Breaking Glass
Encyclopedia
Breaking Glass is a 1980 British
film starring Hazel O'Connor
, Phil Daniels
and Jonathan Pryce
. The film was co-produced by Dodi Fayed and written and directed by Brian Gibson. The film was screened out of competition at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival
.
), an angry but creative young singer and songwriter. At the beginning of the movie, she is discovered by Danny (Phil Daniels
), a young man who desperately wants to become a promoter of music bands but is stuck working for another agent (who forces him to buy hundreds of copies of the singles of one of his artists, Suzie Sapphire, in order to fix the music charts). Danny takes an active part in controlling Kate's career, impressed with her talent if not her band, whom he promptly fires. He arranges auditions and reaches out to former friends, and in doing so Kate's new band, Breaking Glass is formed. Breaking Glass consists of Kate on vocals and keyboard, best friends Tony (Mark Wingett
) and Dave (Gary Tibbs
) on lead and bass guitar respectively, the drug-addicted and partially deaf Ken (Jonathan Pryce
) on saxophone and the 'mental' Mick (Peter-Hugo Daly
) on drums.
Danny does his best to promote the band but finds it hard-going. The best he can do is several nights in a pub frequented by neo-nazis, which, given Kate's anarchist and liberal tendencies that shine through in her songwriting, doesn't go well. After a brawl breaks out one night and the publican refuses to pay the band, Danny finally manages to persuade the anti-establishment Kate to record a demo tape. Danny and Kate then take the demo tape to a gig promoter who shows no interest.
The band keeps struggling to get by, despite being hassled by the police, and in the meantime Kate realises she is falling in love with Danny. The hard work eventually pays off when the gig promoter finally agrees to help out, but only by offering the band a contract that Danny describes as feudal.
Several months pass as the band tours the country, building up a large fanbase. On Christmas Eve the band is stranded when their van breaks down and the British Rail train drivers are on strike. It is at this point that Danny and Kate make love for the first time and become a couple.
Danny blackmails his former employer (by threatening to reveal how he paid Danny to fix the charts) into attending a gig in London. However, disaster strikes when the band begins to perform and a power-cut occurs. Encouraged by Danny and Mick, the band continues anyway and wins the hostile crowd over. The music agents Danny forced into coming are also greatly impressed and the band is offered a record contract.
Almost immediately things do not go well. Firstly, the band are not amused by how the music agents demand changes to some of the 'offensive' lyrics in order to secure airplay (such as changing 'kick him in the arse' to 'punch him in the nose'). The recording of the first album does not go well and the agents also reveal that they think Danny is the problem. The chart rise of Top of the Wheel, the band's first single, parallels the earlier success of Suzie Sapphire.
Forced into playing at an anti-establishment benefit concert, the band finds the organisation lacking and tries to leave, only to see a neo-nazi rally approaching. They decide to play anyway (and a particularly controversial song), which results in a riot breaking out. Danny wants the band to leave but Kate insists on taunting the crowd. That changes when a young man who has been stabbed falls right in front of her, screaming in pain and desperation. This causes Kate to scream.
While recovering, Kate is forced to audition for a famous music manager, Woods (Jon Finch
), who makes it clear that he wants to produce her music and also be involved with her. Kate's new songs seem to help her recover mentally, but the rest of the band are not so happy. Danny finds himself being pushed more and more into the sidelines and Ken has no part to play on the big new single.
On tour again, the agents starting sowing seeds of discontent among the band, hinting heavily that Danny is the problem. This leads to a confrontation on the tour bus after which Danny storms out and quits. Woods now moves in as the band's manager and becomes Kate's new lover.
After much more success, including a platinum record, the band keeps falling apart. Mick quits, claiming to be bored. Kate hates the pressures and lack of control that fame has brought her. Dave and Tony treat Ken terribly, hating him for being a junkie, and force him to quit the band too. By now the band's name has changed to Kate & Breaking Glass.
During a radio show which invites listeners to call in, Kate has trouble understanding her fans and gets angry when she is accused of being controlled by her record company, and even more so when someone she thinks is Danny calls in to accuse her of selling out. The next single released is Big Brother, which features the 'offensive' lyrics completely changed as the music agents originally wanted, proving she has indeed sold out.
Mick and Ken meet with Danny and accuse him of abandoning them and ruining the band. But all the same they plead with him to come back and help Kate, but he refuses.
The film ends with a huge concert and the debut of a new song, although already drugged Kate is forced to go on stage by Woods, who forcibly holds her down while a doctor injects her with more drugs. Kate goes on with the band, performing the song Eighth Day (the U.S. release of the film ends the movie after the song). After the song Kate flees the stage into the Underground, where she begins hallucinating people dressed as her and her former bandmates, and has a nervous breakdown.
