It's not a bad movie, I can see its appeal for some lovers of drama, it's just not for me.

Von Trier can be masterful at his best and this is another example of some stunning filmmaking. A bleak, profound, spiritual, hugely affecting and unorthodox love story. I was so close to giving it five stars and then it was ruined by a plain awful final scene that really disappointed me. What came before however, cannot be erased. Watched on DVD.

One of the things that Lars Von Trier is best at is extreme emotion, and Breaking The Waves is a prime example of that. This film is shot with bleak colors and shakey handheld camerawork, but Von Trier is still able to make it beautiful through the emotion, Emily Watson's amazing performance, and amazing title cards that feel like a moving painting. Though a very difficult watch, due to the graphic nudity, almost 3 hour runtime, and heavy emotional weight, the beautiful final shot makes every minute of the film a minute well spent.

One of the best and most powerful movies I have ever seen.

"Every woman here has to learn to be alone." Such is the matronly wisdom Bess (Emily Watson) receives from her mother (Sandra Voe), concerning their remote Scottish village's proximity to the oil rigs in the North Sea, which pull the men from their marriage beds for work like magnets. Bess is a "feeble-minded" twentysomething (I think?) year-old girl who marries a handsome Dane named Jan (Stellan Skarsgård). Everything is new to Bess, it seems, who possesses a childlike (but not –ish) approach to love, religion, and sex. However, Bess is presented with an unimaginable challenge when her newly betrothed is injured during a workplace accident, rendering him almost completely paralyzed from the neck down. What we get is not a "feeble-minded" young woman, but someone unbelievably strong and resolved in their love for their husband, even when that person presents them with, somehow, another gut-wrenching challenge. Jan wants Bess to sleep with other men and then share the experiences with him. I was surprised to find other reviewers (most notably Roger Ebert) describe this request as cruel. At first, I considered this a way for Jan to share some sexual connection with his wife while also permitting her to enjoy the physical pleasures that accompany sex. Much of the plot follows Bess as she juggles these excruciating challenges life has presented to her — she also speaks directly to God, who manifests himself through Bess in a paternal voice of succor. Watson creates a character in Bess that is special — I immediately want to see more of her movies. I was a little confused at the artsy "chapter breaks," but came to love them. Where the film really ascends are the final few scenes. I mean, it's like one punch to the gut after another — only here can watching a previously paralyzed man walk appear merciless. Bess's final line, the funeral, those heavenly, heavenly bells, it's all so poignant and beautiful. I almost feel like I need to re-watch this very soon, something I rarely do, Breaking the Waves is a gorgeous movie and a must-watch.

Yet another overrated Von trier film..

Probably the only movie I've ever given 5 stars to that I don't every want to watch again. Seeing Bess degenerate in the last act of this movie is too painful to relive. Still, I highly recommend this movie, but only to people who like "arty" movies. Uplifting and hopeful in a sad, solemn way.

Lars von Trier is, admittedly, an acquired taste, but for anyone who is brave enough to try to acquire a taste and venture into von Trier's ugly world, Breaking the Waves is probably the best place to start. Set in a remote coastal town in Scotland, Bess (Emily Watson, who gives a tour-de-force performance) is a mentally challenged, deeply religious woman who falls in love with oil rig worker Jan (Stellan Skarsgard). When he is seriously injured at work, Bess is devastated and begins a descent into a world of madness. Breaking the Waves is an excellent example of von Trier's Dogme 95 school of filmmaking – handheld cameras, natural lighting, location shoots, etc. The style will be unsettling for the uninitiated, but stick with it and you'll be rewarded with a powerful, deeply moving film.

