VHS : Breaking Glass [1980]

Rating: - Masterful punk/rock extravaganza!
Lovely punkette chanteuse Hazel O'Connor plays a blinder in the somewhat autobiographic role of Kate, desperate to succeed, whilst maintaining her ethics, in the cut-throat music business.

Hazel's brilliant songs are enough to recommend this movie in its own right but, unlike some musicals, Breaking Glass is far more than just a vehicle to promote the artiste's work. The sense of unease stoked by the rise of neo-Nazi and anarchic groups in late 70's/early 80's urban England and the shadier side of the music industry are expertly recreated here.

Furthermore, Hazel's depiction of the roller-coaster rise to stardom, resulting in mental breakdown, is impeccably observed. Why this hugely talented woman's career as an actress never really took off is a mystery to me! She is also very ably supported by Phil Daniels, playing the role of his life and Jonathan Pryce as the sympathetic but messed-up junkie sax player.

Anyone familiar with Hazel's music (and I'm pleased to admit that I've seen her live on several occasions) will be delighted by the performances here, from the gutsy "Blackman", "Give Me an Inch" and "Writing on the Wall" to the astonishingly sensual "Will You" - surely one of the most evocative songs about love-making ever written? Her final performance of "Eighth Day" sends shivers down your spine with its intensity and the closing track - "If Only" provides an immensely powerful epilogue.

The DVD is adequately, if not spectacularly, furnished with extras (filmographies, trailer, stills etc.), but it is the sheer power of Hazel's songs that make this an indispensable purchase.

I cannot recommend this movie highly enough.

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Rating: - BREAKING GLASS
Very good music, acting and story line.
It is ashame that the video/ DVD is not more widely available

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Rating: - The complete version
As an American fan of this movie and of Hazel O'connor, it was a
wonderfull surprise to find out that the UK DVD release of the film contained the complete and unedited version of the film. The American release was edited by around 12 minutes or so and it was not until seeing the film in it's entirety that the true acting ability of Hazel O,Connor and the depth and complexity of the film really came through. I would highly recomend this film to anyone that has interest in the new wave/punk era, as well as to anyone who enjoys a gritty, highly emotionally charged film.
Thanks Amazon.co.uk for offering this film. It was always a movie that I liked, now it's one of my favourites.

James G. Smith
Texas, U.S.A.

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Rating: - Breaking Glass - emotional overdrive....
Last night I sat and watched Breaking Glass for the first time. I have listened to and loved the album of the same name, by Hazel O'Connor for many years, but I have never had the opportunity to see it before. The album is a powerful and at times tender set of songs. While I loved them all, I have never seen them in the context in which they were intended to be shown. The album stands up very well on its own but now I have seen the film I can see where each of the tracks fits in, why they are there and to what they relate.

The film is essentially a love story set in early Thatcherite London where unemployment is skyrocketing and inner city violence and racism are getting out of hand. It charts the progress of a singer, Kate (played by Hazel O'Connor) and a 'promoter', Danny (played by Phil Daniels, Quadrophenia, Chicken Run). Danny decides that Kate is too good for the band she is with and sets about getting a new band together with him as their manager. The film progresses, as many of these rags to riches rock band stories do, with them getting gigs and eventually a recording contract. The film takes an abrupt turn though when they are sent to a big free concert called "Rock against 1984" (the film was made in 1980 and parallels between Orwell's distopian vision of the future and Thatchers Britain were common at the time). Earlier in the film Kate had caused a fight at a gig by singing an anti-rascism song in a pub full of neo-nazi skin-heads. At the concert a much larger group of skin-heads arrives and she whips up both crowds into a riot by singing the same song. She is really enjoying the buzz until a youth climbs onto their van/stage with a huge hole in his chest and she comprehends the reality of the situation. She screams in pain and we cut to a newspaper headline about his death with a photo of her agonized face. We then cut to Kate crying over her piano in the studio later, trying to sing Will You.

It is this scene that really tugs at the heart strings. It is one of the most emotional sequences I have seen in a film in many years. If I'm in a sensitive mood some films will have me welling at the eyes, but this scene had me crying and not just a little - it had tears streaming down my face, my stomach churning. It's as if all of the emotion that had been built up to this point in the film was released in one massive burst. It has probably changed the way I see "Will You", one of my favourite tracks, forever. Before it was a sad and tender love song, exploring the hesitation and anxiety of the first tender moments of love between two friends who had never admitted their love before. Now I will also see her sat crying at her piano, crying over a dead teenager she could do nothing to help.

The rest of the film shows Kate's inevitable spiral into depression and the subsequent anti-depressant abuse, the record company forcing a new producer on them, Danny being forced out, the pressures of touring and success, their compromise of their artistic integrity and culminating in Kate's breakdown after one song of her final climactic concert.

It is not an original story, but I have never seen it done quite so well before. It is an emotionally charged film, powerful performances and music which is a perfect complement. I think the album was far more successful than the film itself was and up until recently it was certainly easier to get hold of the CD than the film. For anyone who hasn't heard the album I can highly recommend it. Most people will recognise many of the tracks, even if they didn't know where they came from. Certainly the sax solos are archetypal.

All in all it was well worth watching, I haven't been this emotionally affected by a film for ages.

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Rating: - ** On the mark
Any one who went to see any new wave/Punk/second wave band between 1978 and 1983 can relate. The film although fictiion refects some of the rawness and a lot of truth about that era. it will always be a favorite of mine for that reason alone. watch out for the US version, they cut the last 10 minutes or so of the movie. total changed the context.