BREAKING THE WAVES (1996) - ♦♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Lars von Trier

Written by - Lars von Trier, Peter Asmussen, David Pirie

Starring - Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgard, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr

"Set in a God fearing Scottish coastal village, BREAKING THE WAVES begins with a happy marriage between a visibly mentally troubled woman who seems to have finally found peace in the form of her newlywed husband, an oil rig worker. The joy is short lived, as soon after, he suffers an accident and somehow convinces her beloved Bess manipulatively that the only way for him to get better is to sleep with other men. Promiscuity does not come easy for her, and leads her down a dangerous path that will relentlessly lead her to self-destruction. 

The ever so provocative LARS VON TRIER, in stark and non embellished realism, still very much influenced by the Dogma creed, enhances the sheer drama by allowing his broken characters to be shown uncomfortably in all their vulnerability. 

EMILY WATSON in the lead as the frail and helpless Bess is the anti-heroine of romanticism, and indeed despite the dramatically erotic inclinations, what is surprisingly fascinating about this film, as in other works by the director, is the film’s classicist melodramatic core which, much like in DOUGLAS SIRK’s films, allows him to take digs at dark themes in a most psychologically troubling way."

Drama, Denmark/Sweden/France/Netherlands/Norway/Iceland/Spain