Breaking the Waves
Encyclopedia
Breaking the Waves is a 1996 film directed by Lars von Trier
and starring Emily Watson
. Set in the Scottish Highlands
in the early 1970s, it tells the story of an unusual young woman, Bess McNeill, and of the love she has for Jan, her husband. The film is an international co-production led by Lars von Trier's Danish company Zentropa
. It is the first film in Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy' which also includes The Idiots
(1998) and Dancer in the Dark
(2000).
worker Jan, despite the apprehensions of her community and Calvinist
church. Bess is somewhat simple and childlike, and has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform, where he is scheduled to work for ten days. She prays for his immediate return, and when he returns the next day paralyzed by an industrial accident, she believes it is her fault. No longer able to perform sexually, and mentally affected by the accident, Jan urges her to find and have sex with other men and then tell him the details. Bess slowly begins to believe that what she is doing is the will of God.
Dogme 95
movement, of which von Trier was a founding member, and its grainy images and hand-held photography give it the superficial look of a Dogme film. However, the Dogme rules demand the use of real locations, whereas many of the locations in Breaking the Waves were constructed in a studio. In addition, the film is set in the past and contains dubbed music, as well as a brief scene featuring CGI, none of which is permitted by the Dogme rules.
was von Trier's first choice to play the role of Bess, but she dropped out just before shooting was to start, reportedly due to the large amount of nudity and sexuality required by the role. Melanie Griffith
was also considered.
The exterior scenes were shot in Scotland: the graveyard was built for the film on Isle of Skye; the church is in Lochailort
, the harbour in Mallaig
, and the beach in Morar
. The interiors were shot at Det Danske Filmstudie, Lyngby, Denmark
.
The helicopter
used in the movie, G-BBHM, a Sikorsky S-61
-N, was later involved in an emergency landing and fire that destroyed the aircraft but none of the four crew were injured. This occurred at Poole
, Dorset on 15th July, 2002.
and Martin Scorsese
during a show where the famous film personalities listed their top movies of the 1990s.
at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
, and three awards at the 1996 European Film Awards including: Film of the Year, International Film Journalists Award, and European Actress of the Year (Watson). Emily Watson was nominated for the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress
, the 1997 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
award, the National Society of Film Critics
prize, and the European Film Award for Best Actress.
and starring Emily Watson
. Set in the Scottish Highlands
in the early 1970s, it tells the story of an unusual young woman, Bess McNeill, and of the love she has for Jan, her husband. The film is an international co-production led by Lars von Trier's Danish company Zentropa
. It is the first film in Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy' which also includes The Idiots
(1998) and Dancer in the Dark
(2000).
worker Jan, despite the apprehensions of her community and Calvinist
church. Bess is somewhat simple and childlike, and has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform, where he is scheduled to work for ten days. She prays for his immediate return, and when he returns the next day paralyzed by an industrial accident, she believes it is her fault. No longer able to perform sexually, and mentally affected by the accident, Jan urges her to find and have sex with other men and then tell him the details. Bess slowly begins to believe that what she is doing is the will of God.
Dogme 95
movement, of which von Trier was a founding member, and its grainy images and hand-held photography give it the superficial look of a Dogme film. However, the Dogme rules demand the use of real locations, whereas many of the locations in Breaking the Waves were constructed in a studio. In addition, the film is set in the past and contains dubbed music, as well as a brief scene featuring CGI, none of which is permitted by the Dogme rules.
was von Trier's first choice to play the role of Bess, but she dropped out just before shooting was to start, reportedly due to the large amount of nudity and sexuality required by the role. Melanie Griffith
was also considered.
The exterior scenes were shot in Scotland: the graveyard was built for the film on Isle of Skye; the church is in Lochailort
, the harbour in Mallaig
, and the beach in Morar
. The interiors were shot at Det Danske Filmstudie, Lyngby, Denmark
.
