Broken English
by Zoe R. Cassavetes
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DVD details
Actor: Drea de Matteo, Gena Rowlands, Melvil Poupaud, Parker Posey, Tim GuineeDirector: Zoe R. Cassavetes
Brand: Magnolia Pictures
Writer: Zoe R. Cassavetes
Producer: Andrew Fierberg
Producer: Christina Weiss Lurie
Producer: David Atlan Jackson
Producer: Jason Kliot
Producer: Jean-Baptiste Babin
Producer: Jennifer Halpern
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
Published: 2007-08-01
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-21
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: 10089
Studio: Magnolia
Product features:
- Croatian born NINA (Aleksandra Vujcic) escapes with her family from their war ravaged homeland to the culturally mixed suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand. Smothered by the controlling love of her volatile father, IVAN (Rade Serbedzija), Nina finds tender romance when she falls in love with EDDIE (Julian Arahanga), a New Zealand native (Maori). Frustrated, Nina knows there is no chance that she and E
DVD Reviews of Broken English
DVD Review: Traditonal romantic comedy it's not....
Summary: 4 Stars
Don't approach "Broken English" expecting "Green Card" or "Sleepless in Seattle." This is a more experimental approach to the genre - less a traditional romantic comedy and more of a dark character study with a few moments of comedic relief. Romance is merely the device used to illustrate one woman's descent into desperation.
Nora Wilder, an upper middle class woman in her 30's, has everything going for her. She is a Sarah Lawrence graduate with a decent job, a Manhattan apartment, good friends and nearby family. However, she is no longer in the first flush of youth. One day she realizes that she has spent six years in the job that was supposed to be temporary until she found her career in the arts. Furthermore, all of her friends are married, but she can't find love in the land of plenty. She realizes that she had some nice boyfriends when she was in college, but now that she is ready to settle down she can't find a decent guy. She meets a variety of men; some of them are ready to settle down - but with other women, not with Nora. Nora, in her desperation to connect with a man, is ready to sleep with any guy who compliments her. In fact, she can't believe a man is interested in her unless they have slept together - an attitude that makes her vulnerable to hurt from men who are completely unavailable.
After yet another bad experience, Nora forces herself to attend a party given by one of her co-workers. As she is ready to exit the party she is introduced to Julien, a Frenchman nearing the end of his stay in the city. Nora is at the end of her rope with men. She's not interested in connecting with Julien on any level, but he is persistent. Every time Nora is ready to say good night or goody bye to Julien, he comes up with a new place for them to go, something new to see or do. By the time Nora and Julien share a first kiss, they have gotten to know and like each other a little. But after a few days together, Julien has to go home to France. His departure leaves a larger hole in her life than Nora would have imagined. Eventually she overcomes her initial resistance and travels to France, hoping to reconnect with him. In Paris, Nora discovers that she has lost the paper with Julien's phone number; the friend who introduced them is out of town not answering his messages; and Julien has the most common surname in France.
Once Nora accepts that she won't find Julien, she decides to make the most of her time in Paris. She shops. She visits museums and galleries. As an "exotic foreigner" herself, she is able to have the kind of encounters with people in Paris that she is incapable of finding in her hometown. She engages in lively debates and soul searching introspective discussions with strangers. She learns something about herself in the process, and she learns to value herself. By the time she's ready to leave Paris, she's on her way to becoming a confident new woman ready to take on new challenges and, just maybe, find the love that has eluded her.
Parker Posey's brilliant performance prevents this depressed and desperate woman from becoming an uninteresting cliche. Her darker feelings seem genuine, yet always underlined by a kind of surprised disbelief that her life could have become this messy.
Melvil Poupaud is charming as the visiting Frenchman. At first sight he is easily dismissed by both Nora and the audience but, as she (and we) get to know him better, Julien becomes fascinating and irresistible.
The DVD special features are disappointing. There is no director's commentary, which would have been interesting in a film like this. It would have been even more interesting because this is Zoe Cassavetes directorial debut. The features include a piece from HDNet with separate interviews of Cassavetes (interesting) and Gena Rowlands (rambling). A "making of" feature appears to have been taped with a small hand held camera; the video is shaky and the sound is indistinct - it adds nothing to the package. There are a few mildly interesting deleted scenes.
Recommended.
Description of Broken English
Though made by the daughter of iconoclastic filmmaker John Cassavetes, Broken English is a surprisingly old-fashioned affair. Just as her friend Sofia Coppola wrote about a woman much like herself for Lost in Translation, Zoe Cassavetes has done something similar for her first film (although Before Sunset seems to have exerted a greater influence). Nora (Parker Posey in typically fine form) works in guest relations for a hip New York hotel, just as the writer/director once did. Her best friend, Audrey (Drea de Matteo, The Sopranos), has been married for five years, while Nora remains single. Her mother, Vivien (Gena Rowlands, Zoe's real-life mother), would like to see her settle down. First, Nora goes on a date with self-obsessed actor Nick (a mohawked Justin Theroux), then blind date Charlie (Josh Hamilton). Neither ends well. Nora laments, "Men hate me," but Audrey argues that Nora really hates herself. Her self-confidence gets a boost when she meets Julien (Melvil Poupaud, François Ozon's Time to Leave), a chain-smoking, fedora-sporting Frenchman. Just as she starts to falls for him, Julien returns to Paris, so Nora has to decide whether to stay...or to go. Much like the ladies of Sex and the City (on which Theroux guested), she's the kind of character who appears to have it all, but feels worthless if she isn't in a relationship. It isn't a particularly progressive notion--that the right man will solve every problem--but that doesn't mean plenty of women won't be able to relate. --Kathleen C. FennessyBestsellers in DVD
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