Breaking the Waves (1996)
Is love selfish, or the ultimate sacrifice?
Presentation:
The breakout film for Trier, Breaking the Waves is one of his most iconic films covering love and sacrifice. This was filmed prior to his disdain for humanity and when he was less certain of himself. Stylistically many attributes remain - Shaky handheld closeups, dirty image, and a focus on story. Emily Watson delivers an absolutely incredible performance and it is a marvel that she had never acted before this. She might play one of the greatest hysterical women in cinema. I’m still not a fan of Trier’s presentation as the noisy film stock detracts from the performance when you can’t see anything. It’s also not an easy watch because there’s basically 40 minutes of development before we get into any plot. Any meaningful story happens in the final hour.
Conclusion:
This is a thought provoking story on sacrifice and will be characteristically gut wrenching like many of his films. I was frustrated by the presentation and found it unnecessarily slow. With such a strong performance, I don’t think he needed 2 and a half hours to make us sympathize with Emily Watson’s character as her performance is strong enough. But the points about religion, sacrifice, and love are intriguing enough to almost make the runtime worth it.
Recommendations
Is love selfish, or the ultimate sacrifice?