CAST: Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, Martin Freeman, Vera Farmiga, Ray Winstone, Rafi Gavron, Poppy Rogers, Mark Benton, Juliet Stevenson, Caroline Chikezie, Rad Lazar, Ed Westwick, Branka Katic, Velibor Topic.
“When do you stop looking at each other? Shouldn’t there be a warning? Shouldn’t somebody say to us, ‘Hey, watch out, pay attention!’? Because you can be thinking ‘I’m okay, we’re okay, we’re good.’ Then you turn around and…a distance between you.” --- Jude Law
****************************************************************** BREAKING AND ENTERING INTO PEOPLE’S LIVES ******************************************************************
The film I will be reviewing tonight is on BREAKING AND ENTERING, the new movie written and directed by Anthony Minghella. As with many films by the great Minghella, here is another gem about ordinary people finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances resulting in an excellent drama with a terrific cast. Jude Law has been in Minghella’s last two films, and here he plays Will Francis, a family man who lives in the section of London known as King’s Cross. Will and his partner Sandy (played by “The Office’s” Martin Freeman) are architects who are determined to make the area “greener” and “more efficient,” despite the fact that King’s Cross is rife with burglary, drugs, prostitution. Will’s partner of 10 years is Swedish-American and her name is Liv (Robin Wright Penn); she has a 13-year-old autistic daughter named Bea (Poppy Rogers), an amateur gymnast. The relationship between Will and Liv has been crumbling during the past few months, and the events that will unfold will test their union in more ways than one.
The firm which Will and Sandy have set up in King’s Cross suddenly finds itself invaded by burglars, who have been able to steal all of their assets twice before the police had arrived. Determined to put a stop to it, they decide to stakeout the place themselves during the night, and they eventually befriend a prostitute named Oana (Vera Farmiga); eventually, Will gets an eye on the person initiating the burglaries (a 15 year old boy) and chases him downtown, discovering that he lives with his mother Amira (Juliette Binoche). Amira and her son Miro had emigrated from Bosnia awhile ago, and she has been upset at him for attending school for the past few weeks, particularly when he has been in trouble for theft in the past, and was warned if he is caught again he will go to prison. Amira runs a tailor business out of her flat, and Will decides to get closer to Milo---though he ends up having an affair with her!
****************************************************************** MINGHELLA’S MENAGERIE OF METAPHORS ******************************************************************
I’ve always been a huge fan of Minghella’s work, ever since I saw THE ENGLISH PATIENT opening night over 10 years ago. I loved that film so much that I hoped that the Academy Awards would honor it accordingly…and they did, giving the film nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Director and Best Supporting Actress for Juliette Binoche. His next film, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, with Matt Damon and Jude Law, managed to reach an even wider audience, and I also loved the underrated COLD MOUNTAIN, based on Charles Frazier’s best selling novel. However, I was shocked to discover that when BREAKING AND ENTERING was released last November, the majority of the critics didn’t give it favorable reviews. In many ways, this is Minghella’s most personal film, mainly because it was filmed in his hometown of London, and this was the first screenplay he wrote in 15 years that wasn’t based on a novel; the last one was his first film, TRULY MADLY DEEPLY, starring Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson.
I have to say to all of you that if you did not like any of Minghella’s other films, then chances are you are not going to like this one; he is one of those rare filmmakers that likes to challenge his audiences, and in BREAKING AND ENTERING it is no exception. His films are more to embrace, admire and contemplate rather than to merely enjoy, and that is why some audiences are turned off by his work, calling them simply dull or boring. For example, THE ENGLISH PATIENT was brought to life not because of the story, but because of Minghella’s ability to immerse you in the world he has created onscreen; his characters tend to go on metaphorical and philosophical journeys which alter their fate or destiny. Such is the case with BREAKING AND ENTERING, as the primary characters of Will, Liv, and Amira use words to connect with each other and unforeseen events push them forward as they discover things they are not prepared for.
