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Breaking the Waves
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Synopsis
With Breaking The Waves, director Lars von Trier fashions an often disturbing tale of the singular power of love. Bess (the Oscar-nominated Emily Watson) is a naïve, borderline simple young woman who lives in a Scottish coastal town ruled by the religious doctrine of its council of elders. Recovering from a mental breakdown caused by the death of her brother, Bess marries a rough yet compassionate and attentive oil rig worker named Jan (Stellan Skarsgård). For a brief time, the couple enjoys peaceful wedded bliss, with the worldly Jan introducing Bess to the mysteries of sex. Jan must soon return to his job on the rig, however, where he is paralyzed from the neck down in a freak accident. Bess' emotional trauma over Jan's injury turns into obsession as she prays to God for his recovery and offers to do anything to have her husband back whole. Jan, constantly medicated and profoundly depressed, asks Bess to have sex with other men and tell him about it, thinking this will allow her to return to a normal life. Bess, on the other hand, sees it as an expression of her devotion to Jan that even God won't be able to ignore. Bess' resultant downward spiral leads to a finale of both tragedy and spirituality. Breaking the Waves is widely regarded as one of the most distinctive European movies of the 1990s, marking von Trier's movement toward his influential Dogma 95 school of filmmaking, which emphasizes realistic situations of contemporary life, filmed without background music and with a hand-held, restlessly moving camera. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Cast

Jean-Marc Barr Terry
Adrian Rawlins Dr. Richardson
Stellan Skarsgård Jan
Katrin Cartlidge Dodo McNeill
Sandra Voe Bess' Mother
Emily Watson Bess McNeill

Production Crew

Joyce Nettles Casting
Robby Müller Cinematographer
Axel Helgeland Co-producer
Marianne Slot Co-producer
Peter van Vogelpoel Co-producer
Rob Langestraat Co-producer
Joachim Holbek Composer (Music Score)
Manon Rasmussen Costume Designer
Lars von Trier Director
Anders Refn Editor
Ray Williams Executive Music Producer
Lars Jönsson Executive Producer
Morten Arnfred First Assistant Director
Peter Aalbæk Jensen Producer
Vibeke Windeløv Producer
Karl Juliusson Production Designer
Lars von Trier Screenwriter
Per Streit Sound/Sound Designer
Year: 1996
Runtime: 159
Country: Denmark
MPAA Rating: R
for strong graphic sexuality, nudity, language and some violence
Category: Feature

Genre
Drama

Produced by
Argus Film Produktie
La Sept Cinema
Liberator Productions
Northern
October Films
Trust Film Svenska AB
Zentropa Entertainments ApS

Release
by Guild

Awards
1996 - Best European Film - European Film Academy
1996 - Best Foreign Language Film - French Academy of Cinema
1996 - Best Picture - National Board of Review
1996 - Best Picture - National Society of Film Critics
1996 - Critics Award - European Film Academy
1996 - Grand Jury Prize - Cannes International Film Festival
1996 - Grand Jury Prize - Cannes Film Festival
1996 - Film Presented - Telluride Film Festival