Into the Unknown I Go with a 4th Danish Feature Motion Picture
I have been struggling to get through this strange weekend in which I was to spend three days in a foreign city three hours away but circumstances beyond my control caused it all to fall apart on that 1st night. Spending the next couple days struggling to come up with something to do but when money and time have been wasted in trying to achieve a worthwhile weekend that was meant to escape the horrors of everyday reality, the brain goes into rest mode and doesn't give a much of a fuck about achieving anything worthwhile
And so it is Sunday and work is less than a couple hours away and with the feeling of hopelessness dwelling inside to face the week ahead, I decided that I might as well get around to watching the fourth Lars Von Trier's film Breaking the Waves to at least try to send myself in a new direction for the week ahead.
Of what I expected, I had no expectations as I hadn't seen the film before and only ever just heard about it but never about anything that was in depth about it. Especially after hearing all the shit my buddy was telling me about the fucking bells but more on those later.
The Film
Taking place in the northern part of Scotland in a very remote coastal town lies a very secular and strongly religious group of town folk and in the middle of it is Bess. Bess is a woman with a soft way of seeing life as she retains this sense of child like wonder with the world. She has one on one conversations with God where she would speak to the holy spirit with her eyes open and then close her eyes to vocalize the response from God. The townsfolk treat her with cautious hands as she has had mental issues before that got her committed. Most likely having to deal with the death of her brother.
At this moment of time that this film catches up with her, Bess is getting married to an oil rig worker. He comes into her life with great affection and a joy for life that is on par with Bess. Living on the same level and just like her, he is the complete opposite of what everyone in town strives to be. Though this guy has no Church affiliation, loves to get his beer drinking done, and can't get enough of making love. They get married as soon as he arrives from the oil rig and the honeymoon is one of fruitful expectations as we see them and know that the love they have will last
Unfortunately, his job calls him back too soon and through a tumultuous goodbye for now, Bess is having trouble being able to deal with the adversity of loneliness. In her conversations with God, she pleads that he comes back to her. God asks if she is sure about this and she replies that basically she would want nothing more than for her husband to come back. Her prayer is answered as he has a near death accident when a loose pipe knocks into his head while on the job. He arrives back to the remote part of the island and he can't seem to cope with his current situation as he is now paralyzed from the neck on down.
In his anguish, he asks his wife for a simple favor; that she go out and find herself a lover and retell her tale of the affair to him so that he could live vicariously through it. Without this request being fulfilled, he does not believe he will be able to keep on living. The movie follows Bess as she tries to navigates her way to try and save her husbands life while also dealing with the consequences of the rigid townspeople and her own family that look at her with disdain for acting out of what is expected of her. Reaching the boiling point of her becoming excommunicated from the community. Bess is being torn internally from knowing what to do until having an epiphany that leads to the film ending on a note of tragic that transcends & transforms into an ending of great spiritual release.
Powerful Impak!
Its why I spelled Impact as Impak!
Whoa. Mr. Von Trier, I didn't expect you to be pulling off 180 degree turns from your last feature into this. What feels like a completely new ground he has ventured into as the film follows Bess, with no judgment from the camera, to end up with such a beautiful ending.
The Goods
There are many pieces of this film that I want to go through and a bit uncertain as to how to go through all of them but nonetheless, I will try my best and so let us speak of structure/style.
The film is broken up through 7 chapter breaks with beautiful panorama shots that used with a standing still camera, which the images in the frame are in movement, and 1970's pop/rock song playing along with the image. Setting a tone that feels far more congruent with the film more so than an idea that was shoehorned into the film. Stuff like this can always work against the flow of the film as a whole but it works here. The only film that comes to mind that feels as though it ham fists this stuff into the film was that last Suicide Squad film. Enjoyable as far as comic book movies go but damn did all those needle-drops feel unnecessary and mostly just a point of place to have James Gunn show off another favorite piece of music he enjoys. Here though, its perfect. Working to enhance this strange fairy tale of a story.
Hand held. That's the name of the game here when it comes to cinematography. There is a beautiful loose feeling to the entire film that goes well with following around a character like Bess. She is far too free in her nature to be shot with camera movements that require a stedicam or a dolly track. The film was made with the understanding that the only feasible option had to be a hand held camera.
The amount of control Von Trier managed to give up in the sense of rigid composition to do strictly this type of cinematography must have been tough. Looking deeper into the matter, I came across this clip from Mark Cousins pretty good documentary series The Story of Film where Von Trier was interviewed about his influences.
Apparently the American television show Homicide: Life on the Streets was a mind blowing event for him as he saw the television show was shot with hand held but that the editing of a certain scene where the it was cut within the frame was something truly revolutionary. The idea of being able to cut within a shot to a shot in the same scene but its not a clean cut.
What else catches the eye is the strange look of the film. Something that looks like film but then again doesn't? Sepia tones similar to The Element of Crime but not a total complete washing over the film itself to maintain that tint. Warm tones that fall into each frame but looking into the matter I came across this interesting tidbit of information. Apparently, the film was shot in film and then transferred over into digital tape then transferred back to film. Along with Von Trier breaking the 180 rule, cutting within the frame, and the strange tones all throughout. It is a film that was given a true sense of free for all when striving to capture this story as best as possible.