Lars' way of editing and filming is unique. He does these quick jump cuts during and between scenes that are very distinct to his movies. It's something you don't see in moves at all. It's definitely his own thing. Emily Watson is cute and charming. The movie seems to take place around what looks like the early 70's and Emily's character comes from a very religious and small Scottish community. The movie has a great sense of humor. Especially with the Americans at the wedding. The guy chugging the beer in the elders face and the one dude jumping on his friends back. It seems she married someone she loves but her elders don't approve of it since Jan is an outsider. So weird how she wanted to lose her virginity and have sex with Jan for the first time in a bathroom lol. Emily's character is very peculiar and unusual. It reminds me a little of her character in ‘Punch Drunk Love'. But she might be a little unstable and touched in the head in this movie. The Scottish countryside looks fucking gorgeous! So green, mountainy, modest and spacious. That church Bess goes to seems to be stuck in some very old conservative ways, like they're detached from the real world. Sort of gives off ‘Midnight Mass' vibes. And even more so being in a tiny community in the Scottish countryside. God that's so tragic. Jan is completely paralyzed from the neck down. He's such a good person. It's one of those freak accidents that you don't really know why it happens to god people. Omg that scene where he tries to overdose on the pills. It's heartbreaking, he doesn't deserve what he's going through. I guess Bess in a way sort of represents a kind of virgin Mary character. Especially the way she communicates with God and seems to break the 4th wall every time she makes eye contact with the camera. She's very giving as well. Wow. She jacked off an old man in the back of the bus… Lol wtf?! I can't believe how she started going around town dressed like a prostitute and is now fucking random guys because she thinks it will cure Jan. Wow, Bess sacrificed her life to save Jan's. Now he's walking with crutches and is mobile again. I'm glad Jan decided to take her body out of the coffin and instead of burying her, dumps her body in the ocean right next to the oil rig. Omg I love that ending with the church bells finally ringing - signaling that miracles exist and that Jan and Bess' love will live on forever. In good Lars Von Trier fashion, this movie is controversial. Especially with its themes and questions it asks. Powerful performances from everyone. Stellan gives a beautifully heartbreaking performance and Emily gives probably one of the most powerfully emotional performances I've seen. The acting seems so candid and genuine. It feels like you're actually there with them just being in the moment. It's definitely a slow burn kind of movie. I kind of wish that Trier didn't use the yellowish brown-colored tone to the movie. It makes it look dreary and depressing striping it from all natural colors. I mean the movie is already sad and depressing, why are you going to visually hurt us as well? But I guess he was going for that whole early 70's look. Like the way pictures looked back then when you took them from a camera. For being such a somber, depressing, tragic and dark movie, it's one of the most unexpectedly hilarious movies I've seen. It has its moments where you can't help but burst out laughing. I think this movie was Lars' way of giving rigid conservative religion the finger. Maybe not so much religion as a whole, but definitely the way the elders were running the church. Very detached from the world. Very unfun with no bells and very conservative stuck in their old ways. Not letting women speak during the sermon, believing they have the right to cast people to the pits of hell because they're sinners and also not having church bells. It's quite delusional really. The movie poses some really thought provoking questions as well. Like, do you think it was perverse of Jan to tell Bess to go out and have sex with other guys? I personally think Jan wasn't doing it out of perversion. Instead he was doing it out of love. He knew he couldn't perform and knew how much she enjoyed it, so he wanted her to move on and continue with her desires. With all that being said, I won't watch this movie again. It's too depressing, heartbreaking, tragic and yellow-looking. I don't like the lack of natural colors.

I'm still working on why I don't seem to connect with a lot of von Trier's films in the way that so many other people do, and I think that Breaking the Waves may have shed some light onto it. Right now, I'm thinking that the reason is because of the director's particular interpretation of 'weird'. You can have so many flavors of weird at the movies - delightful quirkiness, pure eccentricity, moderate silliness for comic relief. But von Trier constantly seems to return to weirdness based in pretension alone, the kind that sees Watson's Bess have random screaming fits, head down to the coast to throw her arms open to a roaring sea, and give back-and-forth dialogue where she literally talks to God. It's all very profound, has overt religious/self-sacrificial references and leaves plenty of opportunities for actors to demonstrate great physical range and tortured delivery, or so we are led to believe. But the Dogma 95 technique, with its deliberately grainy visuals, shaky-cam shooting style, and implied naturalistic feel, coupled with von Trier's "look at me!" sense of direction, has just never done it for me - it's original, but without much in the way of purpose. The biggest aspects that redeem this film are Watson's performance (she goes all-out, which is acceptable given the personality traits she is meant to embody) and the sense of character development, which is compelling given the range even if you are left wondering why certain decisions were made to take the story in the direction it goes. (3/5)

