Synopsis
Love is a mighty power.
In a small and conservative Scottish village, a woman's paralytic husband convinces her to have extramarital intercourse so she can tell him about it and give him a reason for living.
Breaking the Waves
1996 Directed by Lars von Trier
Cast
Director
Producer
Writers
Editor
Cinematography
Composer
Studios
Countries
Languages
Alternative Titles
Le onde del destino, Przełamując fale, 브레이킹 더 웨이브, Ondas de Paixão
Popular reviews
More-
whenever i saw this poster i thought the people in it were two women so i was expecting this movie to be gay. however, much to my surprise, thats not a lesbian, its stellan skarsgard
-
I rewatched this last week at some point and of course felt horrible for the whole rest of my day
This is one of my dad’s favorite movies which I feel is something no child should have to know about their father ❤️
-
When Lars Von Trier redefined romance.
The story is about a woman named bess a simple, God-fearing woman whose life turns from a fairy tale to a hell hole after her husband gets paralyzed due to an unfortunate accident while working in an oil rig, as he asks his wife to see other men and tell him her experience with them when he is unable to have sex with her.
Shot with a bleached out lens which is enough to give you a hint that this ain't going to be your just another romantic drama flick, lars makes sure to take its audience in those dark and less traveled allies, while draining its characters to the core.
A remarkable debut…
-
-
Bess lives her life in a state of blissful delirium, a simple woman whose emotional stability is entirely dependent on her perceived relationship with God. She is naive and inexperienced, the kind of sheltered person for whom marriage to a man of broad experience and unfettered sexuality is boundlessly liberating. But Bess is not the kind of person capable of liberation, only of adopting an alternate master to whom she can completely submit her being. When her paralyzed husband proposes a way to help her move on, it counters everything holding her fragile psychological wellbeing together, and she is only able to comprehend it when convinced that it's a way to help him continue living. Once she accepts it, the saddest thing isn't how far she goes, it's that by the time she goes that far we have such a deep understanding of her obsessively devout nature that we fully expect it.
-
One of my favorite Lars von Trier's films! It evoked a wide range of emotions out of me! I emphasized with Bess to the point I wanted to give a Tony Jaa trademark double flying knee kick to the face of the smug villagers whom decided she was not worthy of them or god! Definitely got my dander up, I believe smoke was coming out of my ears at one point!
Emily Watson (Bess) gave one of the most genuine, heartfelt performances I have ever witnessed on the big screen! Stellan Skarsgård as always gave a powerful performance! Which was a real treat for me as I consider him to be one of the greatest actors alive!
As beautiful as it is wickedly disturbing!
An ending that will leave you completely gobsmacked!
-
“are you sure that’s what you want?”
emily watson gives a stellar and unique performance, but otherwise this only just held my attention. recently my fascination with how lars lays out his morbid stories keep me invested in them, but here that seems to fall short. there’s always a generous amount of anguish, but it felt less affecting and the ending less meaningful here. almost pointless. he’s a mess and a hot pile of garbage as a person anyways, but i’m unfortunately still oddly drawn to putting myself through more of his films. oh well
also, this was my last movie on filmstruck. rest in peace 😣
-
The name Bess can mean either 'pledged to God', or 'God is my oath', which is so fitting for the extraordinary lead female character in Breaking the Waves played by Emily Watson.
"But you're with me now? ... Of course I am, Bess. You know that."
This masterfully provocative and emotional film from Lars von Trier questions all ideas of what it truly means to be faithful to your spouse under the eyes of God. And contrasts the actions Bess takes to honor that vow against the morals of society, and the laws of her Church.
I adore the music of this film, especially during those nearly still chapter title shots. Plus that ending still blew me away on a rewatch. For much more on my thoughts on Breaking the Waves check out my original review.
-
81/100
A.V. Club review. Third viewing, first since 2000; sheer emotional power finally overcame my distaste at the film's portrait of an Old Testament God (which is largely a visceral reaction to the final shot). I'd forgotten how many times Bess looks at the camera—there's probably a thesis about Von Trier as the film's true deity there.
-
PTAbro's World Tour Stop 7: Denmark (or, setting-wise, Scotland)
Poor, sweet Bess. Life really gave you the shaft, didn't it? A religiously repressive family/community, obvious psychological/hormonal issues in your genes, and so much love in your heart you don't know what to do with it. "Golden Heart," indeed.
"Love is a mighty power."
With Breaking the Waves, Lars von Trier forgoes any of the genre elements or metafictional aspects of his previous films (for the most part), and focuses his efforts to tell a more conventional drama, a love story, a dark fairy tale. This is a story about unconditional love and the forms it takes, yet also about how love is itself a sickness, clouding minds and judgments as…
-
Directed and co-written by Lars von Trier, Breaking the Waves is the introductory chapter in Lars von Trier’s Golden Heart Trilogy, which additionally comprises The Idiots and Dancer in the Dark. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early part of the nineteen seventies, and featuring an impressive performance from Emily Watson, this is a magnificently realised piece of work which is neatly split up into seven passages and an epilogue, and although it does consume about forty-five minutes of its runtime to propel itself into gear, this narration on belief, affection and renunciation is unconventional, demanding and audacious.
-
Lars Von Trier movies ranked: boxd.it/7t1dW
Dr. Richardson: Bess. I... I think you've got yourself involved in something that is out of your control.
This is Lars Von Trier’s take on a romantic movie, while it also focuses a lot on religion. The movie still doesn’t feel like a critique of religion, as the ending still had a very religious feel to it. The movie feels more like a look at a society that practice religion wrong and uses it to control people.
The main character Bess is a naive woman, who has been raised in a small religious society on an island where you have to follow the rules of the church or get expelled from the community and consigned…
