March 25th: BREAKING AND ENTERING (Anthony Minghella, 2006)

A British architect investigates a series of robberies at his office, and becomes involved with a family of Bosnian refugees while his own is falling apart.

Writer-director Anthony Minghella was an award winning playwright and radio dramatist before moving into film, earning great notices for his supernatural romance Truly, Madly, Deeply. His big breakthrough came with The English Patient, winner of 9 Oscars, and was followed by two more epic period adaptations in The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain.

Minghella then elected to return to more modest production,reviving one of his unfinished plays,a present-day story set in the newly-gentrified neighborhood of King's Cross. In addition to exploring the clash between immigrants and native English in the community, he dissects contrasting parent-child relationships and a damaged marriage.

Reuniting with the director are actors Jude Law, Juliette Binoche (playing a Bosnian woman), and Ray Winstone. Also in the cast are Robin Wright (TV's House Of Cards), Vera Farmiga (The Departed), Martin Freeman (BBC's The Office), and newcomer Rafi Gavron, cast partially for his ability to perform parkour moves.

Behind the camera, Minghella chose to work with a new editor, production designer, and cinematographer than his previous few films, but retained composer Garbriel Yared, who collaborated on the score with electronic group Underworld.

The film was shot on location within a 2-mile radius of King's Cross, mostly eschewing tourist areas and other overused London film landmarks to focus on the story's intended setting.

Breaking And Entering failed at the box office as well as on the critical front and would be his last theatrically released film. He directed a pilot for a television show but died of complications from surgery in 2008. His recent producing partner, fellow director Sydney Pollack died two months later. 

Running time is approx. 2 hours.