Surprisingly, the new documentary Don’t You Forget About Me isn’t a crass cash-in on tragedy, but a well-meaning love letter,
filmed before John Hughes’ unexpected death. In 2006, four Canadian
filmmakers embarked on a two-year quest to explore how the
writer-director managed to “capture the growing pains of adolescence so
perfectly” in films like The Breakfast Club, and why he spent
the last 15-plus years as a relative hermit. As it turns out, countless
current and former teenagers, Hughes collaborators and famous fans were
curious about the same things. Sure, DYFAM‘s central premise is
slightly flawed—the filmmakers apparently believe that
studio-produced movies are the only kind, and that the often schlocky
himself Hughes was the sole truth-telling filmmaker in a world of
hacks. Then again, it’s pretty impressive that Hughes established a
distinctive voice and captivated a mass audience. It’s hard not
to be moved by the added poignancy the film takes in the wake of
Hughes’ passing, and by one filmmaker’s offhand comment that “You don’t
usually get a tribute like this until you’re dead.”
This article appears in Nov 12-18, 2009.
