Breaking Away [DVD]

"When you're 16, they call it `Sweet Sixteen,' when you're 18, you get to drink, vote, and see dirty movies. What the hell do you get to do when you're 19?" That's the main question the four protagonists of the movie-Dave, Mike, Cyril, and Moocher- try to figure out. Breaking Away was released in 1979 and filmed by English director Peter Yates, who also directed the Steve McQueen movie, Bullitt. Although the movie did poorly in the box office, it received critical acclaim and ended up being nominated for Best Picture in the 1980 Academy Awards, and won Best Original Screenplay. Breaking Away centers on these four friends as they struggle to come to terms with life after high school, and an inner desire to be somebody.The plot plays out like this: Dave Stoller and his friends have just graduated from high school having no intentions of going to college and not worrying about the future whatsoever. They live in the small, college town of Bloomington, Indiana, home to Indiana University, Bloomington. To the college kids, the four guys are called, "Cutters" the nickname given to the townies of Bloomington. There's a rivalry between the townies and college kids that is seen throughout the movie, especially to Mike, who sees them as "rich" kids who get everything they want. The film mainly focuses on Dave, who is a cyclist and becomes obsessed with the Italian bicycling team, as he himself attempts to turn himself Italian, which drives his parents insane.Breaking Away is an engaging coming of age movie that tells a story of a group of friends living in a small town, and are unsure of whether they actually want to "break away" from their small town lives. The film gives the audience something relatable; points in life where we ask the questions: Where does life take us after high school? Am I really ready to be an adult? Where do I belong in the world? Through the point of view of these four friends, especially Dave, the audience sees these characters try to find an identity and a place to belong. Their plan is to "waste their lives together," they soon recognize that eventually things do change.Writer by Steve Tesich, who won Best Screenplay in 1980, gave Breaking Away that witty, smart and heartfelt charm that makes it the great movie it is. There are so many quotes I can pick from, but yet don't know where to start! I like the scenes where the friends hang out in the quarry, their usual meeting place, and just joke around with each other. In the beginning, Cyril stomps on the stone and says, "STOP...It was somewhere along here where I lost all interest in life...AHA! It was right here, this is where I saw Delores Rineky and Fat Marvin! WHY DELORES WHY!" Or another great quote from Cyril, after Mike asks him how he got so stupid, is, "I don't know... I guess I just have a dumb heredity. What's your excuse, Michael?" Anything Cyril says cracks me up (which I will get to later!)The heartwarming scenes definitely come from Dave's parents, who play an integral part of the film. They are bewildered by Dave's desire to be Italian. Most importantly, Ray, Dave's dad, is worried about Dave and his future. A line that always gets me is, "When I was young, I was tired and miserable." A shot that is so heartbreaking is the look on Dave's face when the Italians cheat in the big race in Indianapolis. One of the Italians used a stick to hit Dave's bike, causing him to fall. Dave is heartbroken and distraught; he can't believe that his idols have done something like this. Upon coming home, Dave, all teary-eyed, says to his dad, "Everybody cheats. I just didn't know it." It's a realization for Dave, and his father starts to understand how important this race was for him.The bike scenes are great moments, too. Whenever Dave races, the same song always plays (`Symphony No. 4 in A major (Italian Symphony), Opus 90') and it intensifies the scene. The camera focuses on Dave and particular the movement of his legs, which shows how dedicated Dave is to bicycling. The ending is by far the best racing scene, you just want them to beat the college students so bad, and I end up cheering every time they win!The movie wouldn't be great without these four characters, each one serves a purpose and audiences can find something in common with. Dennis Christopher (Dave), a very young Dennis Quaid (Mike), Daniel Stern (Cyril), and Jackie Earle Haley (Moocher) give notable performances. And Dave's parents, Barbara Barrie as Evelyn Stoller and Paul Dooley as Ray Stoller, also provide terrific performances. Dave acts as the determined and dedicated friend, Mike is the rebel and no-nonsense guy of the bunch, Cyril is the witty and smart guy, who mainly serves as the comic relief, and finally Moocher is the optimistic and easy-going