The helicopter
used in the movie, G-BBHM, a Sikorsky S-61
-N, was later involved in an emergency landing and fire that destroyed the aircraft but none of the four crew were injured. This occurred at Poole
, Dorset on 15th July, 2002.
and Martin Scorsese
during a show where the famous film personalities listed their top movies of the 1990s.
at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
, and three awards at the 1996 European Film Awards including: Film of the Year, International Film Journalists Award, and European Actress of the Year (Watson). Emily Watson was nominated for the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress
, the 1997 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
award, the National Society of Film Critics
prize, and the European Film Award for Best Actress.
and starring Emily Watson
. Set in the Scottish Highlands
in the early 1970s, it tells the story of an unusual young woman, Bess McNeill, and of the love she has for Jan, her husband. The film is an international co-production led by Lars von Trier's Danish company Zentropa
. It is the first film in Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy' which also includes The Idiots
(1998) and Dancer in the Dark
(2000).
worker Jan, despite the apprehensions of her community and Calvinist
church. Bess is somewhat simple and childlike, and has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform, where he is scheduled to work for ten days. She prays for his immediate return, and when he returns the next day paralyzed by an industrial accident, she believes it is her fault. No longer able to perform sexually, and mentally affected by the accident, Jan urges her to find and have sex with other men and then tell him the details. Bess slowly begins to believe that what she is doing is the will of God.
Dogme 95
movement, of which von Trier was a founding member, and its grainy images and hand-held photography give it the superficial look of a Dogme film. However, the Dogme rules demand the use of real locations, whereas many of the locations in Breaking the Waves were constructed in a studio. In addition, the film is set in the past and contains dubbed music, as well as a brief scene featuring CGI, none of which is permitted by the Dogme rules.
was von Trier's first choice to play the role of Bess, but she dropped out just before shooting was to start, reportedly due to the large amount of nudity and sexuality required by the role. Melanie Griffith
was also considered.
The exterior scenes were shot in Scotland: the graveyard was built for the film on Isle of Skye; the church is in Lochailort
, the harbour in Mallaig
, and the beach in Morar
. The interiors were shot at Det Danske Filmstudie, Lyngby, Denmark
.
The helicopter
used in the movie, G-BBHM, a Sikorsky S-61
-N, was later involved in an emergency landing and fire that destroyed the aircraft but none of the four crew were injured. This occurred at Poole
, Dorset on 15th July, 2002.
and Martin Scorsese
during a show where the famous film personalities listed their top movies of the 1990s.
at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
, and three awards at the 1996 European Film Awards including: Film of the Year, International Film Journalists Award, and European Actress of the Year (Watson). Emily Watson was nominated for the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress
, the 1997 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
award, the National Society of Film Critics
prize, and the European Film Award for Best Actress.
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
and starring Emily Watson
Emily Watson
Emily Watson is an English actress. She gave an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.- Early life :...
. Set in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
in the early 1970s, it tells the story of an unusual young woman, Bess McNeill, and of the love she has for Jan, her husband. The film is an international co-production led by Lars von Trier's Danish company Zentropa
Zentropa
Europa is a film directed by Lars von Trier. Released in 1991, it is von Trier's third theatrical feature film and is the final film in the Europa trilogy....
. It is the first film in Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy' which also includes The Idiots
The Idiots
The Idiots is a 1998 Danish film directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme '95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2...
(1998) and Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark is a 2000 Danish musical drama film directed by Lars von Trier and starring Icelandic singer Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Cara Seymour, Peter Stormare, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, and Joel Grey...
(2000).
Plot
Breaking the Waves tells the story of Bess McNeill, who has psychological problems, marries Norwegian oil rigOil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
worker Jan, despite the apprehensions of her community and Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
church. Bess is somewhat simple and childlike, and has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform, where he is scheduled to work for ten days. She prays for his immediate return, and when he returns the next day paralyzed by an industrial accident, she believes it is her fault. No longer able to perform sexually, and mentally affected by the accident, Jan urges her to find and have sex with other men and then tell him the details. Bess slowly begins to believe that what she is doing is the will of God.
