Breaking the Waves

I just finished watching "Breaking the Waves" and am still not sure whether it was a good film or a strong piece of manipulation. Perhaps there is ultimately no difference.

Emily Watson was luminous and altogether convincing, and the camerawork didn't bother me in the slightest. On the contrary, it suited the story immensely - as did the deliberately washed-out palette. A brilliant invocation of a time and place.

However, the story left me feeling like I'd just watched someone kicking a puppy ... for several hours. I dislike the implication that such brutal and violent self-sacrifice can be justified by intense love, and to have this line wrapped up in a dewy religious shroud is a cop-out. It's like watching a documentary about the horrors of sideshow life - with plenty of explicit segments starring the freaks themselves. Allows an audience to moralize and yet be voyeurs at the same time.

Poor Bess was more than naive - whatever brain she was born with was utterly starved of oxygen by the narrow and restrictive community she was born into. I sympathized most with Dodo, who of them all loved Bess the most, and the least selfishly.

I find myself very angry after seeing "Breaking the Waves", which is why I cannot say that I disliked this film. Had I truly disliked it, my response would be less emotional.

This is the story about love. Everyday we experience this breathtaking emotion with both inanimate objects and with other souls. It is when we finally find true love that nothing else in the world seems worthy or good. We work as hard as we can to continue this warmth that we feel in our hearts when true love exists, and sometimes that means going to a level we never thought imaginable.

That is the central theme of Lars von Trier's epic, Breaking the Waves. Love has no boundaries as we watch Bess do everything possible (and more) to keep the relationship with her husband together during the roughest of times. Emily Watson controls the character Bess giving her best performance ever. The emotion and serenity that is felt, not only behind the character of Bess, but also behind Watson's eyes is phenomenal. It is not often that Hollywood is able to capture this sort of raw emotion, but Watson pulled it off with incredible talent.

Outside of Watson's character, there is the story. Lars von Trier does a spectacular job of continually building on the foundation that he has begun.

Watson is his foundation, and Trier builds this amazing world around her. In this film, everything from talking to God to reverberating stories to her husband while he is in the hospital only helps build the story to even higher heights. I will be honest; I shed tears at the end of this film. It will pull at every heart muscle that you have and really make you look at your significant other and truly feel the power of love.

This is a love story, but not like one we have seen in a very long time. I don't think we will see anything similar to this again. It will be hard for Hollywood to emulate such raw talent, groundbreaking direction, and life-changing story.

Thank you Lars von Trier for your imagination and passion for love.

Grade: ***** out of *****

Emotional power is one of the most difficult and complex aspects of film-making to succeed in. Very few films can manage to be emotionally destructive, while still retaining the viewer's concentration and dedication to the piece. Yet, Breaking the Waves is a film that holds more emotionally power that most films, it is not a film you will want to see again. One viewing is enough (at least for a long period of time). Bearing in mind, you will feel devastated by the film's self-destructive nature and after viewing such an unforgettable story of heart ache and sadness you will have etched into the back of your mind.

Breaking the Waves is a complicated story; it is one that studies love, regret, guilt, madness and religion. Breaking the Waves is set in a small religious town deep in Scotland and tells the sorrowful story of the innocent Bess (Emily Watson) and her lover Jan (Stellan Skarsgaard). Jan becomes paralysed in a freak accident at the oil-rig he is working on and asks his estranged wife Bess to have sex with other men and then tell him what it was like to keep their relationship stable.

Lars Von Trier, the founder of Dogme film-making creates a drama that remains in a league of its own. Though Breaking the Waves is not Dogme film-making (like The Idiots) it still has elements of Dogme film-making style littered around it. The film is separated into chapters, which work as wonderful mood and symbolic transitions. These sequences are a single shot focusing on something that is considerably impressive, with the added touch of a brilliantly chosen song to fit the mood. The film's general direction is one that feels like it has been shot with a hand-held style.

The film studies many questionable elements of life, including topics such as death, terminal illness, spirituality, emotions and hypocrisy in religion. These are just a view of the talking points that crop up throughout the long running-time. The film asks the viewer questions and most importantly tests how much harrowing devastation you can handle. There is no denying just how pure Breaking the Waves is.

Emma Watson gives a career defining performance with her pitiful role of a naive young woman, who just wants to be free from pain. The performance is very painful to watch because it is so unbearably realistic. You become apart of her journey and watch her emotions and sanity spiral out of control, even from the people who love her. Heartbreaking in every way.

Breaking the Waves is a difficult film and one that is not for everyone, though I say it is a film which deserves the critical acclaim it gets.

It's a pity that for most people Lars von Trier's involvement with the Dogme group of film makers is the main thing they know about him. Wherever you stand on the Dogme issue (personally I'm all for it as long as they continue to make movies as great as 'Festen' and 'The Idiots'), his brief alliance with the group has overshadowed amazing work like 'Element Of Crime', 'Europa' and 'Breaking The Waves'. 'Breaking The Waves' was made before the Dogme manifesto was formulated, but it can be seen as a step in that direction, with its use of documentary techniques as opposed to the flamboyant and highly stylized approach of von Trier's earlier films. To me the ends justifies the means, and the bottom line is that this is an extraordinary and powerful movie, one of the greatest of the last ten years. The main reason it is so remarkable is because of the devastating performance of Emily Watson, one of the most impressive screen debuts in the history of film. Watson plays Bess McNeill, a naive and odd young woman living in a remote and deeply religious Scottish community. She is so good in this movie she'll leave you speechless! Stellan Skarsgard, a most underrated actor in my opinion,('Insomnia', 'Ronin') plays Bess's husband and is also superb, and the supporting cast includes the late Katrin Cartlidge ('Naked') as Watson's sister-in-law, and von Trier regulars Jean-Marc Barr (almost unrecognizable from his leading role in 'Europa'), as one of Skarsgard's work buddies, and cult legend Udo Kier ('Flesh For Frankenstein', 'The Story Of O') in a cameo as a very nasty piece of work who Bess has the misfortune to encounter. The less you know about this movie the more powerful it will be, and even a jaded cynic like myself was surprised at how effective its spiritual theme was. To me 'Breaking The Waves' is a much better more than von Trier's better known 'Dancer In The Dark', and Watson's performance makes Bjork's look like that of an enthusiastic but not very talented amateur (which of course, is exactly what she is). Highly recommended.

A film about love, faith, religion and many other things, it is a draining experience but yet fascinating to watch, with superb acting and an intriguing main character. It is surprising how gripping the film is, as it is difficult to watch, not just because of the subject matter, but also because of its style. Made by the conventions of Dogme '95, the film has many extreme close-ups, generally shaky camera-work and errors in continuity for editing and audio levels, all of which is supposed to amount to a film that looks and feels more realistic. With this film though, the quality of the acting and writing provide enough realism alone, and therefore the style serves no purpose other than to make the film more difficult to digest. It is an incredibly long film, and while this is not too much of a problem, the chapter markers are noticeably long without much reason either. Still, the film comes through despite its detracting bits. Watson, in her first film performance, is excellent, and Cartlidge provides great support. This is not an easy film to watch and like, but it is easy to admire what is done well in the film.