Breaking the Waves Page #6

Synopsis: Drama set in a repressed, deeply religious community in the north of Scotland, where a naive young woman named Bess McNeil meets and falls in love with Danish oil-rig worker Jan. Bess and Jan are deeply in love but, when Jan returns to his rig, Bess prays to God that he returns for good. Jan does return, his neck broken in an accident aboard the rig. Because of his condition, Jan and Bess are now unable to enjoy a sexual relationship and Jan urges Bess to take another lover and tell him the details. As Bess becomes more and more deviant in her sexual behavior, the more she comes to believe that her actions are guided by God and are helping Jan recover.
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Lars von Trier
Production: Artisan Entertainment
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 42 wins & 27 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.9
Metacritic:
76
Rotten Tomatoes:
84%
R
Year:
1996
159 min
2,146 Views


You think so?

You don't even know

how to use that thing.

Nobody will believe a hooker!

Because there is

only one thing for us,...

...sinners that we are,...

...to achieve perfection

in the eyes of God...

...through unconditional love...

...for the word that is written,...

...through unconditional love

for the law.

I don't understand

what you're saying.

How can you love a word?

Love words.

You cannot be

in love with a word.

You can love

another human being.

That's perfection.

No woman speaks here.

Bess McNeill,

the kirk session...

...has decided this day

that henceforth,...

...you shall no longer

have access to this kirk.

They who know you

shall not know you.

Please, let me stay!

Please!

Begone, Bess McNeill,

from the house of God.

Hello, Bess.

You're...you're coming with us.

We're going to Glasgow.

Bess, they're

going to take you...

...back into hospital

just for a little bit.

It's for your own good.

I want to see Jan.

I want to see my husband.

I know, but not now, Bess.

It's for your own good, Bess.

Mother can't have me admitted.

Not now that I'm married.

Bess, it wasn't mother

that signed the paper.

It was Jan.

You liar!

Come along, Bess.

Jan!

Jan!

Dodo, how can you do this?

You had a husband, too, once.

Your love could have saved him,

if only you'd tried!

Jan!

Jan!

Ok, Bess. let's go.

Oh, f***!

Ryan, she's not here!

Hello.

Who's a tart?

What are you doing?

Who's a tart?

Who's a tart?

Tart! Tart!

I can't open the door.

Mother?

Please. Please, mother,

open the door!

Please, open the door!

Mother!

I'll be good.

I'll be really, really good.

I'll be really good.

Oh, please, open.

Please go away.

Stop it! Go away.

You just go away

and leave me!

Who's a tart?

Away with you.

Stop all this racket

outside the house of God.

Come on! On you go.

What's happened?

Bess.

Bess!

Bess, are you all right, love?

Bess, it's Dodo.

Oh, Bessie.

Jan is dying.

I...I wasn't to tell you.

I wasn't to tell you.

No. It's good you told me.

I know you love me.

I have to go.

Is there anything

I can do for you?

Anything at all?

Yes.

I'd like you to go to Jan...

...to be curedr him

and to rise from his bed

and walk.

Will you take me

to the big ship?

Again?

Are you sure?

Father, why aren't

you with me?

I am with you, Bess.

What do you want from me?

Where were you?

Oh, don't you think

I have other people...

...who want to talk to me?

Well, of course.

I hadn't thought of that.

There's this silly

little thing called Bess...

...who keeps on wanting me

to talk to her,...

...so my work's been

piling up a bit.

But you're with me now?

Of course I am, Bess.

you know that.

Thank you.

Um, I'm sorry.

Do you need me?

No. That's all right.

Stay there.

Bess asked me to pray.

For what?

For Jan's life.

For a miracle.

Yeah. That would be a miracle.

Dear God,

I pray that Jan gets better,

That he rises

from his bed and walks.

Sister McNeill here.

We'll make you better.

Where's Jan?

I'd like to see him.

No. Not now, love.

You're going to have

an operation now.

I want to see him.

Not now, love.

You need an operation.

No. I've got to see Jan.

Please, Dodo.

All right.

All right. Stop.

She wants to see Jan.

I'm going to take her to see Jan.

Come on. Out of the way,

for God's sake.

Help me. Come on.

Move, for Christ's sake!

All right. All right.

There you go.

There you are.

You can see him now,

can't you?

How is he...

How's he doing?

Is he not any better?

