Cinema
Breaking the Waves
Lars von Trier · 1996
Synopsis
In a Presbyterian village in the Scottish Highlands, in the early seventies, an austere community distrusts everything that comes from outside. Bess, a simple and fervent young woman who speaks to God aloud, marries Jan, an oil-rig worker from elsewhere. She prays that he will come back ashore; he does, paralysed by an industrial accident. From his bed, he asks her to sleep with other men and to come and tell him everything, and she complies, believing she is keeping him alive.
Context
First part of the trilogy known as the Golden Heart trilogy, the film took five years of writing and financing. The exteriors were shot in Scotland, on the Isle of Skye, at Lochailort, Mallaig and Morar, the interiors in the Lyngby studios. It is divided into seven parts and an epilogue, separated by landscapes by Per Kirkeby retouched on computer, set to pop songs from the period in which the story takes place. Helena Bonham Carter having withdrawn at the last moment, the role went to Emily Watson, for whom it was her first film. It is close to the spirit of Dogme without officially belonging to it.
Who it is for
Two hours thirty-eight minutes, handheld camera and grainy image, in English. The subject is harrowing, and the film asks the viewer to accept a mixture of faith, sex and obsession.
Prizes and reception
Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996, César for best foreign film, and Academy Award nomination for best actress for Emily Watson.
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