Director: Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier offers an interesting conundrum for me. On the one hand his films provide actresses with unusual and meaty roles to play, much more than the usual wife/girlfriend (or mother) roles they get in Hollywood. And yet his films put his female characters through the ringer, exacting rather extreme punishments on them. He would likely argue that he is simply reflecting the cruelty of life and the universe, but a lot of this cruelty is visited on women.
Breaking the Waves centres on Bess, a young woman who lives in a remote Scottish village and is part of the stern Calvinist church there. She is gentle and rather naive, and well-liked by many in the village. She marries Jan, an oil rig worker, who she loves dearly and has a active sex life with. After an accident leaves Jan paralysed, Bess is bereft of being physical with Jan; he encourages her to have sex with other men, then tell him about it so they can feel closer to each other. Bess, who speaks to God and replies to herself in His voice (or what she at least believes He is saying), tries to reconcile her behaviour and her faith.
Emily Watson convinces as the naive Bess. It is a hard role to do well, as any sign of knowing-ness would destroy the character's depth of innocence, making her appear duplicitous. Watson won plaudits for the role, and they were deserved. I certainly felt sympathy for Bess, and believed she believed what she was doing was right.
I am not overly fond of films that use a naive, innocent character as a contrast to others. I'm thinking of Being There in particular. So often the character is just a symbol for others to bounce off, and it feels exploitative. Here at least von Trier shows us Bess' inner life, giving her depth. However, does this make the exploitation worse, now that we understand the knots she is mentally tying herself in?
While not as horrible an experience as Antichrist, Breaking the Waves is a hard watch. I doubt I'll be re-watching anytime soon.
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