Breaking the Waves Movie Review 1995

Sacrifical journey of shy, religious Bess (Watson), who's living in an austere northern Scotland coastal village in the '70s. Bess, who regularly talks to God, marries Jan (Skarsgard), an adventurer working on a North Sea oil rig. It must be a case of opposites attracting but the couple are happy until Jan is paralyzed from the neck down in a rig accident. Bess, who blames herself, begins sleeping around, believing her actions can somehow help Jan, and slides ever deeper into mental instability. Powerful story is divided into seven chapters and an epilogue.

Distribution

Evergreen Entertainment, 6100 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1400, Los Angeles, CA 90048, Phone: (213)634-3000, Fax: (213)549-3760

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 152 minutes.
Originally from Danish, French.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Marriage, Physical Problems, Religion, Sex & Sexuality, Scotland, Black Gold

Screenplay

Lars von Trier

Cast

Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgard, Katrin Cartlidge, Adrian Rawlins, Jean-Marc Barr, Sandra Voe, Udo Kier, Mikkel Gaup

Cinematography

Robby Muller

Director

Lars von Trier

Music

Joachim Holbek

Producer

Peter Aalbaek Jensen, Vibeke Windelov, Lars Jonsson, Zentropa Entertainment, La Sept Cinema (France), October Films

Awards

Cannes 1996: Grand Jury Prize; Cesar 1997: Foreign Film; N.Y. Film Critics 1996: Actress (Watson), Cinematog., Director (von Trier); Natl. Soc. Film Critics 1996: Actress (Watson), Cinematog., Director (von Trier), Film.