Breaking the Waves (1996) is a provocative psychological drama set in a small religious community in the Scottish Highlands in the 1970s. The film tells the story of Bess McNeill (Emily Watson), a naive and deeply religious young woman who marries Jan (Stellan Skarsgård), a Danish oil rig worker, in the film's opening chapter.
Structured in seven chapters (plus epilogue), the storyline follows the couple's travails after Jan is paralyzed in a horrific accident. Out of desperation he urges her to seek sexual relations with other men, so that he may live vicariously through them. Bess comes to believe that his request is the will of God and complies with her husband's wishes, yet struggles with her faith as well as the community's condemnation of her activities.
Co-written and directed by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark, Melancholia), Breaking the Waves is a galvanizing exploration of faith, adoration and unique personal sacrifice. In her feature film debut, Watson is an absolute revelation, imbuing her role with passion and torment to remarkable effect. Controversial and emotionally raw, it was a landmark for Von Trier as the first film in his "Golden Heart Trilogy" and inspiration for his highly-influential "Dogme 95" movement that followed soon thereafter.
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