Broken. (15.)
Directed By Rufus Norris.
Starring Eloise Laurence, Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy, Rory Kinnear, Denis Lawson and Zana Marjanovic. 93 mins.
Broken (as in Britain) takes place in a well appointed, relatively classy cul-de-sac in North London and there can be no more appropriate setting for a typical British movie. It is beautifully attired but doesn’t quite get you anywhere.
The story is seen through the eyes of Skunk (engagingly played by newcomer Lawrence), an eleven year old diabetic girl. Skunk is an open and upbeat girl trying to come to terms with first love and moving up to secondary school. She is also learning to deal with the harsh realities of life - or the Oswald family, as they are known in this film.
This unruly tribe is headed up by lone parent Bob (Kinnear), a man who expresses himself through either violence or sentimentality, and will do anything to protect his three daughters who cause misery wherever they go. It is his act of violence, witnessed by Skunk, which opens the film and ripples through the lives of the characters living near them.
The film wants to cover a lot of bases. Director Norris comes to us from the world of theatre and fancies himself as a bit of a Lynne Ramsey, imbuing Skunk’s view of the world with visual poetry, moments of childhood wonder in abandoned caravans next to the car wrecking yard.
Against that it is a state of the nation piece. There are two single parent families both headed by fathers – the reasonable Tim Roth against the unreasonable Kinnear. There’s a Polish house maid (Marjanovic) and her commitment phobic boyfriend (Murphy) and then in the third house there is a respectable older couple (Denis Lawson and Clare Burt) who have a mentally challenged son (Robert Emms.)
The film has joy and plenty of humour but all the time you are aware that there is a strong hand tugging these people towards misery. It presents England as a mundane episode of Brookside buried beneath a gothic coating.
Directed By Rufus Norris.
Starring Eloise Laurence, Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy, Rory Kinnear, Denis Lawson and Zana Marjanovic. 93 mins.
Broken (as in Britain) takes place in a well appointed, relatively classy cul-de-sac in North London and there can be no more appropriate setting for a typical British movie. It is beautifully attired but doesn’t quite get you anywhere.
The story is seen through the eyes of Skunk (engagingly played by newcomer Lawrence), an eleven year old diabetic girl. Skunk is an open and upbeat girl trying to come to terms with first love and moving up to secondary school. She is also learning to deal with the harsh realities of life - or the Oswald family, as they are known in this film.
This unruly tribe is headed up by lone parent Bob (Kinnear), a man who expresses himself through either violence or sentimentality, and will do anything to protect his three daughters who cause misery wherever they go. It is his act of violence, witnessed by Skunk, which opens the film and ripples through the lives of the characters living near them.
The film wants to cover a lot of bases. Director Norris comes to us from the world of theatre and fancies himself as a bit of a Lynne Ramsey, imbuing Skunk’s view of the world with visual poetry, moments of childhood wonder in abandoned caravans next to the car wrecking yard.
Against that it is a state of the nation piece. There are two single parent families both headed by fathers – the reasonable Tim Roth against the unreasonable Kinnear. There’s a Polish house maid (Marjanovic) and her commitment phobic boyfriend (Murphy) and then in the third house there is a respectable older couple (Denis Lawson and Clare Burt) who have a mentally challenged son (Robert Emms.)
The film has joy and plenty of humour but all the time you are aware that there is a strong hand tugging these people towards misery. It presents England as a mundane episode of Brookside buried beneath a gothic coating.
