Breaking the Waves (1996)

Though I really didn't rate the story so much here, I thought the performance from Emily Watson as "Bess" is formidable. She lives on a remote Scottish island and is to marry oil rig worker "Jan" (Stellan Skarsgård). Somewhat reluctantly, the islanders embrace this and all is happy until she feels the wrench of his return to the rig. Pining for him, she regularly has conversations with God in their small kirk. It's on one such occasion that she begs him to send her husband home to her. Well, he does - but following a tragic accident that has left him completely incapacitated. She is determined to care for him at all costs, but he has other plans and convinces her that she ought to seek another lover. Somehow, she gets it into her head that every sexual act she carries out improves his condition - and so, well you can guess what she succumbs to in her quest to restore him to health. Katrin Cartridge ("Dodo") and Adrian Rawlins ("Dr. Richardson") contribute well in support as this story of a loving, immature and caring character plumbs the depths before an ending that rather summed up for me the cruelty - and implausibility - of the story. What does he actually intend for his wife - whom he clearly adores? What it also takes is an unflinching swipe at is the supposedly charitable nature of a local "wee-free" clergy whose behaviour towards her at the denouement is little short of disgraceful. It also asks us to consider religiosity and the medical profession (or, certainly, it's efficacy) and again I found that annoyingly unrealistic. Miracles happen? Well perhaps, but here they were the wrong kind of miracles! The film is intensively shot, the photography creative and imaginative and it all has an intimacy to it that is largely down to an excellent Watson and a illustration of a small island mentality that is almost claustrophobic but entirely enthralling testament to this director's skilful ability to provoke thought!