Breaking Glass

Name: Breaking Glass
Duration: 1 h 44 min

1hr 44m

1hr 44m
3.5/5 (396)
100%

A rock singer is determined to rise to the top of the profession, letting nothing stand in the way of that goal. More Details »

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Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Brian Gibson

Producer:

Davina Belling, John Comfort

Runtime:

1hr 44m

Synopsis

A rock singer is determined to rise to the top of the profession, letting nothing stand in the way of that goal.

Cast

Phil Daniels
Hazel O'Connor
Jon Finch
Jonathan Pryce
Peter-Hugo Daly
Mark Wingett
Gary Tibbs
Charles Wegner
Mark Wing-Davey
Hugh Thomas

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.5

RATINGS 16 FANS

3.5

Dec 3, 2014

Ostensibly a New Wave version of A Star Is Born, this film proves to be far more successful at providing a near-perfect snapshot of London at the tail-end of "The Winter of Discontent", when union strikes crippled the country, oil was in short supply, and unemployment was…

61 Likes

mrbalihai

Apr 7, 2025

Quadrophenia but for punk rockers. Underrated. Cool film, great soundtrack, brutal ending. Also some early film appearances for Jonathan Pryce, Jim Broadbent and Richard Griffiths.

42 Likes

az93

Feb 25, 2013

They don't make 'em like this any more. No seriously they don't. Whatever happened to the band film? The semi autobiographical movie of a pop/rock star? They just don't get made now. Breaking Glass is the 1980 film that looks at the post punk/new wave scene in London…

36 Likes

Mark Cunliffe 🇵🇸
Nov 21, 2023

Quadrophenia's post-punk encore. The excellent original cut of this deserves a Blu-ray release.

27 Likes

Rainer Werner Wenders

Aug 8, 2022

phil daniels is so cute i wanna put him in my soup and eat him!

26 Likes

bira

Aug 28, 2020

1980 In Review - August Hazel O’Connor plays Kate, a punk singer who is out to change the world through her idealist lyrics. Phil Daniels (fresh from Quadrophenia) a young man who desperately wants to become a promoter of music bands but is stuck working for another agent…

23 Likes

Michael501 📺
May 12, 2022

this was fun but midway through i read trivia that kate bush was initially considered for the main role and i will admit that i spent the rest of the movie desperately wishing kate bush had been cast after all

19 Likes

emilia

Jun 27, 2025

There are very few films I think are “underrated.” All too often, even with cult projects that I love I can understand why a more general public might be disinterested. Movies like Meet the Hollowheads or Salute of the Jugger are often just as replete with flaws as they are…

18 Likes

ZaneSimon

Jun 2, 2025

I was simply not prepared to find myself this attracted to junkie half-deaf sax-slinging bearded Jonathan Pryce.

16 Likes

dublincore

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Top Reviews

Iso liked

Breaking Glass

7/10 Supposedly two versions with different endings exist, I watched the “original British ending”. It’s the story of how fame can change you in irreparable ways. It reminded me of “Privilege (1967)” as it has a similar theme, and of Starstruck but don’t expect a happy ending.

2Y

Paul Hill loved

Breaking Glass

A great movie with some amazing music by Hazel O’Connor.

4M