Cast
- Emily WatsonEmily WatsonEmily Watson is an English actress. She gave an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.- Early life :...
as Bess McNeill - Stellan SkarsgårdStellan SkarsgårdStellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,...
as Jan Nyman - Katrin CartlidgeKatrin CartlidgeKatrin Cartlidge was an English actress. She first appeared on screen as Lucy Collins in the Liverpool soap opera Brookside from 1982 to 1988 and later became well known for her film work with directors such as Mike Leigh and Lars von Trier.- Biography :Cartlidge was born in London to an English...
as Dodo McNeill - Jean-Marc BarrJean-Marc BarrJean-Marc Barr is a French-American film actor and director. His mother is French. His American father was in the US Air Force and served in the Second World War. Jean-Marc Barr is primarily known as an actor, but is also a film director, screenwriter and producer...
as Terry - Adrian RawlinsAdrian RawlinsAdrian Rawlins is an English actor who is probably best known for playing Author Kidd in the woman in black .-Early life:Rawlins was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of Mavis and Edward Rawlins.-Education:...
as Dr. Richardson - Jonathan Hackett as Priest
- Sandra VoeSandra Voe- Television and films :Voe began her on screen career in 1966, appearing in an episode of Dr. Finlay's Casebook. She has also appeared in Coronation Street, London's Burning, Taggart, Casualty, Monarch of the Glen, The Bill and Midsomer Murders.Her film credits include Breaking the Waves,...
as Mother - Udo KierUdo KierUdo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
as Sadistic Sailor - Mikkel Gaup as Pits
- Roef Ragas as Pim
- Phil McCallPhil McCallPhil McCall was a Glaswegian actor who appeared in numerous films and television productions over a 40 year period.-Early life and education:...
as Grandfather - Robert RobertsonRobert Robertson (actor)Robert Robertson was a Scottish actor and director. He was best known for playing Doctor Stephen Andrews in the television show Taggart....
as Chairman
Style
The film is influenced by the realistRealism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
Dogme 95
Dogme 95
Dogme 95 was an avant-garde filmmaking movement started in 1995 by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vow of Chastity". These were rules to create filmmaking based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and...
movement, of which von Trier was a founding member, and its grainy images and hand-held photography give it the superficial look of a Dogme film. However, the Dogme rules demand the use of real locations, whereas many of the locations in Breaking the Waves were constructed in a studio. In addition, the film is set in the past and contains dubbed music, as well as a brief scene featuring CGI, none of which is permitted by the Dogme rules.
Production
Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
was von Trier's first choice to play the role of Bess, but she dropped out just before shooting was to start, reportedly due to the large amount of nudity and sexuality required by the role. Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
was also considered.
The exterior scenes were shot in Scotland: the graveyard was built for the film on Isle of Skye; the church is in Lochailort
Lochailort
Lochailort is a hamlet in Scotland that lies at the head of Loch Ailort, a sea loch, on the junction of the Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig with the A861 loop towards Salen and Strontian. It is served by Lochailort railway station on the West Highland Line...
, the harbour in Mallaig
Mallaig
Mallaig ; is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line , completed in 1901, and the town is linked to Fort William by the A830 road – the "Road to the Isles".The village of Mallaig...
, and the beach in Morar
Morar
Morar is a small village on the west coast of Scotland, south of Mallaig. The name Morar is also applied to the wider district around the village....
. The interiors were shot at Det Danske Filmstudie, Lyngby, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
The helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
used in the movie, G-BBHM, a Sikorsky S-61
Sikorsky S-61
The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the successful SH-3 Sea King helicopter. They are two of the most widely used airliner and oil rig support helicopters built.-Design and development:...
-N, was later involved in an emergency landing and fire that destroyed the aircraft but none of the four crew were injured. This occurred at Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
, Dorset on 15th July, 2002.
Critical response
Breaking the Waves was named one of the ten best films of the decade by both Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
and Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
during a show where the famous film personalities listed their top movies of the 1990s.
Awards
Breaking the Waves won the Grand PrixGrand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
1996 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Francis Ford Coppola *Nathalie Baye *Greta Scacchi, actrice *Michael Ballhaus *Henry Chapier *Atom Egoyan *Eiko Ishioka *Krzysztof Piesiewicz *Antonio Tabucchi...
