Breaking the Waves

Breaking the Waves

Breaking the Waves is a 1996 drama film directed and co-written by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early 1970s, it is about an unusual young woman and of the love she has for her husband, who asks her to have sex with other men when he becomes immobilized from a work accident. The film is an international co-production led by von Trier's Danish company Zentropa. It is the first film in Trier's Golden Heart Trilogy, which also includes The Idiots (1998) and Dancer in the Dark (2000).As von Trier's first film made after his founding of the Dogme 95 movement, it is heavily influenced by the movement's style and ethos, although the film breaks several of the rules laid out by the movement's manifesto. Breaking the Waves has been described as "perhaps von Trier's most widely acclaimed film", and has won numerous awards, including the Grand Prix at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. The film was critically well-received, with Watson's performance drawing acclaim as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

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