The final scene shows Kate recuperating at a hospital, Danny comes to visit her and to bring her a synthesizer.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
film starring Hazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of a soldier from Galway who settled in England after World War II to work in a car plant...
, Phil Daniels
Phil Daniels
Philip W. "Phil" Daniels is an English actor, most noted for film and television roles as "cockneys" such as Jimmy in Quadrophenia, Richards in Scum, Stewart in The Class of Miss MacMichael, Mark in Meantime, Kevin Wicks in EastEnders, DCS Frank Patterson in New Tricks and Edward Kitchener "Ted"...
and Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
. The film was co-produced by Dodi Fayed and written and directed by Brian Gibson. The film was screened out of competition at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival
1980 Cannes Film Festival
The 33rd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 9-23. The showing of Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker is interrupted by an electricians strike.- Jury :*Kirk Douglas *Ken Adam *Robert Benayoun *Veljko Bulajić...
.
Plot
The movie depicts the rise and fall of Kate (Hazel O'ConnorHazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of a soldier from Galway who settled in England after World War II to work in a car plant...
), an angry but creative young singer and songwriter. At the beginning of the movie, she is discovered by Danny (Phil Daniels
Phil Daniels
Philip W. "Phil" Daniels is an English actor, most noted for film and television roles as "cockneys" such as Jimmy in Quadrophenia, Richards in Scum, Stewart in The Class of Miss MacMichael, Mark in Meantime, Kevin Wicks in EastEnders, DCS Frank Patterson in New Tricks and Edward Kitchener "Ted"...
), a young man who desperately wants to become a promoter of music bands but is stuck working for another agent (who forces him to buy hundreds of copies of the singles of one of his artists, Suzie Sapphire, in order to fix the music charts). Danny takes an active part in controlling Kate's career, impressed with her talent if not her band, whom he promptly fires. He arranges auditions and reaches out to former friends, and in doing so Kate's new band, Breaking Glass is formed. Breaking Glass consists of Kate on vocals and keyboard, best friends Tony (Mark Wingett
Mark Wingett
Mark Wingett , is an English actor. He is best known for playing the role of Jim Carver in the ITV1 police procedural The Bill.-Career:...
) and Dave (Gary Tibbs
Gary Tibbs
Gary Tibbs is a bass guitarist and actor, who appeared in the film Breaking Glass, alongside Hazel O'Connor....
) on lead and bass guitar respectively, the drug-addicted and partially deaf Ken (Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
) on saxophone and the 'mental' Mick (Peter-Hugo Daly
Peter-Hugo Daly
Peter-Hugo Daly is an actor and musician. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Daly was a member of new wave band the Cross along with fellow actor Phil Daniels. The band released a single, "Kill Another Night" on RCA Records in 1979...
) on drums.
Danny does his best to promote the band but finds it hard-going. The best he can do is several nights in a pub frequented by neo-nazis, which, given Kate's anarchist and liberal tendencies that shine through in her songwriting, doesn't go well. After a brawl breaks out one night and the publican refuses to pay the band, Danny finally manages to persuade the anti-establishment Kate to record a demo tape. Danny and Kate then take the demo tape to a gig promoter who shows no interest.
The band keeps struggling to get by, despite being hassled by the police, and in the meantime Kate realises she is falling in love with Danny. The hard work eventually pays off when the gig promoter finally agrees to help out, but only by offering the band a contract that Danny describes as feudal.
Several months pass as the band tours the country, building up a large fanbase. On Christmas Eve the band is stranded when their van breaks down and the British Rail train drivers are on strike. It is at this point that Danny and Kate make love for the first time and become a couple.
Danny blackmails his former employer (by threatening to reveal how he paid Danny to fix the charts) into attending a gig in London. However, disaster strikes when the band begins to perform and a power-cut occurs. Encouraged by Danny and Mick, the band continues anyway and wins the hostile crowd over. The music agents Danny forced into coming are also greatly impressed and the band is offered a record contract.
Almost immediately things do not go well. Firstly, the band are not amused by how the music agents demand changes to some of the 'offensive' lyrics in order to secure airplay (such as changing 'kick him in the arse' to 'punch him in the nose'). The recording of the first album does not go well and the agents also reveal that they think Danny is the problem. The chart rise of Top of the Wheel, the band's first single, parallels the earlier success of Suzie Sapphire.
