Broken (2012 film)

Broken is a 2012 British coming-of-age, drama film directed by Rufus Norris starring Eloise Laurence and Tim Roth. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012. It is based on the 2008 novel of the same name written by Daniel Clay, which was partly inspired by Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird.[1]

Broken
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRufus Norris
Produced byDixie Linders
Ally Garner
Nick Marston
Bill Kenwright
Screenplay byMark O'Rowe
Story byDaniel Clay
StarringTim Roth
Cillian Murphy
Rory Kinnear
Robert Emms
Zana Marjanović
Denis Lawson
Eloise Laurence
Music byElectric Wave Bureau
CinematographyRob Hardy
Edited byVictoria Boydell
Distributed byWild Bunch
Release date
  • 7 May 2012 (2012-05-07) (Cannes)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Eleven-year-old diabetic Emily 'Skunk' Cunningham lives with her solicitor father Archie, her elder brother Jed, and au pair Kasia on a cul-de-sac in a typical British suburb. One of her few friends is Rick, a slightly simple young man living with his parents in a neighbouring house.

Skunk is shocked when Rick gets beaten up by Mr. Oswald, another neighbour: one of single-father Oswald's three daughters has falsely accused Rick of rape. Rick is released when the girl is proven a liar, but he closes himself in his room. From that time onwards Skunk's life goes downhill.

Kasia splits up with her boyfriend Mike, who is also Skunk's favourite teacher. Rick is put into a mental ward as he isolates himself more and more. Archie and Kasia are beginning a relationship, which proves a shock to both Mike and Skunk. Oswald's daughters start bullying Skunk when the new term starts. Skunk's first boyfriend suddenly has to move away, and does not tell her until the day before he leaves.

One of Oswald's daughters gets pregnant by one of her many sexual partners, panics, and falsely accuses Mike. Oswald barges into Skunk's classroom and beats Mike. While Oswald is in jail, Archie provides legal services to Mike, and the three daughters throw a drunken party. The pregnant daughter miscarries, then dies, leading to Oswald's release.

Skunk secretly visits Rick when he spends his first weekend at home again. When she enters the house, she finds that Rick has accidentally pushed his mother down the stairs, breaking her neck, then panicked and knocked out his father. Rick does not let Skunk leave and does not realise when Skunk's diabetes takes her into a hypoglycemic coma. Oswald finds Skunk, and a dead Rick (suicide), and gets her to hospital.

In a dream sequence, Skunk bids farewell to people from her childhood, including the recently dead, then sees her grown self, holding her baby. She wakes up in a hospital bed, with her father at her bedside.

Cast

In addition, Oswald's three daughters, whose chavish behaviour precipitates many of the negative outcomes, are played by Martha Bryant (as Sunrise, the youngest), Faye Daveney (as Saskia, the oldest) and Rosalie Kosky-Hensman (as Susan, the pregnant).

Reception

Accolades

Broken premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2012. It won Grand Prix of Odessa International Film Festival in 2012.[2] The film received the Golden Eye Award for best international film on the Zurich Film Festival. It also won The British Independent Film Awards 2012 for Best British Independent Film.[3]

Critical reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews by critics. It holds a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 50 reviews and reports a rating average of 6.0 out of 10.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Daniel Clay". Junsui Films. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  2. "Winners of Odessa International Film Festival 2012", Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Masters, Tim (10 December 2012). "Broken wins top prize at British Independent Film Awards". BBC News.
  4. "Broken (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
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