in an all-round sense. He worked as a scriptwriter, a producer and a director. His best work was when he did all three jobs at the same time. Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Weird Science (1985), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), She's Having a Baby (1988), Uncle Buck (1989), Curly Sue (1991). He also wrote and produced many others, amongst them Pretty in Pink (1986) and Home alone (1990).
A Cinema Era and a Generation of Actors
John Hughes' films were an icon for a whole generation. And a new generation of actors also had its first opportunity. A strange thing happened to nearly all of these actors who, like Hughes, disappeared one by one. Most of their names don't mean anything to us, but we've seen them on television time and again: red-haired Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Brad Packer, Anthony Michael Hall, John Capelos, Andrew McCarthy and Jon Cryer, for instance. And a whole generation who began their careers in his films owes John Hughes a lot: Ben Stiller, Judd Apatow, the Wilson brothers, Wes Anderson É and many more. The director Kevin Smith gives a short description of John Hughes' influence in his life: "He's our generation's J.D. Salinger. He amazed a whole generation and then disappeared. If it weren't for him I wouldn't be making films. When it comes down to it, my films are like John Hughes' films with "fuck" word in them".
Greta Garbo Syndrome
Let's go back to the question at the beginning of the article. Why does a director who has earned more than 1.5 billion dollars in cinema tickets alone suddenly stop working? There are very few examples of something like this happening in Hollywood. Many people in the dream factory see how their "share prices" fall until they reach rock bottom. It's well known that stars disappear in the universe every day. But John Hughes' story is very different. Greta Garbo stopped making films a the height of her career (and her beauty). James Cagney too, at the age of 60, with a drawer full of projects, decided to retire to his New York State ranch. John Hughes explained his position clearly in an interview he gave in 1989: "When I start to lose my voice, I'll know it's time to retire". Many people say this, but very few keep their word. John, Nancy and their children returned to north Chicago and there, in a three-squarekilometre estate in the hills, built a house. And it's there that he spends most of his time enjoying his two main hobbies: skiing and fishing. Many theories have been suggested: Illness, family problems ... It didn't seem possible that a workaholic such as Hughes could stop working and just bring up his family and do day-to-day things. But it was. And, quite simply, very few people have achieved what Hughes has: he left the dream factory without having any nightmares.
music in john hughes' films:
Our youth wasn't the same as youth in the USA. During the 80's here we wore different clothes and listed to different music, but, whether we liked it or not, we enjoyed those stories, aesthetics and music. One of the great successes for Hughes' 80's cinema for young people was the music. They featured music of the time and always in the best of taste. A few examples:
- Pretty in Pink. The Psychedelic Furs. (Pretty in Pink)
- Don't you (Forget about me). Simple Minds. (The Breakfast Club)
- Apron Strings. Everything but the girl. (She's having a baby)
- Elegia. New Order. (Pretty in pink)
- Please please, please let me get what I want. The Smiths. (Pretty in Pink).
- Mess Around. Ray Charles. (Planes. trains and automobiles).
- Can't help falling in love. The Tins. (Some kind of wonderful).
