Broken

Author: Juan Ascencio
Location: Mexico

"Broken"

Directed by :Sam Mendes
Screenplay by: Todd Hynes
Music by: Thomas Newman
Cinematography by: Edward Lachman

Principal Cast:

Kirsten Dunst-Charlotte Fleming
Chris O’Donnell- Aaron Sheldon
William Hurt-Isaac Fleming
Gwyneth Paltrow-Meagan Sheldon
Tobey Maguire-Lane Sheldon
Annette Bening-Sarah Fleming

Tagline: "Forgiveness is the only way to go on"

Synopsis: Charlotte is ingenuous dreamer young woman, only child of Sarah and Isaac Fleming, the shepherd of his conservative protestant church. During her first year in college, Charlotte realizes she is pregnant and full of fear talks to her boyfriend, an immature guy called Lane, but he doesn’t want to face the problem and breaks up with her in a painful way. Charlotte hopes to receive help from her parents; nevertheless they qualify her daughter’s situation as sinful and risky for their position as spiritual guides. Charlotte is forced by them to have an abortion and hide the secret forever. Lonely and devastated, she finds spiritual relief in a faithful and respectable member of her congregation, a man called Aaron and whose life is not easy either because he has to deal with his atheist wife, Meagan, who criticizes his strong faith and lives secretly attracted by Lane. The innocent friendship of Charlotte and Aaron turns into a forbidden passionate romance, which will make them reflect about their religious faith and look together for the necessary strength to face their families and other people condemn.

What the press would say:

Original, shameless, controversial and truly human are some ways to qualify Sam Mendes’ new film “Broken”, a complex story in which religion and social roles are shown in a different way, the most sensitive and real that has been accomplished so far. The cast members add the necessary contrasts to the story, diverse kinds of acting, dissimilar personalities, but united by a strong determination and majestic talent. The leading couple, Kirsten Dunst and Chris O'Donnell, demonstrate a big capacity to capture their characters in a entire way, making us part of their fears, doubts, faith and hopes; O’Donnell is back in the spotlight since his performance in Scent of a woman, reaffirming his high level between actors of his generation; Dunst shows that she is able to perform in deep stories and quit her teen star image to become one of the most intense young actresses.

William Hurt and Annette Bening offer a powerful performance as Kirsten’s evil parents, proving once more their condition as consecrated actors. Gwyneth Paltrow is particularly wonderful playing O’Donnell’s atheist wife, a total different character to all she has done in her career, she becomes a promiscuous woman seducing Maguire character, who makes also a great performance in this film, adding the indispensable bitterness, and forcing us to focus on his interaction with Kirsten Dunst, completely opposite to what we see in Spiderman movies. Sam Mendes challenges himself again directing a diverse team, working with a reflexive screenplay and offering a story that will doubtlessly receive a lot of attention from critics, church and society, a film destined to become a collective phenomenon.

AWARDS FOR CONSIDERATION:

Best picture
Best Director
Actress in a leading role: Kirsten Dunst
Actor in a leading role: Chris O’Donnell
Best supporting actress: Gwyneth Paltrow
Best supporting actress: Annette Bening
Best supporting actor: William Hurt
Best supporting actor: Tobey Maguire
Original Screenplay
Original Score
Best Cinematography
Best Editing