Breaking the Waves Reviews

I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, I'm really glad I gave this movie a second look after all these years. Indeed, as a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure it was the first movie directed by von Trier which I have seen but, to be honest, at the time, even though it had been universally heralded, I have to admit that I didn’t like it much. Basically, Lars von Trier is one of those directors which I always found interesting without ever really enjoying his movies. Eventually, it's not that his movies are extremely difficult to watch (they're are not easy though), it's above all because they're all so dark and depressive. Anyway, after watching pretty much every single movie directed by the Danish master during the next 30 years, I was now much more able to appreciate this classic. Indeed, afterwards, von Trier would deliver some movies which were so much more darker and messed up than this one so it wasn't so hard to swallow now (it was still nothing really cheerful though). First of all, I thought it was interesting that, even though everyone in the film and the audience should find Jan's request to be appalling, I didn't think that it was now so revolting after all and I'm sure there are other couples where such things actually do occur. I'm not saying that it was usual or that it was a great idea but I'm just saying that the concept was not as revolting as it might seem at face value. Eventually, if Bess could have been slightly more discrete instead of becoming basically a cheap prostitute in plain sight in the middle of a very religious conservative community, I actually believed that it could have worked somehow. However, Lars von Trier has always been obsessed in relentlessly punishing his characters but, after all these years, I can handle that. In this case, everything Bess did and everything that happened to her was not because she believed in God but out of sheer love and, in fact, the basis of Religion is actually love, so, it seems that it all came together somehow, in a very neat way, even if von Trier did choose a really dark path to make his point. Of course, I shouldn't forget to mention that Emily Watson was absolutely brilliant in this. Indeed, her performance was really impressive, one of the best acting debut ever, and I wonder why Lars von Trier didn't work again with her afterwards. The first time I watched this movie, the last thing that really bothered me was this ending with those bells in the sky… As a matter of fact, at first, I even despised this ending, seriously. However, it didn't bother me again the second time around. Anyway, to conclude, even if I'm still not a huge fan, I have to admit that it is actually really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Lars von Trier’s work.

Breaking the Waves is a 1996 film directed by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early 1970s, it tells the story of an unusual young woman, Bess McNeill, and of the love she has for Jan, her husband. The film is an international co-production led by Lars von Trier's Danish company Zentropa.

Breaking the Waves tells the story of Bess McNeill, who has psychological problems, marries Norwegian oil rig worker Jan, despite the apprehensions of her community and Calvinist church. Bess is somewhat simple and childlike, and has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform, where he is scheduled to work for ten days. She prays for his immediate return, and when he returns the next day paralyzed by an industrial accident, she believes it is her fault. No longer able to perform sexually, and mentally affected by the accident, Jan urges her to find and have sex with other men and then tell him the details. Bess slowly begins to believe that what she is doing is the will of God.

The film is influenced by the realist Dogme 95 movement, of which von Trier was a founding member, and its grainy images and hand-held photography give it the superficial look of a Dogme film. However, the Dogme rules demand the use of real locations, whereas many of the locations in Breaking the Waves were constructed in a studio.[citation needed] In addition, the film is set in the past and contains dubbed music, as well as a brief scene featuring CGI, none of which is permitted by the Dogme rules.

Breaking the Waves was named one of the ten best films of the decade by both Roger Ebert and Martin Scorsese during a show where the famous film personalities listed their top movies of the 1990s.


Breaking the Waves won the Grand Prix at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, and three awards at the 1996 European Film Awards including: Film of the Year, International Film Journalists Award, and European Actress of the Year (Watson). Emily Watson was nominated for the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress, the 1997 British Academy of Film and Television Arts award, the National Society of Film Critics prize, and the European Film Award for Best Actress.