I had been content to let Dancer in the Dark (2000) be my only exposure to Lars von Trier. Oh, I liked it well, but he has a reputation for further darkness. More importantly, he has claimed to direct under God's direction and thus be the greatest director in the world. That level of arrogance deserves scorn. Nevertheless, a Meetup group invited me to this installment of a '90s film festival, and I got curious. Now I know it to be part of a loosely defined series with DitD, called the Golden Heart Trilogy. (The Idiots [1998] gets a middling reception.)
In rural '70s Scotland, young Bess (Emily Watson) marries foreign atheist Jan (Stellan Skarsgård) despite the protests of her church elders and family, which stem in part from her past breakdowns -- possibly bipolar. She clearly didn't put much thought into it, because she feels horrible as soon as he returns to his job on an oil rig. She appears to converse with God (hmm, see the previous paragraph), closing her eyes to speak His words to herself. When a rig accident leaves Jan paralyzed and in otherwise critical condition, Bess blames her selfish wish to have him back. To make him not just feel better but recover, she indulges his wishes that she commit adultery and tell him the dirty details.
As you might have guessed, there's some rather graphic sex. I never wanted to see a full frontal of Skarsgård getting fondled. To me, the first clear red flag in the couple's relationship was that they didn't seem to do much together besides sex. The most generous interpretation of Jan's wishes is that he doesn't want Bess to abstain from sex forever on his account, and he hopes that vicarious intercourse will keep their love alive. But Bess does not enjoy the adultery, let alone the treatment it brings her. Dr. Richardson (Adrian Rawlins) and the oddly named Nurse Dodo (Katrin Cartlidge) catch on and warn her that Jan's judgment is clouded by drugs, but she still feels that God will reward her devotion.
Are we to understand that this commandment breaking really is God's will and not a delusion? The ending hints at it. I suppose He might not generally approve of Jan's wishes but might accept Bess's demonstration that she really does love her husband. Still, it's certainly not His most flattering depiction, and not just because He evidently can't be everywhere He's wanted at once.
It stands to reason that Bess would have unusual ideas about God. No one in my Meetup group could identify her sect, but we all found it super-puritanical for the late 20th century. Further research tells me it's a Calvinist order particular to Scotland. Hopefully, von Trier exaggerated it.
One of the most interesting characters, actually, is Dodo. She happens to be the widow of Bess's brother, sticking around for Bess's sake. It lends a rare un-nurse-like air to her interactions. Cartlidge acts so well that I regret her obscurity -- not that Watson's Oscar-nominated performance doesn't kinda leave her in the dust.
The audiovisuals stand out as well. At first, you may think them merely cheap. The camera gets unsteady, blurs, and dilutes the colors. We rarely hear any music except in transitions between "chapters," when it's usually classic rock. But I wouldn't be surprised if von Trier meant for these things to enhance the mood. In particular, they help to evoke Bess's questionable mental status.
My group never did figure out the meaning of the title. Only so many scenes are anywhere near the water, and the only literal wave breaking comes with a sailor-style funeral. As a metaphor, it could mean almost anything. IMDb's paltry trivia didn't help.
One group member had seen the film nearly 20 years ago. It'd take me that long to want to see it again. But I haven't ruled out the possibility of seeing it again, because for all its disturbing and potentially depraved quality, it impresses me.
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