08-23-2009, 10:14 PM
Breaking the Waves directed by Lars von Trier (1996)
You'd think I would have learned something from Lars von Trier by now, considering his Dancer in the Dark bottomless pit of despair.
Still, many critics raved about this movie, enough to convince me it was worth checking out My opinion? Do I really need to say it?
It was the most depressing movie I've ever seen.
In a repressed, deeply religious community, a naïve woman named Bess marries a guy named Jan. This seems a really bad idea. First, because he works on an oil rig and is away for long periods of time, and she is heavily dependent on him. Second, no one in this hypocritically religious community approves of the marriage. So she's miserable while he's away, and when he finally gets back-- Well, there's been a terrible accident. He's an invalid, and sexually kaput. Yeah, he's rung his last cowbell. So he gives her permission to go have sex with other guys, and somehow she twists this around in her head to mean that God will cure her husband if she has sex with lots of guys. And no, there's nothing erotic in any of this. Just dim bulbs doing dim things in a relentless gloom, leading to a real downer of an ending. Jesus Christ, just show me the way out…
You'd think I would have learned something from Lars von Trier by now, considering his Dancer in the Dark bottomless pit of despair.
Still, many critics raved about this movie, enough to convince me it was worth checking out My opinion? Do I really need to say it?
It was the most depressing movie I've ever seen.
In a repressed, deeply religious community, a naïve woman named Bess marries a guy named Jan. This seems a really bad idea. First, because he works on an oil rig and is away for long periods of time, and she is heavily dependent on him. Second, no one in this hypocritically religious community approves of the marriage. So she's miserable while he's away, and when he finally gets back-- Well, there's been a terrible accident. He's an invalid, and sexually kaput. Yeah, he's rung his last cowbell. So he gives her permission to go have sex with other guys, and somehow she twists this around in her head to mean that God will cure her husband if she has sex with lots of guys. And no, there's nothing erotic in any of this. Just dim bulbs doing dim things in a relentless gloom, leading to a real downer of an ending. Jesus Christ, just show me the way out…