No. No, he's not.

Oh. I thought he

might be better now.

Hmm.

Maybe I was wrong

after all.

Ok, let's get inside.

Here. Take those.

Tape.

Ok, take care. Let's go.

1, 2, 3.

There we go.

It's all right, love.

Now, Bess,

do you know me?

Yeah.

Pulse 90.

What happened?

Do you know?

No.

Pressure on 100.

Get the blood pressure.

It will be all right, love.

It will be all right.

Can I have a look at her back?

There we go.

Ok. Hand me the scissors.

Yes.

All right.

Mother.

Oh, mother.

Here she is.

Bessie.

Bess.

I'm sorry that I

could not be good, mother.

That's all right, Bessie.

Your grandfather's

sorry he couldn't come.

Will you tell him

that I love him?

I am glad that you

came, mother.

Blood pressure.

It will be all right.

It's going down.

2 units now.

2 units immediately.

2 units.

Ok, we're just going

to lower you down

a little bit now,

all right, Bess?

There we go.

That was easy, wasn't it?

Going to be all right.

Oh. Oh.

Dodo, hold me.

Here I am. I'm holding.

It's all right, love.

I'm here. I'm here.

I'm afraid.

I know. I know.

Jan?

Jan!

Shh. Now, shh.

I'm frightened.

It's...

It's all wrong.

No pulse.

Bess?

Stand clear.

Stand clear!

Clear. Clear.

What?

It's going to be all right.

That's a good girl.

Come on.

Ok. You can stop now.

What? What?

What do you mean?

She's gone, Dodo.

She's gone.

No.

She's gone.

Bess. Bess.

listen to me.

I'm sorry.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Dodo.

No!

Come on, Dodo.

let's go!

Come on.

I'm sorry!

It's a little bit funny...

...this feeling inside

I'm not one of those who can...

...easily hide

Don't have much money...

...but, boy, if I did

I'd buy a big house where...

...we both could live

if I was a sculptor...

...but then again no

Or a man who makes potions in the...

...traveling show

I know it's not much...

...but it's the best

I can do

My gift is my song, and...

...this one's for you

And you can tell everybody...

...this is your song

it may be quite simple, but...

...now that it's done...

You describe the deceased as

"an immature, unstable person,...

...a person who, due to the

trauma of her husband's illness,...

...gave way

in obsessive fashion...

...to an exaggerated,

perverse form of sexuality."

Would you like to clarify

that to the inquiry?

That's what I wrote.

Yes. That's what it says.

Can I have a glass

of water, please?

Get Dr. Richardson

a glass of water.

Thank you.

Listen, man, you had

the deceased in your care.

The court would like

to hear the medical facts.

If...If you'd, um,

if you were to ask me again...

...to write... um...

the conclusion, then...

...instead of writing

"neurotic"...

...or, um, "psychotic,"

then I might...

...just, um,

use a word like...

"Good."

Good?

Yes.

You wish the records of this court...

...to state that

in your medical opinion,...

...the deceased was suffering

from being "good"?

Perhaps this was

the psychological defect...

...that led to her death.

Is that what we shall

write, Dr. Richardson?

No.

Of course not.

Very well, then.

Perhaps we should stick to your

original statement then, doctor.

Yes.

I think that everything

there is to say...

...about Bess McNeill

has been said already.

We have agreed

to sanction her burial,...

...but there can be

no funeral service.

The fact that some of us

knew the deceased girl well...

...cannot be allowed to

influence the form of her burial.

Rate this script:3.0 / 1 vote

Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter with a prolific and controversial career spanning almost four decades. His work is known for its genre and technical innovation; confrontational examination of existential, social, and political issues; and his treatment of subjects such as mercy, sacrifice, and mental health.Among his more than 100 awards and 200 nominations at film festivals worldwide, von Trier has received: the Palme d'Or (for Dancer in the Dark), the Grand Prix (for Breaking the Waves), the Prix du Jury (for Europa), and the Technical Grand Prize (for The Element of Crime and Europa) at the Cannes Film Festival. In March 2017, he began filming The House That Jack Built, an English-language serial killer thriller.Von Trier is the founder and shareholder of the international film production company Zentropa Films, which has sold more than 350 million tickets and garnered seven Academy Award nominations over the past 25 years. more…

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    "Breaking the Waves" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Jul 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/breaking_the_waves_4650>.

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