VOTD: 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' As An Indie Film

I know genre-switched trailers have sort of been done to death, but every once in a while a good one comes along that makes me laugh. Today, it's a trailer for Ferris Bueller's Day Off — done up to look like an indie film. Watch it after the jump.

[via Buzzfeed]

Who knew Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Garden State had so much in common? Against a backdrop of tinkling indie rock ("A Slight Return Home" by Wood Pigeon, before you ask), Ferris Bueller really does look like every other indie coming-of-age movie you've ever seen. Ferris himself comes off less like an outgoing, charming slacker and more like a proper indie film protagonist — sweet but shy and aimless — while Cameron appears to suffer from either a mental or psychological disorder.

As for my personal favorite indie-film moment from this trailer, it's a toss-up between the meaningful shot of the characters staring down from a skyscraper at the city below ("The city looks so peaceful from up here," Sloane says plaintively) or the various shots of Cameron losing it.

For an extra jolt of cognitive dissonance, I recommend revisiting the Requiem for a Day Off trailer from a couple years back, which shows many of the same clip set against Clint Mansell's "Lux Aeterna," from the Requiem for a Dream score. At this point, even I'm starting to wonder if the original Ferris Bueller's Day Off was really the lighthearted comedy I remember.

And once you're ready to move away from Bueller, I'd suggest taking another look at perhaps my favorite genre-mixing trailer of all time, Brokeback to the Future. It's old enough, and was popular enough, that I'm guessing you've already seen it, but seriously, watch it again. Taglines like "It was an experiment in time... but the one variable they forgot... was love" never stop being funny.