guy (but don't call him "Shorty!") Dave's passion is cycling. Ever since he won an Italian bike in a race, he practically transformed himself to be Italian. He starts to speak Italian, listen to Italian music, sings Italian songs-the whole nine yards. He even pretends to be an Italian exchange student to impress a college girl he likes! Mike is the guy who takes no gruff from anyone; he does not care about his plans whatsoever and does what he pleases. A part of him though is scared of what he is going to become. As I said before, Cyril is the comic relief, usually trying to make situations lighthearted. (I must add another line of what he says! After Mike's older cop brother asks how the guys are doing, Cyril replies, "Well, we're a little disturbed by developments in the Middle East, but..."). And lastly, there's Moocher. Moocher is a short guy, and all his life he has been made fun of as a midget. If someone calls him "shorty," he will immediately start a fight! But otherwise, I think Moocher is the only one who has his mind straight of what he wants to do. He marries his high school sweetheart, Nancy, and realizes that they all have to go on their own ways. In the course of the summer, the guys figure out together where they belong and search for an identity.The main themes that are presented in Breaking Away are growing up, identity, and friendship. The four guys are so confused about what they want to do; they would rather just do nothing and stick together until the end, since that's their only plan they have so far. Cyril puts it best, as he says, "I wouldn't mind I was somebody myself" as the guys try to be `a somebody.' I think their feeling of being someone stems from the college students of IU, who to them, are seen as kids "who've got it made," but Mike says, "that's because they're rich." Mike is definitely the one who wants to prove to these college kids that the "cutters" are somebody; to prove that they are better. Mike was somebody in high school; he was a football quarterback. He's tired of reading about some hot-shot college kid in the newspaper every day, and that it's never going to him. He puts it best by, "Cutters...to them it's a dirty word...to me it's something I never got the chance to be." Cyril also deals with that fact that his father thinks he's a failure. Cyril thought he was going to get a basketball scholarship, but didn't, his dad "loves to be understanding when he fails.Dave is probably the most disillusioned of them all, as he becomes Italian! I think Dave does this because he thinks Italians are winners, and he wants to be a winner, too, so if he acts Italian, he will be somebody. But acting Italian makes him lose a sense of who he is. When he meets Kathy, Dave says his name is Enrico, and speaks in an Italian accent. He is afraid that she wouldn't like him because he is a townie. Being a "townie" I think makes the four friends afraid in a sense they'll stay there for the rest of their lives and not live out to be something greater.There's this scene of when the guys are in the quarry and they argue about the future. Moocher screams at Mike, "You're not the quarterback here, Mike!" Mike says, "At least I was one! Better being a midget my whole life!" This brings that Mike is afraid of the college kids, now that high school is over; his shot of being "someone" is over. He detests the college students because they are smart and successful. The guys realize that their dream of "wasting the rest of their lives together" will not last for long, and that eventually they have to grow up and go their own ways sometime.In the end though, the guys know that they'll always be each other's friends and they will have each other's backs, At the Indy 500 race, Moocher, Mike, and Cyril agree to help Dave win the race. All four of them participate in the race, with Dave of course, winning it for them. In that moment, they were somebodies. They helped each other out and pushed each other to achieve that moment of victory and triumph. The moment they stand up on the podium, receiving that trophy, was a feeling of defiance; they proved that they were proud to be "cutters." For them, "cutters" is who they are, and all along they were somebody.Breaking Away is that little film that is not widely popular, but upon discovering it, it's a piece of cinema that strings your heart and takes you to a place in life where you felt like a Dave, or a Mike, a Moocher, or a Cyril. Peter Yates' vision and Steve Tesich's writing present a film where life does go on after high school. It's a terrifying and exciting journey, a journey that helps you find your niche in the world and individuality. Somewhere along the way though, there's recognition that in life, you have to grow up and settle down.

