Breaking the Waves

Starring: Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgard, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr, Adrian Rawlins, Udo Kier
Directed by: Lars von Trier
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A fragile woman (Emily Watson) from a strictly religious community marries an outsider (Stellan Skarsgard) and finds her life changed when he's severely injured on his job.

Review:

Tim: Prior to this movie, the only Lars von Trier movie I'd seen was 2003's Dogville. That was a movie that I despised for nearly the entire runtime, only to sort of love it at the end. I had to admit some brilliance on von Trier's part, but the viewing experience was so challenging that I couldn't bring myself to watch his other films. I broke that streak with Breaking the Waves. This was another film of his that received rave reviews, although I personally believe this film is overrated. I can see how people would get caught up in his unique style and voice. Despite that, I don't believe this is an especially good movie. It's decent, but not much more than that.

Look, I know von Trier's thing is directing incredibly long films. With Dogville, I get why he needed to do that. The story here absolutely does not support a 2 hour and 39 minute film. The characters aren't interesting enough, the story isn't all that complex. Von Trier easily could have wrapped this story up in under 2 hours and it wouldn't have drastically affected the story. This movie is unnecessarily bloated and the excess isn't helpful. This is again a film I would never subject myself to again, but this time the reason is different- it's not as good as von Trier (or the critics) think it is.

I did see many similar themes that von Trier explored- religion and sexuality play large roles in his films. He's fascinated by "broken" people, those who don't quite fit within our limited range of expectations. I give him credit for how he examines ordinary people. His attention to detail is impressive. Like Dogville, this is a film that slowly, almost imperceptibly builds. However, whereas his later film concludes with a devastating, unforgettable conclusion that rocks the foundation of the entire film, that doesn't happen here. I will say that the final scene is still brilliant, but not as powerful as it needed to be. I still had a sense of, "Wow, that is cool and von Trier can do things that no one else can do", but in this case, it doesn't forgive the film of its flaws or excesses. Dogville's conclusion redeemed the whole film. That does not happen here.

I do give Emily Watson enormous credit for her performance here. This was (stunningly) her feature film debut, which resulted in an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress (the film's only nomination). That is exceedingly difficult to do. I've always liked Watson and I was amazed to see how she made her thunderous debut here. Her performance is complex, layered, unexpected. It's a performance that she dives deep into and it makes the movie work. Stellan Skarsgard is a fantastic talent, too. His performance is excellent. Watson's work draws our eye continuously, but we can't overlook how important Skarsgard is to this film. I thought Watson and Skarsgard worked exceptionally well together. Adrian Rawlins gives a strong supporting performance, too. Katrin Cartlidge was fantastic in her supporting role. Von Trier absolutely gets the best out of his cast.

Oddly, despite all these strong performances, I never felt much connection with the characters. I was disgusted by the actions of people in Dogville, but I was mostly invested in their story. That's not the case here. As the movie progresses, I recognized more and more that I didn't care all that much about Jan or Bess and their story. It felt like the movie kept me at a distance, it didn't allow me to get fully into it and establish those emotional connections. I felt like I was watching great actors doing great work, I wasn't able to separate that and step into the story. That makes the runtime feel even longer.

Breaking the Waves is a challenging, complex, uncomfortable movie. Lars von Trier certainly knows that and his unique style shows up here. I didn't like the movie that much, but there were moments at which I certainly marveled. He's certainly brilliant, but he packages that brilliance up in a way that can limit its effectiveness. I will say that while I only think this movie is decent, there's enough here to make me reconsider staying away from von Trier films. I may need 8-10 months before I'm ready to tackle another film of his, but I will.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Dogville, Angela's Ashes