, and three awards at the 1996 European Film Awards including: Film of the Year, International Film Journalists Award, and European Actress of the Year (Watson). Emily Watson was nominated for the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, the 1997 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
award, the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
prize, and the European Film Award for Best Actress.
External links
Breaking the Waves is a 1996 film directed by Lars von TrierLars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
and starring Emily Watson
Emily Watson
Emily Watson is an English actress. She gave an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.- Early life :...
. Set in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
in the early 1970s, it tells the story of an unusual young woman, Bess McNeill, and of the love she has for Jan, her husband. The film is an international co-production led by Lars von Trier's Danish company Zentropa
Zentropa
Europa is a film directed by Lars von Trier. Released in 1991, it is von Trier's third theatrical feature film and is the final film in the Europa trilogy....
. It is the first film in Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy' which also includes The Idiots
The Idiots
The Idiots is a 1998 Danish film directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme '95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2...
(1998) and Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark is a 2000 Danish musical drama film directed by Lars von Trier and starring Icelandic singer Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Cara Seymour, Peter Stormare, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, and Joel Grey...
(2000).
Plot
Breaking the Waves tells the story of Bess McNeill, who has psychological problems, marries Norwegian oil rigOil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
worker Jan, despite the apprehensions of her community and Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
church. Bess is somewhat simple and childlike, and has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform, where he is scheduled to work for ten days. She prays for his immediate return, and when he returns the next day paralyzed by an industrial accident, she believes it is her fault. No longer able to perform sexually, and mentally affected by the accident, Jan urges her to find and have sex with other men and then tell him the details. Bess slowly begins to believe that what she is doing is the will of God.
Cast
- Emily WatsonEmily WatsonEmily Watson is an English actress. She gave an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.- Early life :...
as Bess McNeill - Stellan SkarsgårdStellan SkarsgårdStellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,...
as Jan Nyman - Katrin CartlidgeKatrin CartlidgeKatrin Cartlidge was an English actress. She first appeared on screen as Lucy Collins in the Liverpool soap opera Brookside from 1982 to 1988 and later became well known for her film work with directors such as Mike Leigh and Lars von Trier.- Biography :Cartlidge was born in London to an English...
as Dodo McNeill - Jean-Marc BarrJean-Marc BarrJean-Marc Barr is a French-American film actor and director. His mother is French. His American father was in the US Air Force and served in the Second World War. Jean-Marc Barr is primarily known as an actor, but is also a film director, screenwriter and producer...
as Terry - Adrian RawlinsAdrian RawlinsAdrian Rawlins is an English actor who is probably best known for playing Author Kidd in the woman in black .-Early life:Rawlins was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of Mavis and Edward Rawlins.-Education:...
as Dr. Richardson - Jonathan Hackett as Priest
- Sandra VoeSandra Voe- Television and films :Voe began her on screen career in 1966, appearing in an episode of Dr. Finlay's Casebook. She has also appeared in Coronation Street, London's Burning, Taggart, Casualty, Monarch of the Glen, The Bill and Midsomer Murders.Her film credits include Breaking the Waves,...
as Mother - Udo KierUdo KierUdo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
as Sadistic Sailor - Mikkel Gaup as Pits
- Roef Ragas as Pim
- Phil McCallPhil McCallPhil McCall was a Glaswegian actor who appeared in numerous films and television productions over a 40 year period.-Early life and education:...
as Grandfather - Robert RobertsonRobert Robertson (actor)Robert Robertson was a Scottish actor and director. He was best known for playing Doctor Stephen Andrews in the television show Taggart....
as Chairman
Style
The film is influenced by the realistRealism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
Dogme 95
Dogme 95
Dogme 95 was an avant-garde filmmaking movement started in 1995 by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vow of Chastity". These were rules to create filmmaking based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and...
movement, of which von Trier was a founding member, and its grainy images and hand-held photography give it the superficial look of a Dogme film. However, the Dogme rules demand the use of real locations, whereas many of the locations in Breaking the Waves were constructed in a studio. In addition, the film is set in the past and contains dubbed music, as well as a brief scene featuring CGI, none of which is permitted by the Dogme rules.
