Breaking the Waves
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| Breaking the Waves | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Lars von Trier |
| Produced by | Peter Aalbæk Jensen Vibeke Windeløv |
| Written by | Lars von Trier Peter Asmussen |
| Starring | Emily Watson Stellan Skarsgård |
| Distributed by | October Films (USA) |
| Release date(s) | May 1996 (premiere in Cannes Film Festival) |
| Running time | 159 min. 153 min. (director's cut) |
| Country | Germany / Sweden / France / Netherlands / Norway / Iceland |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | The Idiots |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Breaking the Waves is a 1996 film, directed by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the 1970s, it tells the story of an unusual woman, Bess McNeill, and of the love she has for Jan, her husband. The film is the first film in von Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy' which also includes The Idiots (1998) and Dancer in the Dark (2000).
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[edit] Synopsis
Breaking the Waves tells the story of Bess McNeill, who marries 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. She prays for his return, and when he returns paralyzed after an industrial accident, she believes it is her fault. No longer able to make love, 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 wish of God.
[edit] Style
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, neither of which is permitted by the Dogme rules. Von Trier's first true Dogme film was The Idiots.
[edit] Production
Helena Bonham Carter was von Trier's first choice to play the role of Bess, but she dropped out just before shooting was to start, reportedly due to the large amount of nudity and sexuality required by the role.[1]
The exterior scenes were shot in Scotland: the graveyard was built for the film on Isle of Skye; the church is in Lochailort, the harbour in Mallaig, and the beach in Morar. The interiors were shot at Det Danske Filmstudie, Lyngby, Denmark.[citation needed]
[edit] Awards
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.
[edit] Notes
The movie was also named the best film of the decade by both Rogert Ebert and Martin Scorsese during a show where the famous film personalities listed their "Top Ten" movies of the 1990s.
[edit] References
- Lars von Trier, Breaking the Waves, 1996, ISBN 0-571-19115-0.
- Best Films of 1996: Foreign Film Awards
[edit] External links
- Breaking the Waves at All Movie Guide
- Breaking the Waves at the Internet Movie Database
- Breaking the Waves at Metacritic
- Roger Ebert on Breaking the Waves
- Breaking the Waves at Rotten Tomatoes
- Filming locations at scotlandthemovie.com
- Breaking the Waves at the Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films list
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| Preceded by Ulysses' Gaze |
Grand Prix, Cannes 1996 |
Succeeded by The Sweet Hereafter |
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