Breaking and Entering (2006)

A landscape architect's dealings with a young thief cause him to re-evaluate his life.

Director:

Anthony Minghella

Writer:

Anthony Minghella

Stars:

Jude Law, Robin Wright, Martin Freeman

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jude Law	...	Will
Robin Wright	...	Liv (as Robin Wright Penn)
Martin Freeman	...	Sandy
Juliette Binoche	...	Amira
Rafi Gavron	...	Miro
Ed Westwick	...	Zoran
Serge Soric	...	Driver
Velibor Topic	...	Vlado
Rad Lazar	...	Dragan
Ting Ting Hu	...	Wei Ping (as Ting-Ting Hu)
Romi Aboulafia	...	Orit
Poppy Rogers	...	Beatrice
Eleanor Matsuura	...	Ruby
Anna Chancellor	...	Kate
Lisa Kay	...	PC Primus

Storyline

A mother and her daughter, a mother and her son, and a man living with one and attracted to the other. Miro, a teen from Sarajevo, lives near King's Cross with his mother; he's nimble, able to run across roofs, so his uncle hires him to break into office skylights, so the uncle can boost computers. Twice they steal from Will's architectural firm, so Will stakes it out at night. He follows Miro home and returns the next day and meets Miro's mother, Amira. At home, Will's relationship with Liv is strained - he feels outside Liv and her daughter Bea's circle. The stakeout and Amira's vulnerability are attractive alternatives to being at home. The police, too, watch Miro.

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Plot Keywords:

police | architect | computer | blackmail | seamstress | 

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Taglines:

Lie. Cheat. Steal. Love.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and language

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Serbo-Croatian

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (UK)

Also Known As:

Violación de domicilio

Filming Locations:

Alexandra Park, Haringey, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$21,160 (USA) (26 January 2007)

Gross:

$928,960 (USA) (20 April 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films, Mirage Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The techniques used to burgle Green Effect come from parkour, a physical discipline and recreational activity of French origin whose practitioners are called traceurs. Sometimes confused with free running, a related discipline derived from parkour, the art, as it is called by some practitioners, has gained in popularity in urban areas, particularly in Europe, during the early 21st century.

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Goofs

When Will drinks the coffee the sex worker brings to him at midnight, "PRET" can be seen on the coffee-cup sleeve. However, the Pret A Manger at King's Cross closes at 8pm.

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Quotes

Will Francis: Hi. I'm sorry.
Liv: You smell of perfume.
Will Francis: Well, I don't know how I do.
Liv: Nor do I.
Will Francis: I love you.
Liv: Is that an answer?
Will Francis: It's the truth. I feel as if I'm tapping on a window. You're somewhere behind the glass but you can't hear me. Even when you're angry, like now, it's like someone a long long way away is angry with me.

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Connections

References The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Sinfonia Number 2 in C Minor BWV 788"
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Ivana Gavric
Additional strings composed by Gabriel Yared

User Reviews

Second Chance

In London, the British architect Will (Jude Law) lives with his Swedish mate Liv (Robin Wright Penn) a worn-out relationship, without the former passion, consumed by the dedication of Liv to her autistic daughter Bea (Poppy Rogers). The needy of love Will and his partner Sandy (Martin Freeman) have an ambitious architectural project to improve the dangerous neighborhood of King's Cross where their firm Green Effect is located. The practitioner of parkour and refugee from Serbia Mirsade a.k.a. Miro (Rafi Gavron) breaks in Green Effect in the night to deactivate the alarm system to burgle computers and others electronic devices with a gang of compatriots leaded by his uncle. Will decides to stake-out during the nights to find the culprit, and he witnesses Miro trying to break-in the firm again. Will pursues Miro and finds his address, where Miro lives with his seamstress mother Amira (Juliette Binoche). Will does not call the police, and on the next day, he visits Amira with the pretext of sewing a coat. Will gets closer to Amira, visiting her everyday, and more distant from Liv, When Miro finds that Will had been in his room, he tells the truth to his mother and she decides to give Will's laptop back to him. Will sexually desires Amira and she has an encounter with him to get pictures to compromise and blackmail him.

"Breaking and Entering" is another great movie of Anthony Minghella that explores the theme of second chance in life through a dramatic triangle of love of the needy lead character and the maternal love of two mothers. Jude Law performs a successful but needy of love architect that misses the passion and attention of his girlfriend; Robin Wright Penn neglects her mate and gives her total attention to her daughter; and Juliette Binoche is a Serbian refugee capable of any sacrifice to save her son from prison. Their daughter Bea and son Miro are the key elements that trigger the plot. The lead trio has magnificent and credible interpretations and the story concludes with a final non-commercial redemption. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Invasão de Domicílio" ("Invasion of Domicile")