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, Vera Farmiga

5 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:

prostitute | architect | breasts | cunnilingus | taking off someone's panties | 

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Taglines:

Love is no ordinary crime.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Juliette Binoche: The Art of Being - Official Fansite

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Serbo-Croatian

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (UK)

Also Known As:

Par effraction

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£364,886 (United Kingdom), 12 November 2006, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$21,160, 28 January 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$928,960, 22 April 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax,Mirage Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Ed Westwick was first offered his role in this film, he turned it down because the scheduled dates for shooting conflicted with his exams at school and he had no idea who Anthony Minghella was, but his father told him to reply to the email and tell him he was available.

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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

Referenced in The Daily Show: Robin Wright Penn (2007)

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Soundtracks

Bentbasa
Performed by Dado Jehan (as Dado Dzihan) featuring Alma Ferovic
Licensed courtesy of Dado Dzihan
Traditional Bosnian Folk Song, arrangement by Dado Dzihan
Licensed Courtesy of Musicalities Ltd

User Reviews

A strong modern British movie

There's a lot to recommend this film. Principally there is the very fine (another very fine) performance from Jude Law. His versatile and grown-up performance glues the ensemble and the story strands together. The support is top notch: Juliette Binoche is the pick of the rest, thrown into chaos by her thieving son and Law's flaky contemporary liberal; around her are a convincing neurotic (Penn), compassionate urban realists (Farmiga and Winstone) and Martin Freeman playing an almost cameo-like doppelgänger to Law. And I don't know where they found Rafi Gavron who is brilliant as a first timer amongst such company.

The film has a couple of issues - it's almost pathologically organised with one-too-many similar themes investigated and resolved over its arc. The ending ties everything up too neatly.

Despite this the film manages to break the bonds of domestic or TV drama that so easily dog other British productions. London is definitely a character though. There are carefully chosen landmarks just off the tourist radar; even the estate where the immigrant family live is not a council dive but a flawed marvel of late 1960s architecture (The Rowley Way Estate in Camden).

A super film that, from its performances to its look, dispenses with preconception to examine the way modern individuals deal with one another in isolation. 8/10