Production
Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
was von Trier's first choice to play the role of Bess, but she dropped out just before shooting was to start, reportedly due to the large amount of nudity and sexuality required by the role. Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
was also considered.
The exterior scenes were shot in Scotland: the graveyard was built for the film on Isle of Skye; the church is in Lochailort
Lochailort
Lochailort is a hamlet in Scotland that lies at the head of Loch Ailort, a sea loch, on the junction of the Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig with the A861 loop towards Salen and Strontian. It is served by Lochailort railway station on the West Highland Line...
, the harbour in Mallaig
Mallaig
Mallaig ; is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line , completed in 1901, and the town is linked to Fort William by the A830 road – the "Road to the Isles".The village of Mallaig...
, and the beach in Morar
Morar
Morar is a small village on the west coast of Scotland, south of Mallaig. The name Morar is also applied to the wider district around the village....
. The interiors were shot at Det Danske Filmstudie, Lyngby, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
The helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
used in the movie, G-BBHM, a Sikorsky S-61
Sikorsky S-61
The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the successful SH-3 Sea King helicopter. They are two of the most widely used airliner and oil rig support helicopters built.-Design and development:...
-N, was later involved in an emergency landing and fire that destroyed the aircraft but none of the four crew were injured. This occurred at Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
, Dorset on 15th July, 2002.
Critical response
Breaking the Waves was named one of the ten best films of the decade by both Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
and Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
during a show where the famous film personalities listed their top movies of the 1990s.
Awards
Breaking the Waves won the Grand PrixGrand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
1996 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Francis Ford Coppola *Nathalie Baye *Greta Scacchi, actrice *Michael Ballhaus *Henry Chapier *Atom Egoyan *Eiko Ishioka *Krzysztof Piesiewicz *Antonio Tabucchi...
, and three awards at the 1996 European Film Awards including: Film of the Year, International Film Journalists Award, and European Actress of the Year (Watson). Emily Watson was nominated for the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, the 1997 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
award, the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
prize, and the European Film Award for Best Actress.
External links
Breaking the Waves is a 1996 film directed by Lars von TrierLars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
and starring Emily Watson
Emily Watson
Emily Watson is an English actress. She gave an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.- Early life :...
. Set in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
in the early 1970s, it tells the story of an unusual young woman, Bess McNeill, and of the love she has for Jan, her husband. The film is an international co-production led by Lars von Trier's Danish company Zentropa
Zentropa
Europa is a film directed by Lars von Trier. Released in 1991, it is von Trier's third theatrical feature film and is the final film in the Europa trilogy....
. It is the first film in Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy' which also includes The Idiots
The Idiots
The Idiots is a 1998 Danish film directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme '95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2...
(1998) and Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark is a 2000 Danish musical drama film directed by Lars von Trier and starring Icelandic singer Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Cara Seymour, Peter Stormare, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, and Joel Grey...
(2000).
Plot
Breaking the Waves tells the story of Bess McNeill, who has psychological problems, marries Norwegian oil rigOil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
worker Jan, despite the apprehensions of her community and Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
church. Bess is somewhat simple and childlike, and has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform, where he is scheduled to work for ten days. She prays for his immediate return, and when he returns the next day paralyzed by an industrial accident, she believes it is her fault. No longer able to perform sexually, and mentally affected by the accident, Jan urges her to find and have sex with other men and then tell him the details. Bess slowly begins to believe that what she is doing is the will of God.