Coming of age and cycling...doesn't get any better. We can watch this one anytime.

It was released 40 years ago but seems so timely. Light comedy dealing with serious issues.

Very good movie very happy with that just unhappy with the cost after shipping it was like $42, Pretty expensive don't you think

This is the story about a kid named Dennis Stohler in Bloomington, Indiana, who has ambitions to be an Italian college student bicyclist.The trouble is that Bloomington is the home of Indiana University (Bob Knight, anyone?), and Stohler is neither an Italian nor a college student.Instead, he is a "cutter," a local term used derisively to describe blue collar non college student people of the town, with the term originating from the large numbers of people from the area who once worked in the limestone quarries that supplied the stone used in most of the buildings on campus and even in the Pentagon, Empire State Building, Lincoln Memorial, and Washington Monument.Sadly, most of those quarries are now closed, and many of the craftsmen who once worked in those quarries have to resort to less prestigious jobs, and Dennis's father is one such man, owning a used car lot.Dennis adopts an Italian accent and a few words in the language, while riding around campus on his ten speed to pose as someone he is not, even carrying on this way at home.This eventually gets the attention of a beautiful coed, and - with his friends' help - he gains her affection.Meanwhile, the annual bike race on the campus known as the "Little 500" is about to take place, and Dennis wants to enter the race, even though he is not a student.The movie was filmed on location, and watching it, I was immediately quite familiar with each location, having lived in Bloomington and attended college and lived there for over four years.It really is a beautiful campus, so this really provides some charm for the visuals.There are lots of very funny moments here, especially his encounter with the young woman's boyfriend and his friend's on the spot decision to quit his job with his insulting boss.There are also some surprisingly touching moments, especially the one in which his father takes him to one of the very few operating limestone quarries in the area.Dennis's father (played by Paul Dooley) is clearly wistful for the days when he was once a proud artisan instead of a car salesman.An interesting thing about this movie is that I don't recall seeing the actor who plays the main character of Dennis in any other movies since, while I have seen Dooley in a few, and two of the friends played by Daniel Stern and Dennis Quaid have a very long list of movies to their credit.This movie always warms my heart with its take on life.Corny?YesFunny?Very!You'll really enjoy this one.Check it out.

Great movie

Fun story line & great acting. An interesting group of friends with differing personalities, close relationships.Good, clean familty entertainment.

Awesome movie with bicycling theme. I’m in my 50s and this movie inspired me to seriously get into cycling in my teens. Recently my preteen son was getting more interested in cycling so I rented this and we watched it together. Now he is going all in on two wheels, next stop the Tour de France!

simple story of growing of age and following your dreams

Eine rührende Geschichte über einen anfangs italophilen Radsportfan aus der Arbeiterklasse der 70er, dessen Bild von Italien und seinen Bewohnern beim ersten Aufeinandertreffen mit denselben jäh zerstört wird.Der Radsport dient als Rahmen für eine Hommage, dass man als Elter das „Anders sein“, speziell im Erwachsen werden zulässt und seine Kinder nicht in eine Form presst, in die man selber gerne hineingepasst hätte.Deshalb ist die grundsätzliche Botschaft dieses Filmes für unsere Zeit passender denn jäh.Prädikat „muss man gesehen haben“,(speziell wo sich doch auch Tyler Hamilton in seinem Buch auf den Film bezieht.)

I love this film. I lived in Bloomington when they were making this film and at the time I though,t "How could anyone make an interesting film about this place?" Was I surprised. The characters really reflected Bloomington and its good and bad aspects. This is the story of real people who can be just as passionate and interesting as any of your usual Hollywood characters.

LA PELICULA NO TIENE AUDIO EN ESPAÑOL COMO DICE LA INFORMACION DE AMAZON Y ADEMAS TIENE RESTRIGCIONES REGIONALES CON LO CUAL ES MAS COMPLICADO REPRODUCIRLA EN NUESTRO PAIS, UNA MUY MALA COMPRA.

merci