Review of Breaking the Waves (1996) by Alice L — 30 Jul 2012

Oh, fuck that shit about "it's the easiest thing in the world to do: move people by destroying something beautiful". People said the same thing about Dancer in the Dark, but the two are done in completely different ways.

I wasn't as emotionally connected to Dancer in the Dark as I was to this. Dancer in the Dark was just depressing and annoying after all the shit the character went through for no good reason. In this, an extremely lovable character played brilliantly by Emily Watson, is putting herself through awful things to prove her love to God.

Her husband, Jan, is another extremely lovable character played brilliantly by Stellan Skarsgard. These two are in love, and would do anything for each other. Bess is so determined to please Jan that she goes against every doubtful voice in her head to make him happy.

THAT'S commitment. This is the best movie Lars Von Trier will ever make and it's because of two main reasons. One, the protagonist is never judged. Her mental stability is never the butt of a joke and her faith in God is never shown with irony.

I truly believed that she believed, and I started to believe myself because of the second reason that makes this the best movie Lars Von Trier will ever make: Bess' faith is confirmed and rewarded in the end.

After putting herself through hell to please her husband and God, she dies. The priests at the funeral say she went to hell. Her sister says they have no right to say something like that. Jan and his friends (also extremely lovable characters) give her a proper burial at sea, free of judgement from people who didn't know the whole story.

Right when Jan starts crying, that's when I lost it. It was absolutely heartbreaking. But, in the end, when Heaven's bells are ringing out over the boat, it is clear that Bess did not go to hell, and our hope and faith is restored, much like hers.

Brilliant ending, absolutely brilliant. And that's what separates it from other Lars Von Trier movies, which, compared to this, are just depressing pieces of exploitation. I cared about these characters.

They were beautiful. And yes, Bess was beautiful and she was destroyed. On paper, that is an easy thing to do. But not in the way it's done here. Not when you constantly share her hope and her faith all along the way to ease the pain.

And especially not when she was right all along.