Forced into playing at an anti-establishment benefit concert, the band finds the organisation lacking and tries to leave, only to see a neo-nazi rally approaching. They decide to play anyway (and a particularly controversial song), which results in a riot breaking out. Danny wants the band to leave but Kate insists on taunting the crowd. That changes when a young man who has been stabbed falls right in front of her, screaming in pain and desperation. This causes Kate to scream.
While recovering, Kate is forced to audition for a famous music manager, Woods (Jon Finch
Jon Finch
Jon Finch is an English actor noted for many Shakespearean roles. Perhaps his most notable role was the title role in Roman Polanski's 1971 film adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. His other famous role was as a down-and-out ex-RAF pilot wrongly accused of murder in Alfred Hitchcock's...
), who makes it clear that he wants to produce her music and also be involved with her. Kate's new songs seem to help her recover mentally, but the rest of the band are not so happy. Danny finds himself being pushed more and more into the sidelines and Ken has no part to play on the big new single.
On tour again, the agents starting sowing seeds of discontent among the band, hinting heavily that Danny is the problem. This leads to a confrontation on the tour bus after which Danny storms out and quits. Woods now moves in as the band's manager and becomes Kate's new lover.
After much more success, including a platinum record, the band keeps falling apart. Mick quits, claiming to be bored. Kate hates the pressures and lack of control that fame has brought her. Dave and Tony treat Ken terribly, hating him for being a junkie, and force him to quit the band too. By now the band's name has changed to Kate & Breaking Glass.
During a radio show which invites listeners to call in, Kate has trouble understanding her fans and gets angry when she is accused of being controlled by her record company, and even more so when someone she thinks is Danny calls in to accuse her of selling out. The next single released is Big Brother, which features the 'offensive' lyrics completely changed as the music agents originally wanted, proving she has indeed sold out.
Mick and Ken meet with Danny and accuse him of abandoning them and ruining the band. But all the same they plead with him to come back and help Kate, but he refuses.
The film ends with a huge concert and the debut of a new song, although already drugged Kate is forced to go on stage by Woods, who forcibly holds her down while a doctor injects her with more drugs. Kate goes on with the band, performing the song Eighth Day (the U.S. release of the film ends the movie after the song). After the song Kate flees the stage into the Underground, where she begins hallucinating people dressed as her and her former bandmates, and has a nervous breakdown.
The final scene shows Kate recuperating at a hospital, Danny comes to visit her and to bring her a synthesizer.
Cast
- Phil DanielsPhil DanielsPhilip W. "Phil" Daniels is an English actor, most noted for film and television roles as "cockneys" such as Jimmy in Quadrophenia, Richards in Scum, Stewart in The Class of Miss MacMichael, Mark in Meantime, Kevin Wicks in EastEnders, DCS Frank Patterson in New Tricks and Edward Kitchener "Ted"...
- Danny - Hazel O'ConnorHazel O'ConnorHazel O'Connor is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of a soldier from Galway who settled in England after World War II to work in a car plant...
- Kate - Jon FinchJon FinchJon Finch is an English actor noted for many Shakespearean roles. Perhaps his most notable role was the title role in Roman Polanski's 1971 film adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. His other famous role was as a down-and-out ex-RAF pilot wrongly accused of murder in Alfred Hitchcock's...
- Woods - Jonathan PryceJonathan PryceJonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
- Ken - Peter-Hugo DalyPeter-Hugo DalyPeter-Hugo Daly is an actor and musician. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Daly was a member of new wave band the Cross along with fellow actor Phil Daniels. The band released a single, "Kill Another Night" on RCA Records in 1979...
- Mick - Mark WingettMark WingettMark Wingett , is an English actor. He is best known for playing the role of Jim Carver in the ITV1 police procedural The Bill.-Career:...
- Tony - Gary TibbsGary TibbsGary Tibbs is a bass guitarist and actor, who appeared in the film Breaking Glass, alongside Hazel O'Connor....
- Dave - Charles Wegner - Campbell
- Mark Wing-DaveyMark Wing-DaveyMark Wing-Davey is a British actor and director.-Early life and career:The son of actor and actress Peter Davey and Anna Wing, Wing-Davey went to school at Woolverstone Hall School, before studying at Cambridge University where he was a member of the Footlights from 1967 to 1970.He had a featured...
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- Brian - Ken CampbellKen CampbellKen Campbell was an English writer, actor, director and comedian.Ken Campbell may also refer to:* Ken Campbell , Canadian evangelist* Ken Campbell , former Scotland international goalkeeper...
- Publican - Lowri Ann Richards - Jane
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- Security Man