Bess
Emily Watson. The movie wouldn't be much of anything if they couldn't have someone carry the film and what a sight to see her become this character and create someone so empathetic and what on paper could be seen as just a Marquis De Sade model of a woman being used and abused but without the artistic, is that possible?, integrity of the work itself but Emily Watson really does wonders with the role. She never plays the character as though looking down on her or the situation that she finds herself in. She leads her on righteous as possible path to the destiny of the character and for that, obviously with the film being so critically acclaimed and such, she deserves so much for the role. It must been real tough to be in this mindset day in and day out as there is no glamour that some actors need to thrive. There is no happy ending for the character as there is only abuse and pain to be endured and for her having to play this character with all this baggage waiting; what a performance.
Music
The music. The usage of the time music is pretty solid.
"All the Way from Memphis" – Mott the Hoople
"Blowin' in the Wind" – Tom Harboe, Jan Harboe & Ulrik Corlin
"Pipe Major Donald MacLean" – Peter Roderick MacLeod
"In a Broken Dream" – Python Lee Jackson, featuring Rod Stewart
"Cross-Eyed Mary" – Jethro Tull
"I Did What I Did for Maria" – Tony Christie
"Virginia Plain" – Roxy Music
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" – Procol Harum
"Hot Love" – T. Rex
"Suzanne" – Leonard Cohen
"Love Lies Bleeding" – Elton John
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" – Elton John
"Whiskey in the Jar" – Thin Lizzy
"Child in Time" – Deep Purple
"Life on Mars" – David Bowie
"Siciliana" (Sonata BWV 1031 / 2nd movement) – Johann Sebastian Bach
"Gay Gordons" – Tom Harboe, Jan Harboe & Ulrik Corlin
"Scotland the Brave" – Tom Harboe, Jan Harboe & Ulrik Corlin
"Barren Rock of Aden" – Tom Harboe, Jan Harboe & Ulrik Corlin
"Happy Landing" – P. Harmann
As you can see from the tracklist, the music in this film is very mixed and very good.
The Filmmaker in Question
What a sense of growth. When it comes to certain filmmakers, you can understand that they are on a certain path of film making that is more or less set in stone. Some of my favorite directors like John Milius, Robert Altman, or Steven Spielberg are like this. You watch a film out of their repertoire and you can kind of get a sense of what they accomplished with just about the rest of their entire catalog. There is no surprise to be had when watching one of their films and you can be guaranteed quality will be there. They understand the craft of film making to such a degree that as long as they stick to their essentials then they can provide a pretty solid movie all around.
Then there are certain filmmakers that seem to grow more and more as well as take risks in the films they strive to make. Being able to understand as a fan that the next film will be something different than their last. You get a stronger sense of someone wanting to truly strive for perfection or for something more. Akira Kurosawa, Jim Jarmusch, and Martin Scorsese come to mind when thinking of filmmakers such as this. Similarities in style and execution can be seen in between all of their films but the ultimate goal of each film is different than the last and achieves them ultimately in original ways inherent to only those films
Lars Von Trier, as I write this with under the idea that I have only seen 4 of his films, is a filmmaker that I would place as one of those striving for true originality. Willing to break the rules of conventional filmmaking with the last film. As this film was shot under the rigid guidelines, though very flexible in execution, of the Dogme 95.
A quick overview of that Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg set down as a set of rules to follow when creating a film. As stolen from Wikipedia:
These were rules to create films based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, while excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology. It was supposedly created as an attempt to "take back power for the directors as artists" as opposed to the movie studio.
1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot.) 3.The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted.
4.The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera.)
5.Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6.The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7.Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
8.Genre movies are not acceptable.
9.The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
10.The director must not be credited.
The only other movie that I have seen to be certified as a 'Dogme 95' was Julian Donkey Boy by Harmony Korine. What a fucking terrific movie that is but for another review.
The overall idea is probably one of the more interesting things to come out of the 1990's when it just comes to art in general. Somebody out there wanting to set a goal for filmmakers to follow and unfortunately, America chose poorly by having Harvey Weinstein shove Pulp Fiction down our throats for the next couple of decades.
Though this film is certified under this banner, it is not necessarily following the rules to the letter as certain rules are broken throughout the film. But the overall execution of the film manages to be certified under the Dogme 95 banner as the rules play more so as to be able to think out of the box and experiment. As it is known that creativity thrives when having restrictions to overcome.
When It Ends
And what I want to bring up with this striving for originality is the ending. Bess gets herself into a situation where she ultimately sacrifices herself for the sake of her husband's survival. Understanding that God understands and condones the situation and will give permission to allow this martyrdom to occur. She gets herself killed and with her being the spurn of the town but still a part of them, they allow her to be buried in the town cementary. But her husband already knows the deal about them condemning her to hell and so he switches out the body for sand.
Taking her to the oil rig and sending her off into the freedom of the ocean. The husband waking up the next morning and when reaching the deck, hears the sounds of bells ringing. Though it is not only him that hears as everyone else around all stand on the oil rig deck and listen to the chiming of these bells. Then we cut to a shot in the sky as we see this bells from heaven ringing over the oil rig.
After watching the film, I now understand the true significance of the bells but not as to why my friend reacted so negatively towards them. The bells are there to announce that Bess has arrived in Heaven and depending on the amount of cynicism that runs through your blood, it is easy to dismiss them. For me though, I welcomed the sound of the bells entirely and really am considering it as a top 5 film of all time for me.