Breaking Glass

I have watched this movie and although it is dated and low budget there is much more to this movie than "A low budget post punk Star is born!" There is the main story about a rebellious anti-establishment singer "Kate" played by Hazel O Connor who in order to "make it" has to give up control of her music and is forced on to the record company "bandwagon". This results in her losing the bands manager "Danny" (brilliantly played by Phil Daniels)who feels he is losing control of the band! But more than this, the movie is an accurate reflection of the post-punk anti-establishment feeling in England which I lived through at the time. The lyrics of Hazel's songs depict this and still have something to say today regarding Government and establishment control! However, the greatest irony is the climax of the movie where Kate (Hazel O Connor) is singing the song "Eighth day" as a protest against the establishment when she herself is having to "fit in to the establishment" to perform the song. Well worth another look!

Here it is, 2012, and I just watched Breaking Glass, though I actually recognize a couple of the songs (possible I was listening to the movie at another time in my life).

This movie, cheesy and spunky and rough around the edges, but what a fun time I had watching it. The music transported me back to when I was fresh out of high school, in the Navy, going to clubs in NY, Chicago, Orlando and Seattle with my buds and listening to this style of music everywhere. How I love the punk and post-punk era. Some of the best music was came from the UK during this time.

The movie was the perfect anecdote for artistic exploitation amidst unrest, racism and rampant abuse by authorities. I loved the emotion and terror of the scene with the rioting skinheads and Kate singing Blackman.

Still the best scenes were reserved for the performances (dubbed, but who cares). I was overwhelmed by the performance of Eigth Day. Superb in every way.

I just can't believe it took me this long to see it!

Breaking Glass is a film that everyone aspiring to be in the music industry should see more than once. It is a very dark tale about the way a record company manipulates a singer to do things their way and to make as much money out of her as possible. Looking at some of today's 'search for a star' style TV shows on both in the UK and abroad I am always reminded of this film. Though not an expert on the subject, the winners of these shows tend to have one very big initial hit and then its downhill from there. This film predates these shows though the effect seems the same. After getting rid of her manager, played quite brilliantly by Phil Daniels, slowly but surely the record company changes her lyrics puts her on stimulants and she is eventually totally burnt out. You potential stars of tomorrow.... WATCH THIS AND BEWARE !!!

I first saw the film when it landed on US cable a year after it came out. It blew my little head away, I was only 16 and it was the first new wave music I'd heard, having been a strictly folky, classical kid growing up. The music mesmerized me, as did Hazel O'Connor's amazing look and charismatic vocal performances, and Phil Daniels' tough but soft Cockney manager just stole my heart. But I think my favorite character was Jonathan Pryce's drugged out sax player. He was so out of place in the band and so harmless and pathetic, he just begged for sympathy. Favorite scenes, the performance when the lights went out, and the love scene on the train.

Okay, so the movie isn't the Rose! But it was really excellent for its limited budget and for its portrayal of the Britain of the early 80's, exploding with rebellious youth, looking for a way out of the dole queue. I went to Britain only a couple of years later and found the movie to have been very reflective of the atmosphere I found when I was there.

If you get a chance to, see it. It is a great movie, with some wonderful performances, and the music will blow you away.

Very much a political commentary on the disenfranchisement of youth and accurately summing up the feelings of the under 20s at that time, if not the reality.

The film was made just after the nation had suffered 'The Winter of Discontent' the final humiliation of the disastrous socialist government that had destroyed the aspirations and job prospects of a generation. This also led to the famous election of the far-right Thatcher government at the same time, but, they had not been in office for long enough to affect the approach of the film.

I saw the film at the time it was first shown, and being a punk and having a father that was a trade union leader at the time, much of what was portrayed in the film was familiar to me.

Although the film was very much trying to be a 'grim Northern realism' film for the 80s (and set in the south at that!), it was pure fantasy - things were never that bad, and it's easy to get depressed about situations that are portrayed as every-day occurrences that either never happened or were rare. The scenes of race riots are particularly overstated.

The music of the film, however, is it's strongest area. It is absolutely of its time, and completely representative. It is so classic that "In the beginning..." was being played in a country pub that I was in only last week (9/99) nearly 20 years later. What followed was 'New Wave' with 'Duran Duran' and others - what a disaster!

Given the slow degradation of the main character over the duration of the film, it is interesting to see what happened the the actress who played her (Hazel O'Connor) in real life. Life imitating art?