Minghella’s screenplay is unpredictable and rewarding, even if the story isn’t particularly strong; what makes the film come alive is the metaphorically rich characterizations. Will is a man who is obviously unhappy and while he does love Liv, he feels that he cannot be a true father to Bea, and when he gets closer to Amira something inside makes him change, though he is not fully aware of what triggers that change. Liv wants the relationship to work, and yet she thinks that Will is consumed by work and cannot connect with Bea no matter how much he tries. And Amira, more than everything, wants to stay in London and not face the consequences if her son has another collision with the law. While you can see Minghella’s title for the film as the events that take place early in the film when Will’s firm gets burgled, I looked it at more as the how the characters are brought together and how their hearts respond when the collisions take place.
****************************************************************** A WELL-CHOSEN ENSEMBLE CAST ******************************************************************
I’ve met several people that seem to have an aversion towards Jude Law, and mostly that stems from how he is depicted in the tabloids; like I said before, I don’t care what actors do in their private lives, but just pay attention to their work. Law is not one of my favorite actors, though he has had his share of good performances, and the one I love the most is when he played the murderous photographer with bad teeth and no hair in ROAD TO PERDITION. His lead role in COLD MOUNTAIN I thought was also memorable, and while his performance here in BREAKING AND ENTERING is never really credible, it still is quite solid, as is Martin Freeman’s low-key but amusing performance as Sandy. The thing here is that Law and Freeman are completely outshone by the supporting cast, as the film works extremely well as a showcase for its lovely leading ladies.
Juliette Binoche is such a fantastic actress that her list of great performances is just endless; her radiant beauty and ethereal presence really adds so much to any film she is in, such as BLUE and THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING. She deserved the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Minghella’s THE ENGLISH PATEINT, as the nurse who tends to the badly burned Ralph Fiennes in an Italian monastery and I thought she was wonderful in CHOCOLAT with Johnny Depp. In this film, she doesn’t fail again to be beautiful and believable; for some reason, I think she literally glows when she is onscreen. The same could be said for Robin Wright Penn, who has had a hot-and-cold career (at best) ever since making her debut 20 years ago as Buttercup in THE PRINCESS BRIDE. Her performance as Liv is strong and stunning, going through a variety of emotions, and not always via dialogue, but through facial expressions and how she carries her character.
One of the standouts of Martin Scorcese’s THE DEPARTED was the introduction of Vera Farmiga, who played the psychiatrist Madolyn who fell in love with both Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. Where did this woman come from? She has a stunning screen presence, and while her character of Oana the hooker doesn’t have a lot of screen time, she certainly makes the most of it. Minghella gives her some of the best lines and her character is both kinetic and kinky; I’m now looking forward to seeing more of her in the future. Also joining the cast is the fine British actress Juliet Stevenson, who starred in Minghella’s TRULY MADLY DEEPLY and here she has a small but pivotal role as Rosemary, the psychiatric counselor who Liv and Will see on a regular basis.
****************************************************************** THE SCENT OF INFEDELITY ******************************************************************
Now, this is something I want ask all of you: do foxes really run rampant in King’s Cross? I lived in England for 3 years, though I was in Newquay and nowhere near London; however, I do know that foxhunting has been under fire in the UK in terms of if it should be outlawed. Soon after the film opens, a fox is seen scurrying around for a good two minutes, and Minghella includes to show the audience what King’s Cross is like. However, I’m convinced that Minghella uses the fox more as a symbol in the film; like most animals, foxes are propelled to something by what they smell. When Will befriends Oana and they start talking, he doesn’t realize that she is wearing an overpowering perfume; when he returns home to Liv, she questions him about the scent that is over him when he returns and he, naturally, plays it off and makes love to her. All throughout that scene between Liv and Will, there is a fox howling in the background!
A few scenes later, Will decides to pay Oana back for her kindness, and buys her some perfume that his wife wears. Then you hear a fox again…I know it sounds laughable and it may not really any sense to some of you, but allusions to foxes, perfumes and scents come up throughout the film at different points. I think it is one of Minghella’s themes in this film, in terms of sensing infidelity, and the fox is representing the search for the truth, no matter how dirty it is. Hey, I maybe wrong, maybe I’m reading too much into it, but those allusions like I said pop up with out warning in Minghella’s film; this is a perfect example in terms of what I said about the director challenging the audience. I’m sure by this time most of you have made up your minds if you want to see this film or not; however, if you do watch it, see if you see a connection between the foxes and perfumes. If anything, it gives BREAKING & ENTERING a haunting undercurrent.
