Breaking the Waves (1996)

  It took me almost two weeks to get through this movie and I hated every second of that time.  I had added it to my queue because it's one of those Serious Art Films that people like to reference.  Also, I've never watched anything by Lars Von Trier and people (critics, mostly, I don't know any actual people who have ever mentioned his name) talk about him like he's some Danish genius.

Bess (Emily Watson) is a young woman from a very religious and conservative village in the remote part of Scotland.  Somehow, she meets and decides to marry Jan (Stellan Skarsgaard), an oil rig worker.  Bess is extremely co-dependent and clingy when Jan has to return to the rig and makes an impulse prayer to God --who talks back to her in her own voice-- that Jan come back early.  Jan is subsequently severely injured in an accident which leads Bess to believe that she is responsible.  Delirious and depressed from a serious head wound, Jan tells her to move on and find someone else to be with.  Bess interprets this to mean that if she fucks other dudes, Jan will be happy and be completely cured of his injuries.

All of the pullquotes on the poster and the description paragraph talk about the "transcendent power of faith" and love and paint this glowing, ethereal portrait.  They are full of shit.  This is about the exploitation of women's bodies and their pain.

The cinematography is hazy and jaundiced, which I can only assume is a deliberate choice.  It's a two and a half hour cuckold fantasy and it draaaaaaaaags.  Do you remember the gross yellow Nick Stahl serial killer from Sin City?  Imagine that but as a movie, and you'll be pretty close.  Also, this movie brings my total count of Skarsgaard Penises Seen up to 2, which I could have lived without.

Are there any redeeming qualities?  Well, Emily Watson is phenomenal.  This was her debut film and she pours herself into the role.  The title cards are pretty, like shifting Impressionist paintings, and the accompanying song cues are good.  That's it.  That's all I liked.

Yeah, but is it Art?  Of course it is.  I personally hated it, but in ways that I could write an entire dissertation and have debates about the intersection of patriarchy and religion, the exploitation of vulnerable women, sexual violence, and mental illness.  The kind of stuff you would take in an undergrad class.  I would just never recommend it for casual watching.

It's streaming on the Criterion channel currently.