Directed by:
Lars von TrierScreenplay:
Lars von TrierCinematography:
Robby MüllerCast:
Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr, Adrian Rawlins, Jonathan Hackett, Sandra Voe, Udo Kier, Mikkel Gaup, Roef Ragas, Phil McCall (more)Plots(1)
A naive woman living in a remote Calvinist community on the Scottish coast, Bess (Emily Watson in an Academy Award® nominated performance) flaunts the will of the town's austere churchmen to marry Jan (Stellan Skarsgård) a lusty Swede working in a nearby offshore oil rig. Her purity is put to the ultimate test when Jan is crippled in an accident and she agrees to continue their love-making vicariously through other men. Pilloried as a harlot, Bess is committed to the asylum but not before she seeks Jan's recovery through one final act of faith. Captured through Robby Mueller's raw, relentless hand-held camera, this triumphant tale of tragedy, faith and redemption - the first in Lars Von Trier's “Golden Heart” trilogy on saintly heroines book-ended by Dancer in the Dark - is a cinematic tour de force. (Umbrella Entertainment)
(more)Cast
Emily Watson
UK
Best movies:
Chernobyl (2019) (series)
Corpse Bride (2005)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Stellan Skarsgård
Sweden
Best movies:
Chernobyl (2019) (series)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Katrin Cartlidge
UK
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
No Man's Land (2001)
Before the Rain (1994)
Jean-Marc Barr
West Germany
Best movies:
The Best of Blur (2000) (video compilation)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
The Big Blue (1988)
Adrian Rawlins
UK
Best movies:
Chernobyl (2019) (series)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
One Life (2023)
Jonathan Hackett
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989) (series)
Sandra Voe
UK
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Wallander (2008) (series)
The Winter Guest (1997)
Udo Kier
German Empire
Best movies:
The Kingdom (1994) (series)
Narcissus and Psyche (1980)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Mikkel Gaup
Norway
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
The Kautokeino Rebellion (2007)
Pathfinder (1987)
Roef Ragas
Netherlands
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Brush with Fate (2003) (TV movie)
Phil McCall
UK
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Ring of Bright Water (1969)
Taggart (1983) (series)
Finlay Welsh
Best movies:
Trainspotting (1996)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Taggart (1983) (series)
David Gallacher
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Taggart (1983) (series)
Complicity (2000)
David Bateson
South Africa
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Europa (1991)
Royal Deceit (1994)
Callum Cuthbertson
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Not Another Happy Ending (2013)
Gavin Mitchell
UK
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Outlaw King (2018)
You Instead (2011)
Iain Agnew
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Gangs of New York (2002)
Rebus (2000) (series)
Charles Kearney
Best movies:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Taggart (1983) (series)
Dorte Rømer
Denmark
Best movies:
The Kingdom (1994) (series)
Breaking the Waves (1996)