Before I conclude this review, I have to say that one thing I always look forward to with Minghella’s films is the music score, which is done by Gabriel Yared, who has been his collaborator ever since THE ENGLISH PATIENT. Yared’s score is once again beautiful to listen to, and this time he had worked with Underworld, which includes Welshman Rick Smith and Brit Karl Hyde; their theme for Amira is especially lovely. Unfortunately, BREAKING AND ENTERING will not be released on DVD in the UK until July 23, 2007. The special features will include a director’s commentary and some deleted scenes, which should entice those who love the film. It will be available for a rather pricey 15 GBP, and the ASIN is B000MR8SUK. Thank you for reading, and I hope that my review has gotten you a little interested in seeing the film now. Take care…Chris :)
****************************************************************** QUOTES FROM MINGHELLA’S ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY ******************************************************************
1) “You are supposed to go to school…that is what you promised and we agreed upon for the court and the school. If someone else is leading you, I’ll kill them…and I wouldn’t care!” --- Juliette Binoche
2) “Liv says you are so wrapped up in your work.” --- Juliet Stevenson “Wrapped up?” --- Jude Law “That’s fair!” --- Robin Wright Penn “I love working really hard, so how does that make me wrapped up, making me selfish? I love that job!” --- Jude Law
3) “Let’s just back up…we love Bea. This is not a competition to see who loves her the most; if it were a competition, I would happily let Liv win. You would win!” --- Jude Law
4) “I was a bit late for the first break-in, and got here just as the burglars were leaving after the second break-in. Who ever committed these knew the cleaner’s codes!” --- Martin Freeman
5) “I’ve got the criminal mind. Lots of wanting to be bad; seeing an ass, and wanting to bite it. I just never do…” --- Jude Law
6) “What you have done there is strayed from the moral to the criminal---and you crossed the moral-criminal divide. Wanting to bite an ass is a moral issue and then only if the ass belongs to someone who objects to the idea. Criminal would be biting the ass of someone without permission.” --- Martin Freeman “Hehehe, you are such a lawyer!” --- Jude Law
7) “That’s f*cked up! What man wants to be with a girl that smells like his wife? You think I like to smell like this? You think I like to wear panties which cut my pussy in half? Men are incredible!” --- Vera Farmiga
8) “If you are measuring how far away from where we need to be, you and me, is that a long way?” --- Robin Wright Penn “I don’t think you can ask a question like that, although it feels like a long way from where we used to be. I wish we could unsay and unhurt back to wherever that is and start again!” --- Jude Law
9) “People like me from my country we---I’m Bosnian---we think its dangerous not to be able to hear.” --- Juliette Binoche
10) “Do you wish that Bea was Will’s daughter?” --- Juliet Stevenson “I wish she was because then we could all be happy.” --- Robin Wright Penn
CRITIC’S QUOTE #1: “BREAKING AND ENTERING is an intelligent movie with a great supporting cast; however, these are virtues which prove to be its undoing.” --- Adam Neyman, Eve Weekly
CRITIC’S QUOTE #2: “This film plays by its own rules and hopes prospective audiences are patient enough to follow characters whose lives are more rewarding to watch than the ho-hum plot surrounding them.” --- Dustin Putnam, TheMovieboy.com
CRITIC’S QUOTE #3: “BREAKING AND ENTERING offers a kindler, gentler version of London’s strife than we’re accustomed to seeing. Not all parts of the script are equally well developed, and sometimes it seems as if we’re looking at drama under a glass.” --- Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
CRITIC’S QUOTE #4: “BREAKING AND ENTERING, not unlike a pair of other English dramas (NOTES ON A SCANDAL and THE QUEEN), provides further proof that so-called serious filmmaking can be equally entertaining and provocative.” --- Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
CRITIC’S QUOTE #5: “Deserves to be celebrated as a work that comes closer to any other to achieving what the filmmaker does best: Reminding us that no matter what is happening on a larger scale, we are defined by our interpersonal relationships!” --- Phoebe Flowers, South Florida Sun-Centinal
Minghella with Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain) and the haunting Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, for which she and Minghella won Academy Awar...
Minghella with Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain) and the haunting Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, for which she and Minghella won Academy Awar...