This entire movie seemed to serve the sole purpose of providing a platform for Emily to give one of the singular best acting performances that there's ever been. There were obvious merits to the Dogme 95-esque filmmaking style but ultimately every facet just emphasized Emily and stripped away things that in a different director's hands would have obfuscated her performance. The plot itself felt unrealistic in that none of the characters were willing to listen to reason and their decisions didn't revolve around basic common sense, and in a few scenes the nudity came off as gratuitous, as though Lars was just getting the actors naked because he could rather than because the story really called for it or was improved by it. Still, I'm reviewing this after finishing his Golden Heart trilogy and found this to be the best movie of the lot, if only for Emily.

Definitely, this film is controversial danish writer-director Lars Von Trier's masterpiece. Is raw, but it is also full of compassion and and thousands of complex ideas about the hard position of women in our society, our unbreakable bounds with religion and sanity, whatever that is, as well as powerful and universal reflections about love and the extreme, dangerous edges it can lead us to. We see everything in Emilys Watson's huge eyes, who delievers her career-best performance, and one of the most bravura and heart-breaking portraits of a female charachter in film history. It will leave that emptiness feeling that only Lars can create, a feeling that lingers long after the movie is seen and completely digested (if that's possible).

I watched "Breaking the Waves" for the first time the other night. I've become a fan of Lars von Trier's work and style in recent years, and I'd heard this was perhaps his best-known film. I have to say that this was probably the most emotionally difficult movie I have ever watched, but try as I might, I just couldn't look away because it was all so fuc*king REAL, thanks in part to von Trier's idiosyncratic filming and editing techniques. His use of songs by the likes of Elton John, David Bowie, and Leonard Cohen is especially evocative. Brilliant film.

Best movie I've seen in years....first movie I've cried at in years.....its a must see...

1001 movies to see before you die. This was twisted and ironic. Drama for the sake of drama and much ado about a forced plot. Saw on HBO.

Sometimes uncomfortable but for the right reasons and really well acted.

This was the first Lars Von Trier film I ever saw, and I was a teenager and did not yet feel like I could judge the cinema other people said was great. So, it was wrenching and sort of bizarre, and it contributed to my cinema education, but after two more Von Trier films I realized: you may make them beautifully but having an endless fetish for depicting the torture of demure and accepting women... meh. Once, okay. But over and over again? no thanks.

What there is to say? Chapters, nudity, sexuality, gloominess: a very Lars von Triery film! One of my favorite actually. I never like to say things about the plot, so I will just say that is definitely not so easy nor straightforward as the trailer made me think it was. Or at least, the plot is, but the moral complexity behind that is all another level. I also loved the VHS-kind-of view and the beautiful songs chosen.

Emily Watson delivers what has to be one of the most dedicated, emotionally immersive performances ever in (perhaps) Lars von Trier's most grounded work that deals intelligently with themes of love and faith.

Breaking the Waves is a Drama about a wife’s unhealthy obsession of her husband leading her into a mental downward spiral. Like usual Lars perfectly directs the cast (except for the children), the cast give terrific performances, characters are fully 3-D and likable, the story is heartbreaking and uncomfortable, and his pretentious style (such as his moving cinematography and edit cuts) always gets in the way. Surprisingly there’s a new flaw. Each chapter of the story would linger on a scenery shot with a popular song playing in the background for a full minute. I don’t mind these chapter cards serving as small intermissions, but the song choices don’t seem to fit the style of the story. Would’ve worked better if it was just silence. Breaking The Waves is a great film, but no one of Lars’ best work. Not even one of my favorites. If you want to introduce Lars Von Trier’s films to someone, this is the film you want to start with before throwing them into his madness.