'Breaking Glass is a 1980 British film starring Hazel O'Connor, Phil Daniels, and Jonathan Pryce. The film is remarkable in that it also featured in the cast (sometimes in small roles) actors who would eventually become major stars of film and television: Mark Wingett, Richard Griffiths, Mark Wing-Davey, Jim Broadbent, Ken Campbell, Gary Tibbs, Peter Hugo-Daly, Derek Thompson, Janine Duvitski, Michael Kitchen, Gary Olsen, Jonathan Lynn, Zoot Money, Gary Holton, and Jon Finch. The film was co-produced by Lady Diana's ex-boyfriend, Dodi Fayed and written and directed by Brian Gibson 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Hazel OConnor (born May 16, 1955 in Coventry, England) is a British singer and actress. ... Phil Daniels (born 25 October 1958) is a British actor. ... Jonathan Pryce (b. ... Mark Wingett (born January 1, 1961) has played Jim Carver in The Bill. ... Richard Griffiths Richard Griffiths (born 31 July 1947 in Thornaby-on-Tees, Cleveland) is a British actor. ... Son of actors Peter Davey and Anna Wing, Mark Wing-Davey studied at Cambridge University where he was a member of the Footlights from 1967 to 1970. ... Jim Broadbent with his Oscar Award for Iris Jim Broadbent (born May 24, 1949) is an English television and film actor. ... Kenneth Victor Campbell (born December 10, 1941 in Ilford, Essex) is a British writer, actor, director and comedian, known for his unconventional work in theatre. ... Derek Thompson (born 4 April 1948) is a British television actor, most notable for playing Charlie Fairhead in the long running series Casualty. ... Michael Kitchen (born October 31, 1948) is an English actor. ... Gary Olsen (November 3, 1957 - September 12, 2000) was a well-known British comedy actor. ... Jonathan Lynn (born April 3, 1943), is a British actor and comedy writer. ... Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, née Spencer) (1 July 1961–31 August 1997), commonly, but incorrectly, known as Princess Diana, was for fifteen years the wife of HRH The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales. ... Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed (April 15, 1955 - August 31, 1997) was the son of Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of the British department store, Harrods. ... Brian Gibson (September 22, 1944 _ January 4, 2004) was a film director. ...

Synopsis

The movie tells the story of Kate, an angry but creative young woman who through a series of lucky breaks ends up becoming one of the biggest pop stars of her day. Her friend and manager Danny (played by a young Phil Daniels) comes along for the ride. All goes well for both of them until Kate has a nervous breakdown prompted by violence at a demo, and the group's saxophonist Ken (Jonathan Pryce) becomes increasingly dependent on intravenous drugs. Woods, an overbearing manager, pushes Danny away and takes his place as the group's manager and Kate's boyfriend. The word demo has different meanings, most of which are derived from shortening the word demonstration. ... An intravenous drip in a hospital Intravenous therapy or IV therapy is the administration of liquid substances directly into a vein. ...

Assessment

The film is often held out as being an example of punk rock, but by the time it was made, the punk craze had died down and New Wave was taking its place. This is reflected in the soundtrack, which is more melodic and refined, partly thanks to the involvement of veteran producer Tony Visconti. Visconti later claimed to have had difficulties with the recording due to O'Connor's lack of ability, however this is not apparent on the finished product. The music strongly features saxophones, played in the movie by Pryce's character. Pryce in fact learned all the saxophone parts, so the fingering is correct, but his playing was not used in the soundtrack. Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The term New Wave has been used to describe several movements in art. ... Tony Visconti is a record producer, and often an instrumentalist or singer, who has had a long and illustrious career working with some of the best known popular music artists from the late 1960s onwards, notably T. Rex, David Bowie, Thin Lizzy, Sparks, and Gentle Giant. ... Saxophones of different sizes play in different registers. ...

The film is also often cited as showing the mood of Mrs Thatcher's Britain, with a rebellious teenage underclass, public unrest, and racial or class tensions. However true this may be, the film was actually made before Mrs Thatcher was elected. The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), born Margaret Hilda Roberts, is a British stateswoman and was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, the only woman as of 2005 to serve in that position, and the...

External Links

• Breaking Glass on the Internet Movie Database
• Breaking Glass'