Breaking the Waves

Hammering at conventional morality, von Trier’s first of the Golden Heart Trilogy challenges the belief that God sees all – a fierce faith that naivete Bess embraces. When her husband is paralysed in an accident, the trusting child fearlessly gives herself over to sexual brutality, in the conviction that her sacrifice can save his life. In collaboration with cinematographer Robby Müller, the deviant auteur presents this deeply disturbing drama as an excursion in cinema vérité permeated with raw aesthetic of grainy images, immersing us into the catharsis of the characters and the painful rumination about spirituality – is Bess a sinner, a wanton, or a saint after all?

Cannes Film Festival: Grand Prize of the Jury

Academy Awards: Best Actress nomination