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Winner of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
2003 award for new director fiction, awarded to Brian Hill
and winner of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
award for new writer, awarded to Anna Maloney
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1
x 60 minutes
Transmitted 17 October 2002
A Century Films production for
Channel 4
Cast
Clare - Hermione Norris
Pete - Mark Strong
Jackie - Tamsin Greig
Rob - Daniel Ryan
Clare's Mum - Polly Adams
Sally - Mika Simmons
Michelle - Lynne Pearson
Roger - Daryl Aukland
Men's group - Frances Carrigan, Murray McArthur, Mark Heal,
Dave Spinx and Andrew Whipp
Second camera operator
Michael Timney
Sound recordist
Ian Maclagan
Dubbing mixer
George Foulgham
Composer
Julian Stewart Lindsay
Director of photography
Tony Coldwell
Editor
Stuart Briggs
Line producer
Jane Nicholson
Executive producers
Judy Counihan and Liz Warner
Written by
Anna Maloney
Producer
Katie Bailiff
Director
Brian Hill
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Falling Apart (2002)
One British woman in four experiences
domestic violence at some stage in her life.
Falling Apart is a reality-based
drama that charts the course of a marriage from its blissful
beginning to its violent end. Clare meets Pete and finds him
sexy, amusing and passionate. What she doesn’t know
is that he has a problem with anger. Over the course of the
film, Pete’s problem is revealed and Clare suffers the
consequences.
This is the first television drama from
award-winning documentary maker Brian Hill, who used hand-held
digital video cameras to give a unique verité
feel to the film. Hill encouraged the actors to improvise
during action scenes and not to worry about where cameras
were positioned. These sequences were then shot as if they
were actuality.
First-time writer Anna Maloney
based her hard-hitting screenplay on interviews with men and
women who have directly experienced domestic abuse, giving
Falling Apart a sharply focussed realism.
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 Photograph: Alex Bailey |
"Based on real
testimonies and filmed in a drama-documentary style, you get
the banal dialogue and feeble justifications that usually come
with [domestic violence] situations. Rather than detract from
the drama’s power, this gives it an unmistakable ring
of truth."
Mary Nokakovich, The
Guardian.
"As disturbing an account of a
modern marriage as I have ever endured on television …
one of the best acted pieces I have seen all year."
Christopher Matthew, The
Daily Mail.
"Falling Apart’ is more of
a case study than a drama, but that does not diminish its
raw power or authenticity."
David Chater, The
Times.
"Both the dialogue and direction
had the confidence to be understated, and there were stunning
central performances from Mark Strong and Hermione Norris.
‘Falling Apart’ was extremely powerful."
James Walton, The
Daily Telegraph.
"This sparse but powerful film
combines a real sense of menace without resorting to easy
demonisation. Doubtless a few viewers will be squirming in
their seats."
The Sunday Telegraph.
"No stereotypes or promises
of happy endings here … powerful drama from first-time
writer Anna Maloney."
Dorota Nosowicz, The
Observer.
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