Breaking the Waves
Directed by Lars von Trier • 1996 • Denmark
Starring Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin Cartlidge
Lars von Trier became an international sensation with this galvanizing realist fable about sex and spiritual transcendence. In an Oscar-nominated performance, Emily Watson stuns as Bess, a simple, pious newlywed in a tiny Scottish village who gives herself up to a shocking form of martyrdom after her husband (Stellan Skarsgård) is paralyzed in an oil rig accident. BREAKING THE WAVES, both brazen and tender, profane and pure, is an examination of the expansiveness of faith and of its limits.
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Breaking the Waves
Directed by Lars von Trier • 1996 • Denmark
Starring Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin CartlidgeLars von Trier became an international sensation with this galvanizing realist fable about sex and spiritual transcendence. In an Oscar-nominated performance, Emily Watson stuns as Bess, a simp...
Extras
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BREAKING THE WAVES Selected-Scene Commentary
This selected-scene audio commentary features director Lars von Trier, editor Anders Refn, and location scout Anthony Dod Mantle.
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Stig Bjorkman on BREAKING THE WAVES
In this interview, conducted in New York in May 2013, filmmaker and critic Stig Björkman talks about being on location during the shooting of BREAKING THE WAVES and observing director Lars von Trier at work.
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Emily Watson’s BREAKING THE WAVES Audition
The following footage is from Emily Watson’s audition for BREAKING THE WAVES.
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Adrian Rawlins on BREAKING THE WAVES
In this short interview with Adrian Rawlins, who plays Dr. Richardson in BREAKING THE WAVES, he discusses Lars von Trier’s unorthodox directing style. The interview was produced in 2004 by Electric Parc.
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Stellan Skarsgård on BREAKING THE WAVES
In this interview, conducted in Stockholm in May 2013, Stellan Skarsgård, who plays Jan in BREAKING THE WAVES, talks about working with director Lars von Trier for the first time on the film, and their subsequent collaborations.
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Emily Watson on BREAKING THE WAVES
In the following interview, conducted in London in June 2013, Emily Watson discusses the challenges she faced in playing the complicated character Bess in BREAKING THE WAVES.
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Mira Nair on BREAKING THE WAVES
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The Restless Cinematography of BREAKING THE WAVES
Jeff Smith unpacks Robby Müller’s handheld camera work in Lars von Trier’s wrenching fable, showing how it alternates choppy realism with calculated stylization.
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BREAKING THE WAVES Deleted and Extended Scenes
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In Memory of Katrin Cartlidge
The following deleted scene featuring Katrin Cartlidge was selected by director Lars von Trier to serve as a tribute to the late actor.
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BREAKING THE WAVES Cannes Film Festival Promotional Clip
In 1996, the Cannes Film Festival requested that competing directors prepare short previews of their films to be shown on opening night. Lars von Trier put together the following for BREAKING THE WAVES.
