Synopsis:
A fatally wounded Charlie’s world falls apart when he fails to re-connect with his estranged
daughter Sara after being incarcerated for 15 years. Sara hates him for breaking his promise to keep her safe - made to her when she was a young girl.
When Charlie’s 8-year-old daughter Sara confesses to him that she is afraid at night, he promises
that he will never leave her. Charlie breaks this promise to Sara when he is incarcerated for the
murder of Jake, his gang leader.
Released after years in prison, Charlie is wounded in a failed robbery attempt and tries to
reconnect with Sara, estranged from him and wanting nothing to do with a father that she blames
for abandoning her in a violent neighbourhood.
Her dark and fear filled past haunts her as she dismisses a desperate Charlie’s every attempt to
rekindle their past relationship, leaving Charlie without hope.
Alone and broken, Charlie remembers his last fatal meeting with Jake and how he tried to make
good on his promise to Sara by quitting the gang - resulting in a violent outburst and threats toward
Sara by Jake. Charlie backed off his attempts to quit the gang to protect Sara but noticing Jake’s
evil smile, he knew Jake was planning to make an example of him...and Sara...
During his last moments he finds solace in clutching his most precious possession, his little bug -
Sara’s - hair clip.
Director's Statement:
“The Broken Man” is an allegory that provides us with different layers of suspense and a twist in
the end that drives home what the allegory is all about.
This film is about our modern society – in all our fast and unforgiving judgement of people even
though we have often no understanding of their circumstances and the motivations for their
actions.
In “The Broken Man”Charlie is a tough, no compromise, criminal (sometimes hard headed, and
makes no excuses for his sins) that meets with his daughter Sara in a last attempt to rekindle a
relationship that no longer exists. While waiting for Sara in his car, Charlie thinks back to a young
Sara that tried to explain to her “tough guy” dad that she is afraid at night. When Charlie eventually
realised that he mistook Sara’s fear for concern towards his own safety, we see that Sara – his
“little bug “ is his one weak spot. The inciting incident of this film is when Charlie makes a promise to Sara never to leave her. It steers him toward his destiny – acting to protect his weakness, his
daughter.
Hours later in the first plot point, Charlie breaks his promise to Sara when he murders his gang
leader Jake, setting off a chain of events that leaves him incarcerated, leaving Sara vulnerable,
afraid and exposed to the tribulations of a violent neighbourhood. We see this flashback from
Jakes POV – Charlie backing off, Charlie compromising and then suddenly and unexpectedly
Charlie’s raged driven attack.
When Sara joins Charlie in his car she dismisses his every attempt to find common ground to fix a
broken relationship while hiding from her that he is wounded and bleeding to death. We find Sara
blaming Charlie for being a criminal, for her troubled youth and finally triggered and angered to the point of leaving when he calls her his “little bug”, she stops short of crucifying him for what
happened to her in his absence. (second plot point)
From Charlies point of view his car progressively falls apart, symbolical of his life that slowly
bleeds out and his hope to rekindle his relationship with Sara is steadily lost.
As Sara leaves Charlie alone and broken, he has another flashback to the eventful night when he
murdered Jake. This time we switch to Charlies pov. We see Jake’s reassuring smile when the two
gangsters compromise, and then we see the evil grin, the intent, the malice in Jake that triggered
Charlie’s paternal instincts to protect his daughter. The climax.
Finally – the resolution, showing Charlies unyielding love for his daughter - plays off in the final
scenes. But, in order to give the audience some room to absorb and consider the climax – to
understand Charlie’s motivation for killing Jake and for breaking his promise to his Sara, we
introduce the main credits before we interrupt them with the final resolution:
Charlie is found alone and dead in his car. In his hand he holds Sara’s hairclip that he kept with
him all the years since that fateful day when he made a promise to his “little bug” never to leave
her. The question we have to ask at the climax – and again at the resolution - would we do the
same to protect our little bug?
What we need:
Production on The Broken Man concluded on October 14th, 2024. We are currently in the post-production phase and are looking to raise around $15,000 in order to complete everything we need for the film. The funds we secure from this campaign will go to the following:
- Salaries for our editor, VFX, Colourist
Credits:
Caltal Productions
Directed by Niel Claassens
Multiple Award-winning Director for the short film allegory "Two Faced Dollie"
Official Selection for the short-form documentary "Underbelly"
Director of Photography Jeremy Lorin
Award-winning DOP for short film "Two Faced Dollie"
Line Producer Isalyne Herbert
Line Producer Sadeem Almutlaq
Production Manager JP Galarza
Assistant Director Nathaniel Min
Art Director Holly English
Make-up Artist Kyra Jansz
Director of Graphics Warren Pereira
Sound Mixer Cinthya Raygoza
1st Assistant Camera Sofia Abud
2nd Assistant Camera James Carter
Drone Operator Dang Thai
Key Grip Rafael Zoto
Gaffer Nadzeya Mikhalchenkava
Best Grip Kyla Stone
Best Electric Travis Wallace
Written by David McGrath and Niel Claassens
Other Ways You Can Help
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