Breaking the Waves
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Breaking the Waves is a 1996 film, set in the Scottish Highlands in the 1970s, which tells the story of Bess McNeill, who marries oil-man Jan, despite the apprehensions of her community and Calvinist church. She is somewhat simple, and has difficulty living without him when he is away on the oil platform. She prays for his return, and when he returns paralysed after an industrial accident, she believes it is her fault. No longer able to make love, Jan urges her to find and have sex with other men, and then tell him the details. She slowly begins to believe that what she is doing is the wish of God.
The movie was written by Lars von Trier, Peter Asmussen and David Pirie (uncredited), and was directed by von Trier. It stars Emily Watson as Bess, in her first film role, and Stellan Skarsgård as Jan.
The film shows influences of the Dogme 95 movement, of which von Trier is a founding member. Though often referred as a Dogme 95 film, it violates several of the Dogme 95 rules. For example, Dogme 95 emphasizes the use of real locations; but whilst most of the locations in Breaking the Waves are deceptively realistic, they were in fact constructed in a studio.
Breaking the Waves won the "grand prize" at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, and three awards at the 1996 European Movie Awards: Film of the Year, International Film Journalists Award, and European Actress of the Year (Watson). Emily Watson was nominated for the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress, and the 1997 British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for best actress.
Filming locations
- Locations:
- * Isle of Skye: The graveyard (built for the film)
- * Lochailort: The church
- * Mallaig: Harbour
- * Morar: Beach
- Studio:
- * Det Danske Filmstudie, Lyngby, Denmark
References
- Lars Von Trier, Breaking the Waves, 1996, ISBN 0-571-19115-0.
- [Best Films of 1996: Foreign Film Awards]
External links
- [Breaking the Waves at All Movie Guide]
- [}}}] at Rotten Tomatoes
- [Filming locations at scotlandthemovie.com]
- [Breaking the Waves] at the [Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films] list
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