Breaking and Entering

How does one choose a film to view? Often it is the subject matter - here the fraught relationship between landscape architect Will and both his partner of 10 years Liv (who has an autistic daughter) and his new lover Amira (who has a thieving son). Sometimes it is star - in the case, Jude Law who has to choose between his American partner who has an obsessive approach to parenthood (Robin Wright Penn) and his Bosnian refugee girlfriend who works as a seamstress (Juliette Binoche). Other times it is the director - on this occasion, Anthony Minghella who writes as well as directs as he returns to the north London milieu in which he located "Truly, Madly, Deeply".

All of these are reasonable reasons for wanting to see "Breaking and Entering", but I confess that it was the supporting French actress Juliette Binoche that drew me to the work. I've been in love with her ever since her first English-language appearance in "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" in 1988. She is simply beautiful in a bewitching manner, while always convincing as an actress, especially in vulnerable roles.

This is a multi-layered work in which the title can be taken in three ways: the obvious sense with the robberies perpetrated by Amira's son Miro; the deeper sense with Will's emotional assault on Amira; and still another sense as the middle-class Will and his like invade the traditionally working-class area of Kings Cross.

Those who need car chases or special effects in their movie experiences should avoid Mighella's parable, but those who value thoughtful and nuanced works will find much to admire here.

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")

Tenderness is contagious. Looking for love and ways to give it? Are movies more to you than entertainment? Without dreams, ambition and inspiration, life is harder than it has to be. Who says only the very young are hungry for knowledge. This good movie has taught me something about foreign relations, love and families, crime and punishment, truth, imagination, diligence, experience...the list goes on. And the commentary by Minghella -a bonus offered in the DVD features- is simply a joy. See the movie, enjoy the collaborative efforts of several true artists and then learn a bit about what it all meant to this successful writer/director. Or just see it because it's entertaining.

There is a compelling need for redemption in Anthony Minghella's characters. The need itself is so blatantly human that sometimes, you have to look away. The plea of the characters is as diverse as it is identical. Don't ask me to explain, I may ruin the whole thought just by trying an intellectual explanation when in fact it only makes sense viscerally. Jude Law is back in top form and I for one want to cheer. He is extraordinary. Extraordinary! Juliette Binoche's Bosnian mom is another miracle of truth in her already magnificent gallery of truthful characters. Her son, played beautifully by Rafi Gavron doesn't allow us to take anything for granted. Robin Wright Penn's Liv is truly Bergmanesque and provides the perfect icy foil for Jude Law's longing. I came out of the theater drained and reinvigorated. That in itself is a huge recommendation.

Gosh. Here's a film that not only went directly to video, but horror of horrors, it was directly to Blockbuster.

And yet it is precisely in the center of one of the six nodes of film perfection. Its that place where cinematic qualities recede and theatrical drama of the Chekov variety is delivered: should in conflict; souls in pain; souls striving toward some sort of tentative peace, knowing that each balance is forged personally.

Now that Mangella has died, taken from us early, I appreciate him. He made a commercial excrescence in "Cold Mountain," but there are elements of his other films that show a delicate soul behind the noise. Here he is himself, directing something he has conceived, and brought into the world.

Its a marvel of tension. He has two mothers, each struggling alone with "special" children. Two children who are addicted to gymnastic life beyond what is healthy and reasonable. Tow enterprises to clean the city, one using trees, the other sensitive policing.

Two themes of ethnic cleansing.

In other words, two haunting worlds that swirl around our focus, the one who draws, creates models, makes photos on a MacBook. This character is played by Jude Law. He's not who I would have chosen to play this man who manages four balancing acts, all connected to each other. I just don't think he is an interesting enough soul to speak to us about these sorts of things. He's basically a child himself in these matters.

It almost doesn't matter, because Mangella fills in the void with cinematic ambiguities. There are deleted scenes on this DVD that should, really absolutely have been in the final cut. Why they were not baffles me. Would it lessen the commercial value of the thing? One involves a coworker, a women apparently worth exploring, who Law's character considers. That he backs off makes his subsequent leap all the more forceful.

The two women here are played by real actresses. By this I mean that they not only know how to show us what their souls contain, but they have souls worth visiting when (temporarily) so shaped.

Binoche may be our most real woman, here moving between a woman and all women. Shes a blessing/ I feel blessed to have known her this way, and blessed that Mingella made the introduction and engagement such.

I think you should see this. Its his real legacy.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.