Review of Breaking the Waves (2014) by Henrik S — 13 Oct 2009

It is not my favourite Lars von Trier, I much prefer his America trilogy over his Golden heart trilogy (of which this movie is the third), because of the former being more conceptual and I think that fits more nicely (as in being contradictive) into von Trier's radical views.

Emily Watson is mesmerizingly brilliant in this movie, and I think she should have gotten more praise for her performance, not even in the form of an Academy Award (which went to Frances McDormand) but in general. She is a very underappreciated actress. The rest of the cast was solid and not as illustrious as in other von Trier movies (such as Dogville or Manderlay). Cinematography was top notch but the basic premise of the movie (while not its execution) is the apogee of the movie. Both very human and inhuman at the same time, the movie depicts a dance to a song of life that is both tragic and full of love, and while it is utterly bizarre and perverted we should all be able to relate to it, as the most basic human emotions bring the most extreme with them usually. The ending of the movie pushed the film into a high quality tier for me, but I do not want to spoil it. It is highly watchable and my rating predominantly relates to the other von Trier films and is highly relative.