Cast
- Emily WatsonEmily WatsonEmily Watson is an English actress. She gave an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.- Early life :...
as Bess McNeill - Stellan SkarsgårdStellan SkarsgårdStellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,...
as Jan Nyman - Katrin CartlidgeKatrin CartlidgeKatrin Cartlidge was an English actress. She first appeared on screen as Lucy Collins in the Liverpool soap opera Brookside from 1982 to 1988 and later became well known for her film work with directors such as Mike Leigh and Lars von Trier.- Biography :Cartlidge was born in London to an English...
as Dodo McNeill - Jean-Marc BarrJean-Marc BarrJean-Marc Barr is a French-American film actor and director. His mother is French. His American father was in the US Air Force and served in the Second World War. Jean-Marc Barr is primarily known as an actor, but is also a film director, screenwriter and producer...
as Terry - Adrian RawlinsAdrian RawlinsAdrian Rawlins is an English actor who is probably best known for playing Author Kidd in the woman in black .-Early life:Rawlins was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of Mavis and Edward Rawlins.-Education:...
as Dr. Richardson - Jonathan Hackett as Priest
- Sandra VoeSandra Voe- Television and films :Voe began her on screen career in 1966, appearing in an episode of Dr. Finlay's Casebook. She has also appeared in Coronation Street, London's Burning, Taggart, Casualty, Monarch of the Glen, The Bill and Midsomer Murders.Her film credits include Breaking the Waves,...
as Mother - Udo KierUdo KierUdo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
as Sadistic Sailor - Mikkel Gaup as Pits
- Roef Ragas as Pim
- Phil McCallPhil McCallPhil McCall was a Glaswegian actor who appeared in numerous films and television productions over a 40 year period.-Early life and education:...
as Grandfather - Robert RobertsonRobert Robertson (actor)Robert Robertson was a Scottish actor and director. He was best known for playing Doctor Stephen Andrews in the television show Taggart....
as Chairman
Style
The film is influenced by the realistRealism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
Dogme 95
Dogme 95
Dogme 95 was an avant-garde filmmaking movement started in 1995 by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vow of Chastity". These were rules to create filmmaking based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and...
movement, of which von Trier was a founding member, and its grainy images and hand-held photography give it the superficial look of a Dogme film. However, the Dogme rules demand the use of real locations, whereas many of the locations in Breaking the Waves were constructed in a studio. In addition, the film is set in the past and contains dubbed music, as well as a brief scene featuring CGI, none of which is permitted by the Dogme rules.
Production
Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
was von Trier's first choice to play the role of Bess, but she dropped out just before shooting was to start, reportedly due to the large amount of nudity and sexuality required by the role. Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
was also considered.
The exterior scenes were shot in Scotland: the graveyard was built for the film on Isle of Skye; the church is in Lochailort
Lochailort
Lochailort is a hamlet in Scotland that lies at the head of Loch Ailort, a sea loch, on the junction of the Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig with the A861 loop towards Salen and Strontian. It is served by Lochailort railway station on the West Highland Line...
, the harbour in Mallaig
Mallaig
Mallaig ; is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line , completed in 1901, and the town is linked to Fort William by the A830 road – the "Road to the Isles".The village of Mallaig...
, and the beach in Morar
Morar
Morar is a small village on the west coast of Scotland, south of Mallaig. The name Morar is also applied to the wider district around the village....
. The interiors were shot at Det Danske Filmstudie, Lyngby, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
The helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
used in the movie, G-BBHM, a Sikorsky S-61
Sikorsky S-61
The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the successful SH-3 Sea King helicopter. They are two of the most widely used airliner and oil rig support helicopters built.-Design and development:...
-N, was later involved in an emergency landing and fire that destroyed the aircraft but none of the four crew were injured. This occurred at Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
, Dorset on 15th July, 2002.
Critical response
Breaking the Waves was named one of the ten best films of the decade by both Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
and Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
during a show where the famous film personalities listed their top movies of the 1990s.
Awards
Breaking the Waves won the Grand PrixGrand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
1996 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Francis Ford Coppola *Nathalie Baye *Greta Scacchi, actrice *Michael Ballhaus *Henry Chapier *Atom Egoyan *Eiko Ishioka *Krzysztof Piesiewicz *Antonio Tabucchi...
, and three awards at the 1996 European Film Awards including: Film of the Year, International Film Journalists Award, and European Actress of the Year (Watson). Emily Watson was nominated for the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, the 1997 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
award, the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
prize, and the European Film Award for Best Actress.