Sixteen Candles

"John Hughes, the filmmaker and screenwriter, was one of the most interesting voices to talk about adolescence in the 1980s, reaching the peak of his career with 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'. However, in addition to these two, he was also the director and screenwriter of 'Sixteen Candles', a less known feature film by Hughes, but which also makes an interesting overview of youth in the eighties. After all, here the viewer is invited to spend a day in the life of Samantha, a young woman who has just turned 16 and whose birthday has been forgotten by her relatives. The feeling of being "left out" is amplified, too, as her crush at school is dating a much prettier girl. It is the cue for a narrative full of ups and downs, adolescent dilemmas and love sufferings. But it is worth noting: among Hughes' films, this is the one that has aged the worst. After all, there are traces of xenophobia and misogyny, as well as an incitement to rape. To watch thinking and reflecting on important social changes."