Break | |
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Directed by | Michael Elkin |
Written by | Michael Elkin |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Richard Swingle |
Edited by | Les Healey |
Music by | Ian Arber |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Cesca Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 107 minutes [1] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Break is a 2020 British independent film. Written and directed by Michael Elkin, it stars Sam Gittins, Jamie Foreman, Adam Deacon, Terri Dwyer, David Yip and Rutger Hauer in one of his final screen roles. Snooker player cameos include Liang Wenbo, Jack Lisowski and 1997 World Snooker Championship winner Ken Doherty. [2]
A young snooker player is helped by a local gangster and a veteran Chinese pool champion to break free from a world of crime and reach the glittering lights of Beijing to play in a prestigious Chinese snooker tournament that could save his life. It has been described as "Rocky with a snooker cue". [3]
Filmed at locations including the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, Beijing [5] and Canterbury Prison in Kent. [6]
Although originally intended to be released in April 2020, it became the first UK movie to premiere via Drive-in when, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was released to coincide with the delayed 2020 World Snooker Championship. The premiere was held on 22 July 2020 at Brent Cross Drive-In Club in North London, the first premiere of its kind. [7]
The feature length film debut by Elkin was described as "impressive" by Reviews Hub in which he "throws all the sports film clichés up in the air and rearranges them into a heart-warming story of working class aspiration, decency and the belief that whatever the social and economic circumstances talent can be realised". Also "the depth in Elkin's characters adds considerably to the viewer’s empathy for and belief in Spencer as the story unfolds". Sam Gittins' performance as Spencer was also praised: "a role that could easily have become a two-dimensional troubled youth refusing adult help and sulking. Instead Gittins gives a rounded characterisation". [8]
Liang Wenbo is a Chinese former professional snooker player. During his playing career, he won one ranking title at the 2016 English Open, twice won the World Cup for China in 2011 and 2017 with teammate Ding Junhui, and was runner-up at the 2009 Shanghai Masters and the 2015 UK Championship. He made 292 century breaks in professional competition, including three maximum breaks, and reached a career high of 11th in the snooker world rankings.
Jack Lisowski is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his attacking style of play.
Stuart Carrington is an English professional snooker player. He practises frequently with Steven Hallworth and Ian Glover in Grimsby.
Yan Bingtao is a Chinese former professional snooker player who is currently serving a five-year ban from professional competition after committing a range of match-fixing offences. He rose to prominence by winning the ISBF World Snooker Championship, the sport's world amateur title, in 2014 at age 14, which made him the tournament's youngest ever winner. He turned professional in 2016.
The 2016 Shoot Out was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 12 and 14 February 2016 at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading, England. It was played under a variation of the standard rules of snooker.
The 2017 Shoot Out was a professional ranking snooker tournament which took place at the Watford Colosseum in Watford from 23 to 26 February 2017. It was played under a variation of the standard rules of snooker. In 2017 it was extended from 64 to 128 players, and became a ranking tournament for the first time in its history. It was the 15th ranking event of the 2016/2017 season.
The 2018 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament held from 21 April to 7 May 2018 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Hosted by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the 20th and final ranking event of the 2017–18 snooker season and the 42nd consecutive time the World Snooker Championship had been held at the venue. The tournament was broadcast by BBC Sport and Eurosport in Europe, and sponsored by betting company Betfred.
The 2019 XingPai China Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament, that took place between 1–7 April 2019 in Beijing, China. It was the nineteenth and penultimate ranking event of the 2018/2019 season.
The 2019 World Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 28 October and 3 November 2019 at the Yushan Sport Centre in Yushan, China. This was the 2019 edition of the World Open, which was first held in 1982. It was the fifth ranking event of the 2019–20 season and the third tournament of the season to be held in China. It would also be the last professional snooker tournament held in mainland China for almost four years, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event featured a prize fund of £772,000 with the winner receiving £150,000.
