Breaking the Waves

Shown: 25 January 1999
Introduced by Derek Malcolm

Denmark/Netherlands/Sweden/France 1996
Directed by Lars von Trier
Leading players - Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgärd and Katrin Cartlidge

Synopsis

This English language film is set in the north of Scotland in the 1970s and tells the story of a young girl, Bess, brilliantly played by Emily Watson in her first film role. Despite her strict religious upbringing and the disapproval of her local community, Bess falls in love with and marries the worldly Jan (Stellan Skarsgärd). He is an oil rig worker who gives little thought to how the contrast between Bess' attitude to life and his own are likely to effect such a simple girl.

To start with she is blissfully happy but then an explosion on the rig paralyses Jan and things take an unexpected turn He persuades her to follow a course of action contrary to all that she has grown up to believe is right but, in her innocence, she is convinced Jan can be cured by doing what he asks.

However, she is not mentally prepared for the appalled reactions of her friends, family and the local Church. Isolated, she feels forced into ever more extreme behaviour and the final scenes in which she endeavours to resolve her problems will bring a tear to the cheek of the most hardened viewer.

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Through the portrayal of a young girl who is willing to sacrifice everything for love, the film examines the nature of human emotions and questions the Church's attitude to perceived "transgressors".

Lars von Trier deservedly won the 1996 Cannes Grand Jury Prize with this film. It is shot in documentary style with faded colours and much hand-held camera work, both enforcing an atmosphere of day-to-day gritty reality. It is bold and uncompromising when showing the depths to which Bess falls in her desperate attempt to help Jan but von Trier brings to it a purity and power not many other filmmakers today would attempt. Viewers are forced to consider what is wrong and what is right when life is so bitter and the future looks unrelentingly harsh.