An adaptation of «Emma,» political satire, Lindsay Lohan's best role, and much more in our list of the best school comedies in the history of the genre.
School comedies are a simple genre, offering fewer surprises with each passing year. Is that really true? Not quite: films about the tough daily lives of high school students can be very different—funny, profound, cruel, sentimental, and even philosophical—but never boring. For the first day of school, we recall 10 classic school comedies, inviting some to dive back into childhood and others, perhaps, to rethink their own school days. One way or another, nothing entertains at the start of autumn better than watching a good comedy.
« Fast Times at Ridgemont High » (Fast Times At Ridgemont High, 1982)
A sort of bible of school cinema, so important is this film to the entire history of the genre. Today it looks somewhat strange, but not at all naive—on the contrary, it might seem that some of what the characters smoked could have reached the screenwriters as well. As in any self-respecting stoner film, there are two main themes for jokes here—sex and drugs. But somewhere in between, if not a drama, then a sketch of life unfolds, surprisingly complex, surprisingly authentic, and one you would want to live.
« Sixteen Candles » (16 Candles, 1984)
The films of John Hughes, who created the canon of school cinema, were always somewhat excessive, deliberately sentimental, and generally not intricately constructed, but despite (or perhaps because of) this, they were always loved by audiences of very different ages and backgrounds.
His debut «16 Candles» may seem secondary to «The Breakfast Club» to many, but even in it, everything the director is known for was already evident. It is a nostalgic film that lacks the didactic fervor of «The Club» and the deep critique of American society from «Ferris Bueller's Day Off,» but it has directorial sincerity and belief. This belief was enough to reform school cinema—from sex and slapstick comedies, these films moved into a category that, if not educational, was at least quite instructive.
«Heathers» (Heathers, 1988)
«Fight Club» for the little ones—here they play strip croquet, blow up the school, kill classmates, and generally have a pretty fun time. One of the strangest school comedies of the 80s, this film is notable for its uncompromising boldness: no other film in the genre spoke with such honesty that life doesn't get better with age, and if adults treat teenagers like they're invisible, it means they've stopped considering them children.
Moderate criticism of capitalism, rejection of any authority, black humor, and, of course, the mesmerizing Winona Ryder—all of this is in «Heathers,» but there is also something else, something hidden and unspoken, that makes this film, if not the most mysterious in the unpretentious genre of school cinema, then certainly the most captivating.
«Say Anything» (Say Anything, 1989)
A slightly sad film about Lloyd, a C-student, who falls in love with Diane, an A-student. Graduation in the film seems like an apocalypse, first love like a miracle; it is a naive and sometimes overly serious film about yesterday's schoolchildren who face adult problems and don't understand how to live in a world where a father can turn out to be a thief, dreams can be lies, and life is not at all like it was in school. Cameron Crowe would later make many films similar in naivety and message («Elizabethtown,» for example), but he would never repeat the success of «Say Anything,» a lyrical and at the same time hopeful film.
«Dazed and Confused» (Dazed And Confused, 1993)
Richard Linklater on the main, beloved, and most important things. The author of nostalgic dramedies and romantic hits, the director did not deviate from his style in this film—in a comedy with a line from Led Zeppelin as its title, he tells the story of graduating from school like no one had before.
His characters are indeed dazed and confused, they rejoice, have fun, boldly step into adult life, but at the same time, they are beginning to understand that time is passing, that childhood won't return, that in life they will have to make some kind of choice in a situation where they don't want to make any. Even if you never danced at a disco to the song Love Hurts, Linklater will make you believe you did. That's how mesmerizing and convincing this film is in its riotous melancholy.
«Clueless» (Clueless, 1995)
An outstanding film whose creators manage to simultaneously laugh at everyone and show their characters, slacker schoolchildren, as very lively and therefore truly interesting people. Jane Austen once did the same thing, whose novel «Emma» (of which «Clueless» is a loose adaptation) was a critique of the rural aristocracy and at the same time a very sincere story of growing up and, ultimately, love.
Emma has been played by different actresses—from Gwyneth Paltrow to—but probably no one has made her as Alicia Silverstone did—dashing, deadly ironic party girl who is unfazed by anything, but at the same time vulnerable, fragile, and in her own way very kind. Being the best adaptation of «Emma» in film history, «Clueless» is, of course, also a monument to Silverstone's acting talent and one of the smartest school films of the nineties.
Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the fastest-growing stars in Hollywood. This is due to her unusual appearance and memorable roles in films and shows. Even if the projects don't receive good
Open material«10 Things I Hate About You» (10 Things I Hate About You, 1999)
A perfect example of the literary-centric nature of 90s school comedies, this adaptation of a Shakespeare play is one of the best school films in history—honest, sincere, and very bold. «10 Things» developed the canon of school cinema, showed that bookworms can be much more revolutionary than cool guys, and introduced Heath Ledger. His charisma is not the last reason for the film's popularity, but it's not the only one either: the sharp script, the dialogue with Shakespeare, and the slightly disarming postmodern fervor turned this film into an instant classic.
«Election» (Election, 1999)
Not so much a comedy as a political manifesto, this film features two outstanding performances—Reese Witherspoon (magnificent) and Matthew Broderick (his best role since «Ferris Bueller's Day Off,» playing the antithesis of his former self)—and the most perfect script that a film about American politics can have.
It is, essentially, an anecdote about a school election, where an eternal A-student, cheerleader, and simply unpleasant senior is opposed, through a proxy candidate, by a social studies teacher who tells students about the difference between a moral act and an ethical one but doesn't always see this difference himself. However, the anecdotal part quickly gives way to a discussion: serious people with sad eyes try to understand what is wrong with the world. Watching this, of course, is not always pleasant, but it is necessary.
Mean Girls (Mean Girls, 2004)
A film rare in its expressiveness, which became for the MTV era what «Fast Times at Ridgemont High» was for the eighties. In «Mean Girls,» everything is deceptively simple—love, popularity, friendship, betrayal—that's the whole classic set, yet the film astonishingly accurately shows the friction between two key laws of school cinema: that in the end, the good outcast heroine must become popular, and that popular schoolgirls have always been bad since Hughes' time.
Because of the friction between goals and values, the film turns out to be, in general, great (as strange as it is to say this about a film with Lindsay Lohan)—it is the story of a girl finding her place in the world, but at the same time, a study of the genre. Lohan's character encounters its heroes, goes through obligatory transformations, but at the same time remains an outsider, never finding a stereotype that fits her. Therefore, the film's ending—the breakdown of the school's social structure, the uncompromising destruction of the canon.
«Easy A» (Easy A, 2010)
The last notable film working in the «pure» genre of school comedy. Its center is Emma Stone, playing a modest A-student who, by a ridiculous accident, becomes the school's biggest slut. The actress handled the role beautifully; you believe her in everything, just as you believe Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as the liberal parents, and Lisa Kudrow as the social worker.
Plot-wise, the film reworks the plot of an American classic—the novel «The Scarlet Letter,» not shy about borrowing jokes from other sources as well: Shakespeare's wit «If you are not in hell, I will gladly go there» is also present. It is a clever film about reputational losses (Stone's character suffered from rumors) and the importance of good teachers—and the main school in it turns out to be the school of life. And that is probably the key takeaway for all films in the genre.
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