The 2019 Scottish Open was a professional snooker tournament, which took place from 9 to 15 December 2019 at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the eighth ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season and the third tournament of the Home Nations Series. The event featured a prize fund of £405,000, with the winner receiving £70,000, and was sponsored by sports bookmakers 19.com. The tournament was broadcast across Europe on Eurosport.
The 2020 Shoot Out was a professional ranking snooker tournament held from 20 to 23 February 2020 at the Watford Colosseum in Watford, England. It was the 13th ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season. It was played under a variation of the standard rules of snooker. The event was the third of four events sponsored by BetVictor, making up the 2020 European Series.
The 2020 Championship League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 1 to 11 June 2020 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The event featured 64 players from the World Snooker Tour featuring three rounds of round-robin groups of four. The initial group stage matches were played between 1 and 8 June, with the group winners' stage played on 9 and 10 June, before the finals stage on 11 June. It was the 14th edition of the Championship League. The event was one of the first live sporting events in the United Kingdom since the start of the coronavirus lockdown in March 2020.
The 2020 Championship League was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 13 September to 30 October 2020 in the Ballroom, Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, England. The event featured 117 players from the World Snooker Tour as well as ten players from the 2020 Q School Order of Merit. It featured three rounds of round-robin groups of four, before a best-of-five final. It was the 15th edition of the Championship League, and it was a ranking tournament for the first time.
The 2021 German Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 27 to 31 January 2021. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was staged at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes. The tournament was the eighth ranking event of the 2020–21 snooker season. It was the 15th edition of the German Masters, first held in 1995 as the 1995 German Open. Shaun Murphy made the sixth maximum break of his career in the first qualifying round against Chen Zifan.
The 2021 Shoot Out was a professional ranking snooker tournament, that took place from 4 to 7 February 2021 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. It was the ninth ranking event of the 2020–21 snooker season. It was played under a variation of the standard rules of snooker. The event was the fourth of six events sponsored by BetVictor, making up the 2020-21 European Series.
The 2021 Northern Ireland Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 9 to 17 October 2021 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the third ranking event of the 2021–22 season and the first tournament in both the Home Nations Series and the European Series. It was the sixth edition of the Northern Ireland Open.
The 2021 Scottish Open was a professional snooker tournament that was played from 6 to 12 December 2021 at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales. It was the sixth ranking event of the 2021–22 season, and the third tournament in the Home Nations Series, following the Northern Ireland Open and English Open, and preceding the Welsh Open. It was also the third of eight tournaments in the season's European Series.The tournament was sponsored by BetVictor and broadcast by Eurosport in the UK and Europe.
The 2022 European Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 21 to 27 February 2022 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The tournament was the 11th ranking event of the 2021–22 season and the sixth of eight tournaments in the season's European Series. The World Snooker Tour originally planned to stage the event at the Stadthalle Fürth in Fürth, Germany, but relocated it to the UK after increasing rates of COVID-19 in Bavaria led to greater restrictions around sporting events. The tournament was broadcast by Eurosport in Europe, and by other networks worldwide.
The 2022 Welsh Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 28 February to 6 March 2022 at the International Convention Centre Wales at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales. It was the 12th ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, and the 31st edition of the Welsh Open, first held in 1992. It was the seventh of eight tournaments in the season's European Series, and the fourth and final event of the Home Nations Series. The tournament was broadcast by BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Online, BBC Red Button, Quest and Eurosport domestically.
The 2022 Scottish Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 28 November to 4 December 2022 at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland, the first time since the 2003 event that the tournament was staged in that city. It was the sixth ranking event of the 2022–23 season and the second tournament in the Home Nations Series, following the Northern Ireland Open and preceding the English Open and the Welsh Open. It was the third of eight tournaments in the season's European Series. Qualifiers were held from 4 to 9 October at the Chase Leisure Centre in Cannock, England, although matches involving the top 16 players in the world rankings were held over and played at the main venue. Sponsored by BetVictor, the tournament was broadcast by Eurosport in the UK and Europe. The winner received £80,000 from a total prize fund of £427,000.
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