I just saw Lars Von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves” on television and I must say I’m a bit confused as to what this movie was actually about. I’d be interested to hear any opinions or analysis from others who have seen it.
Just to kick off, I have a couple of specific questions:
Is there (or was there in the 1970s) a real Christian sect in rural Scotland as depicted in the movie or is it fictional?
What is up with the ending? Are we expected to believe that real bells appeared in the air? Does that mean God really was speaking to Bess? That Jan’s accident was literally God’s answer to Bess’s prayer that Jan come home from the oil rig? Is this supposed to be some kind of hardcore fairy tale?
Just to add to the above question – Is there really a Scottish (Calvinist?) sect whose funerals include the declaration “You were a sinner and you will find your place in hell”?
Them actually showing the bells was the weakest part to me, as bells tolling could be understood on their own. The meaning of the story to me was that she gave up her life to cure him, since she knew she would be killed on the boat.
I loved this movie (even if I didn’t get the interpretation right) and Emily Watson was brilliant as always. It’s the last item I need to add to my collection.
It’s all right that you’re confused – the movie was a brain-damaged piece of drivel. Von Trier just wanted to make a nice long film about an innocent woman being hurt a lot, and figured out he could get away with it if he threw in some bells ringing at then end to show that God was pleased. The bells was just putting lipstick on a pig of a movie.
I liked this movie a lot, but, oh man, I never want to see it again. It felt like the emotional equivalent of being hit with a mack truck. Like lissener, I saw the ending as a miracle.