See new Ferris Bueller trailer - if movie were pretentious coming-of-age drama



Ferris Bueller's Day Off as a serious teen drama? I'm not sure whether to be impressed or horrified by this fan trailer. (Secretly, I'm incredibly impressed with the devotion and the producer's eye for the details.)

Filmmaker Joseph Brett decided to remake the trailer after seeing it in a theater recently: 

"It's one of my favorite films, and so I was pretty hyped up after finally seeing it on the big screen.  I'm always struck by how beautifully shot it is for a comedy, compared to those made now. Also how sincere the story is once you get past all the '80s… ness," Brett writes on his blog. "The following day was a slow Sunday, and since I had little else to do I decided to have a play with some of the shots and maybe make a trailer which could cut out all the comedy, and make it look more like an indie coming-of-age film. ... My aim was to make it look more like an indie coming of age film; perhaps the kind of film Sofia Coppola or Godard might make."

I contacted Joseph, who lives in London and has been making films and animations since he was 8, to get a further inside his head about the trailer. He just finished a degree in filmmaking a year ago and has since then directed a few music videos with End of the Road Films for bands like Efterklang and the Low Anthem. Here's our short Q&A: 

SIT80s: How old were you when you saw Ferris the first time?

Joseph Brett: "I actually caught on pretty late. The film came out a year before I was born, but I didn't get round to seeing it until I was at Uni a couple of years ago. When our American tutor found out how few of us had seen the film, she commanded the whole class to go buy it on DVD. Then, quite recently a local cinema screened it as part of their retro season and I literally ran to see it."

What was your first impression?

"I think I was surprised at how easy to watch it was. Usually, even with the best '80s films, you have to put your cheese-o-meter on pause, but that isn't really the case with Ferris. Hughes doesn't undermine his lead characters at all, and I think that makes it timeless in a way. It's a very sincere film, disguised as something more disposable. For me. it's Hughes at his best."

As a filmmaker though, do you notice any shortcomings in the movie?

"Having called the film timeless, I don't think you could make the same film today. There is a kind of guiltlessness to what Ferris gets up to, which I don't think you could pull off now. In modern cinema there always needs to be a weight behind every action. A meaning, or consequence. Teenagers are painfully aware or their problems, and are often portrayed as introspective and wise beyond their years. Ferris's response to the hardest parts of growing up is to drown it out with fun, the rest follows. Ultimately it's escapism, but I think that's why people go to the cinema."

Ever been tempted to do a new trailer on any other '80s classics?

"Since I put the trailer online I've had quite a few requests. Star Wars was a big one and Back to the Future. I don't know. I've got a lot of work on at the moment, but maybe next time I get a Sunday off..."

What's the reaction been to the trailer so far?

"Amazing. I don't think I really had any expectations when I put it online, but the response has been incredible. I think people are quite touched by the trailer, because the film is so close to a lot of peoples hearts. Really what I've done it cut the film down to it's most emotional themes, and that seems to be resonating with a lot of the people who've seen it."

[Last modified: Monday, March 14, 2011 11:36am]

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