Review of Breaking the Waves (1996) by Brett C — 04 May 2014

Review In A Nutshell:

Lars Von Trier is a director I have been meaning to get into for quite some time but at the same time, I felt reluctant to do so due to the excessive style and ideas that he brings to his films. After watching Breaking The Waves, I realised that my preconceived feelings towards the director were wrong. The film tells the story of Bess and Jan, but follows the perspective of Bess. I found the story to be very interesting as Bess is a fascinating character. Bess can seen by others as a mentally ill woman, who may show signs of delusions. But I saw it as a woman blindly devoting to her god. True, I am a religious person but I don't have anything against different perspectives and values, so if one sees Bess in a different light, that is fine with me. Bess' connection with God may also be in her own way in replacing her missing father figure. The film's spiritual quality allows the film's intimate story to be bigger than what it is, sometimes goes to the point where our characters feel hopeless in creating decisions for themselves as everything may have been in control by a higher being. The relationship between Bess and Jan was beautiful, it was executed in a way that felt real. Trier doesn't place a glossy polish on their romance as it would have just come off as artificial and manipulative. There are a couple of moments in the film's middle chapters that felt slow and lacking in any emotion; these scenes are instead more concerned in developing the characters. The film uses a more documentary approach in it's shooting to give off this idea of a third person watching the couple's relationship and Bess' emotional development; like as if it was God watching and following this story. The camera constantly follows the action and moves very beautifully, due to it's wonderful use of lighting. The film doesn't contain a score and normally a film like this would have one as it would have elevated the film's emotions and ideas. But surprisingly it worked amazingly well without it and keeps our attention on the film's story and characters. The film does contain great songs from David Bowie, Ian Anderson, and Leonard Cohen that play during the beginning of chapters. The songs prepares us for what would the audience would be coming into. The film's acting was wonderful with a standout performance from Emily Watson, who is just perfect as Bess. She creates this vulnerability and innocence that was needed for the film's emotional scenes. Stellan Skarsgard was also great in the film but he was overshadowed by Watson's performance. Skarsgard's acting, after the film's complication, was primarily found in his eyes and he succeeded in conveying the character's emotions and inner thoughts. Breaking The Waves is a great film that is carried by Watson's performance and Trier's wonderful direction.