Breaking the Waves

Denmark 1996, 158 minutes
Dir. Lars Von Trier
Rating: [R16]
Genres: Drama / Independent

Feat. Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgard, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr

Aroview: Significant art-house hit about obsessive faith and self-sacrifice, set in a puritanical village on the Scottish coast. A naive young woman marries a worldy, charismatic oil-rigger, but their blissful union is dealt a cruel blow when he is left debilitated by an accident. Von Trier's bleak yet stirring religious indictment/allegory is captured by an agitated camera, though, like his heroine, his rare feat of film-making bravado requires rigorous commitment and endurance. In English.

NZ International Film Festival 1996

Member Reviews

Average rating (Exceptional). Showing 1-3 of 3 member reviews.

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5 stars (Exceptional) Emily Watson makes Bess utterly real, she's fantastic. Von Trier's film has the chewy thickness of a novel (not least of all in length), but his camera creates urgent immediacy and intimacy all the way. Heartbreaking, and brilliant. ~fairbrother
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5 stars (Exceptional) A brilliantly-acted and produced film with a devastating punch. Profound...remains long in the memory. One of my ten best films of all time. Warning: very upsetting. ~Sandy
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5 stars (Exceptional) Still think this is Von Trier's best. Confounds expectations & takes the viewer into the grey area where there are no rules & conventions (as he did later with The Idiots) & where the story can go in any direction. Beautiful heart-breaking performances. ~Andrea