Breaking the Waves
Directed by:
Lars von TrierCinematography:
Robby MüllerCast:
Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr, Adrian Rawlins, Udo Kier, Mikkel Gaup, Sandra Voe, Phil McCall, David Bateson (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Set in the early 1970's amid a small tightly knit community on the remote North coast of Scotland, BREAKING THE WAVES tells the story of Bess, a young, naive and innocent girl and her profound experience of love. Bess, who has lived her life protected by her family: her mother, grandfather and recently widowed sister-in-law, Dodo; within the confined world of strict Calvinism, falls in love with Jan, a stalwart oil-rig worker and man-of-the-world. Jan in turn is captivated by Bess's innocence and the purity she radiates. Despite local opposition the couple marry.
For a brief and happy time the newly-weds live an intense love life but when Jan has to return to the oil-rig, Bess is distraught. The long nightly phone calls charged with emotion fail to quell her longing and she prays fervently to God for Jan's return.
The return is sooner than expected - an explosion on the rig seriously injures Jan and suffering potentially fatal brain damage and total paralysis he is flown back to hospital. In this state he realises that he will never be Bess' lover again. He finds it unbearable to think of Bess being deprived of sensual passion again. Despite her misgivings, he persuades her to go out and enjoy herself; to take a lover. In order to convince her and to make sure that she does this, he suggests that it will help with his recovery if she returns to his bedside to describe the events, encouraging her to detail the sex. But Bess, in her naivety, believes that Jan's health can be affected by her conduct and in her innocence she spirals into a world she does not understand.
Denied the support of her community Bess is abandoned and exiled. However, believing that her actions are helping her beloved Jan, she calls on her strength of conviction and ignores her own safety in the hope that a miracle will give Jan back to her. She plunges into the ultimate sacrifice, willing to risk her life for her husband and their love for one another. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (7)
Lars von Trier pushes the envelope again, but unlike Dancer in the Dark, there is a reason for it and it is not an end in itself. Breaking the Waves is a whirlwind of emotions that often sends chills down the spine. And Emily Watson’s performance is perfection itself.
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Your typical Trier’s unpleasant cocktail of emotions. Breaking the Waves is such a relentless valley of tears that the viewer never has a chance to calm down; the misery only escalates. Emily Watson’s performance is breathtaking. And yet, I don’t think it’s enough for a full count, why? The answer is simple: because of Dogville, a film without a single weak moment that was a lot more crushing. This one is the light version of Lars’s best.
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The man is, of course, a terrible emotional blackmailer, which I can logically deduce a few hours after watching the film, but I do not wish to say that this story about a woman who has sacrificed herself completely for a beloved man has brought me to my knees. Trier can break down the barriers between the plot/camera/viewer and create an explosive plot-viewer combination. The authenticity of the story is reinforced by "unassuming" handheld camera filming and absolutely credible performances by Skarsgård and Watson. There's something fatal in this story from the beginning, a harbinger of tragedy... Trier is good at these "omens"... The resulting work is a complete emotional terror, so terrible that one viewer vomited in the movie theatre. There’s no disgust, just long minutes of emotional exertion with an almost fairytale ending, but it doesn't make the scarred soul feel very happy. Where reality ends and the film begins is an almost insoluble puzzle while watching Breaking the Waves. I was so drawn in that my emotions weren't artificial. I was confused and swept off my feet... Trier, you damn animal!!!
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For many years, I considered Breaking the Waves a film that you need to be more mature to understand, and as a super film that is not for everyone. I even allowed myself to see a mere theater production earlier, which handled the subject in its own way. But in the end, it's just a film for the discerning viewer, but far from being for the snob or hypocrite viewer. All proto-impressions aside, it's just a film, it won't hurt you - and of course, von Trier is only its author.
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A total, but I mean total emotional inferno. You just don't see anything more vicious than this (except with another Trier). How this freaks pulls this off with these actors I really don't understand. He must be putting something in their coffee. What Emily Watson in particular created is a character worthy of a horror movie. Of course, then the very end comes and I don't know what flew onto my monitor. Trier couldn't have been serious. I think he must have made a bet with someone -)
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I don't have Lars von Trier among my favorite creators, but I have to admit that he knows how to tell powerful stories and how to extract truly dark emotions from both actors and viewers. It seems to me that the film contains too many unnecessary minutes for what it actually wants to say, but it is true that for another movie, I would criticize the duration more. It is an experience that will make you think.
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Breaking the Waves is really a very deep and powerful story that depicts love and a love relationship from a slightly different perspective. An emotionally unforgiving epic about how hard it is (in the case of the main character, no doubt even harder than for "normal" people) to find love, but that is nothing compared to keeping love and being a dutiful wife at all costs. Her desperate efforts eventually lead Bess to the fringes of a hypocritical and would-be orderly society, to finally do "what is expected of her"...
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