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Breaking the Waves
Breaking the Waves is a 1996 psychological romantic melodrama film directed and co-written by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson in her feature film acting debut, and with Stellan Skarsgård, a frequent collaborator with von Trier.
Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early 1970s, it is about an unusual young woman and the love she has for her husband. The film is divided into seven chapters and an epilogue, separated by audio-visual art by Per Kirkeby and accompanied by music.
The film is an international co-production between the US, Denmark, seven other European countries, and is von Trier's first feature film with his Danish production company Zentropa. As von Trier's first film made after his founding of the Dogme 95 movement, it is heavily influenced by the movement's style and ethos. It is the first film in Trier's Golden Heart trilogy, which includes The Idiots (1998) and Dancer in the Dark (2000), the former made in compliance with the Dogme 95 Manifesto.
Breaking the Waves was well-received, with Emily Watson's acting receiving unanimous critical praise and earning her first Academy Award nomination. The film has been described as "perhaps von Trier's most widely acclaimed film" and cited as among the best films of the 1990s. The film won numerous awards, including the Grand Prix at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
Bess McNeill is a young and pretty Scottish woman who has, in the past, had treatment for an unspecified mental health condition after the death of her brother. She marries oil rig worker Jan Nyman, a Danish non-churchgoer, despite disapproval from her community and her Free Scottish Presbyterian Calvinist church. Bess is steadfast and pure of heart but quite simple and childlike in her beliefs. During her frequent visits to the church, she prays to God and carries on conversations with him in her own voice, believing that he is responding directly through her.
Bess is infatuated with Jan and has difficulty living without him when he is away on the oil platform. Jan makes occasional phone calls to Bess, in which they express their love and sexual desires. Bess grows needy and prays for his immediate return. The next day, Jan is severely injured in an industrial accident and is flown back to the mainland. Bess believes her prayer was the reason the accident occurred and that God was punishing her for her selfishness in asking him to neglect his job and return to her. No longer able to perform sexually and mentally affected by the paralysis, Jan asks Bess to find a lover. Bess is devastated and storms out. Jan then attempts to commit suicide and fails. He falls unconscious and is readmitted to the hospital.
Jan's condition deteriorates. He urges Bess to find another lover and tell him the details, as it will be as if they are together and will revitalize his spirits. Though her sister-in-law Dodo constantly reassures her that nothing she does will affect his recovery, Bess begins to believe these suggestions are the will of God and in accordance with loving Jan wholely. Despite her repulsion and inner turmoil at the thought of being with other men, she perseveres in her own sexual debasement, believing it will save her husband. Bess throws herself at Jan's doctor, but when he rebuffs her, she takes to picking up men off the street and allowing herself to be brutalized in increasingly cruel sexual encounters. In the face of probable expulsion from her church, she proclaims, "You cannot love words. You cannot be in love with a word. You can only love a human being. That's perfection". The entire village is scandalised by these doings, and Bess is excommunicated.
Dodo and Jan's doctor agree the only way to keep Bess safe from herself is to have her committed and move as far away from her husband - whom they believe to be in terminal decline - as possible. Bess decides to make what she thinks is the ultimate sacrifice for Jan: She unflinchingly returns to a derelict ship, where sailors brutally attack her. Dodo and Mrs. McNeill meet a severely injured Bess in the hospital for the last time, forgiving her for her actions. Bess dies in Dodo's arms.
Breaking the Waves
Breaking the Waves is a 1996 psychological romantic melodrama film directed and co-written by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson in her feature film acting debut, and with Stellan Skarsgård, a frequent collaborator with von Trier.
Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early 1970s, it is about an unusual young woman and the love she has for her husband. The film is divided into seven chapters and an epilogue, separated by audio-visual art by Per Kirkeby and accompanied by music.
The film is an international co-production between the US, Denmark, seven other European countries, and is von Trier's first feature film with his Danish production company Zentropa. As von Trier's first film made after his founding of the Dogme 95 movement, it is heavily influenced by the movement's style and ethos. It is the first film in Trier's Golden Heart trilogy, which includes The Idiots (1998) and Dancer in the Dark (2000), the former made in compliance with the Dogme 95 Manifesto.
Breaking the Waves was well-received, with Emily Watson's acting receiving unanimous critical praise and earning her first Academy Award nomination. The film has been described as "perhaps von Trier's most widely acclaimed film" and cited as among the best films of the 1990s. The film won numerous awards, including the Grand Prix at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
Bess McNeill is a young and pretty Scottish woman who has, in the past, had treatment for an unspecified mental health condition after the death of her brother. She marries oil rig worker Jan Nyman, a Danish non-churchgoer, despite disapproval from her community and her Free Scottish Presbyterian Calvinist church. Bess is steadfast and pure of heart but quite simple and childlike in her beliefs. During her frequent visits to the church, she prays to God and carries on conversations with him in her own voice, believing that he is responding directly through her.
Bess is infatuated with Jan and has difficulty living without him when he is away on the oil platform. Jan makes occasional phone calls to Bess, in which they express their love and sexual desires. Bess grows needy and prays for his immediate return. The next day, Jan is severely injured in an industrial accident and is flown back to the mainland. Bess believes her prayer was the reason the accident occurred and that God was punishing her for her selfishness in asking him to neglect his job and return to her. No longer able to perform sexually and mentally affected by the paralysis, Jan asks Bess to find a lover. Bess is devastated and storms out. Jan then attempts to commit suicide and fails. He falls unconscious and is readmitted to the hospital.
Jan's condition deteriorates. He urges Bess to find another lover and tell him the details, as it will be as if they are together and will revitalize his spirits. Though her sister-in-law Dodo constantly reassures her that nothing she does will affect his recovery, Bess begins to believe these suggestions are the will of God and in accordance with loving Jan wholely. Despite her repulsion and inner turmoil at the thought of being with other men, she perseveres in her own sexual debasement, believing it will save her husband. Bess throws herself at Jan's doctor, but when he rebuffs her, she takes to picking up men off the street and allowing herself to be brutalized in increasingly cruel sexual encounters. In the face of probable expulsion from her church, she proclaims, "You cannot love words. You cannot be in love with a word. You can only love a human being. That's perfection". The entire village is scandalised by these doings, and Bess is excommunicated.
Dodo and Jan's doctor agree the only way to keep Bess safe from herself is to have her committed and move as far away from her husband - whom they believe to be in terminal decline - as possible. Bess decides to make what she thinks is the ultimate sacrifice for Jan: She unflinchingly returns to a derelict ship, where sailors brutally attack her. Dodo and Mrs. McNeill meet a severely injured Bess in the hospital for the last time, forgiving her for her actions. Bess dies in Dodo's arms.