Breaking the Waves
“Love is a mighty power.”
Lars von TrierCast
Emily Watson 
Stellan Skarsgård 
Katrin Cartlidge
Credits
Written by: Lars von Trier
Plot
In a strict Scottish Calvinist community in the 1970s, a devout and naive young woman, Bess, marries an oil rig worker, Jan. After he is paralysed in an accident, he asks her to take lovers and tell him about it, and she believes that this will save him. Lars von Trier's 1996 film, with Emily Watson, is an emotional, controversial drama on faith and sacrifice.
Sinekatalog’s take
Lars von Trier's first of the 'Golden Heart' trilogy has Emily Watson as a devout, naive wife whose sacrifice for her paralysed husband turns dark. Raw, handheld and very divisive.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.
Ratings
IMDb: 7.8 / 10 (76,842 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.
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