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Streaming data from JustWatch
Breaking the Waves
1996
· Movie
· 153 min
A
MEANRANK
80/100
Where it ranks
- Mean Score #594
- IMDb #603
- Rotten Tomatoes #848
- Metacritic #499
- Letterboxd #347
- Rotten Tomatoes Critics #1677
+7 more
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience #441
- Metacritic Critics #570
- Metacritic Audience #665
- Criticker #268
- Kinopoisk #465
- AlloCiné #1816
- Trakt #1406
Every rating
69–92
out of 100
In a strict, devout Presbyterian community in the Scottish Highlands, a naive and simple young woman marries an outsider working on an oil rig. When a terrible accident leaves her husband paralyzed, he makes a shocking request from his hospital bed. Believing that his survival depends on her having sexual experiences with other men and telling him the stories, she embarks on a painful path, sacrificing herself out of a desperate and misunderstood love.
Details
- Director
- Lars von Trier
- Writer
- Lars von Trier
- Released
- 5 July 1996
- Country
- Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, United States
- Language
- English
- Runtime
- 153 min
- Rated
- R
- Budget
- $7.5M
- Box office
- $23.0M
- Awards
- 17 wins, 8 nominations
This title elsewhere
Cast
Full cast (33) →
Awards & nominations
See all 25 →2 major awards won · 17 wins from 25 nominations across 13 ceremonies
| César Awards 1997 | Best Foreign Film | Lars von Trier | Winner |
| Cannes Film Festival 1996 | Grand Prix | Lars von Trier | Winner |
| Academy Awards 1997 | Best Actress | Emily Watson | Nominee |
| BAFTA Awards 1997 | Best Actress | Emily Watson | Nominee |
| Golden Globes 1997 | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Emily Watson | Nominee |
| Golden Globes 1997 | Best Motion Picture – Drama | Nominee | |
| Independent Spirit Awards 1997 | Best Foreign Film | Lars von Trier | Nominee |
| Bodil Awards 1997 | Best Danish Film | Lars von Trier | Winner |
Awards from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
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Trailer — Breaking the Waves
×Full cast — Breaking the Waves
×
25 awards — Breaking the Waves
×
Cannes Film Festival
1 nomination, 1 won
| Grand Prix | Lars von Trier | Winner |
César Awards
1 nomination, 1 won
| Best Foreign Film | Lars von Trier | Winner |
Golden Globes
2 nominations
| Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Emily Watson | Nominee |
| Best Motion Picture – Drama | Nominee |
Academy Awards
1 nomination
| Best Actress | Emily Watson | Nominee |
BAFTA Awards
1 nomination
| Best Actress | Emily Watson | Nominee |
Independent Spirit Awards
1 nomination
| Best Foreign Film | Lars von Trier | Nominee |
National Society of Film Critics
4 nominations, 4 won
| Best Actress | Emily Watson | Winner |
| Best Cinematographer | Robby Müller | Winner |
| Best Director | Lars von Trier | Winner |
| Best Film | Winner |
Bodil Awards
3 nominations, 3 won
| Best Actress | Emily Watson | Winner |
| Best Danish Film | Lars von Trier | Winner |
| Best Supporting Actress | Katrin Cartlidge | Winner |
European Film Awards
3 nominations, 3 won
| Best Actress | Emily Watson | Winner |
| Best Film | Lars von Trier | Winner |
| FIPRESCI Prize | Lars von Trier | Winner |
New York Film Critics Circle
3 nominations, 3 won
| Best Actress | Emily Watson | Winner |
| Best Cinematographer | Robby Müller | Winner |
| Best Director | Lars von Trier | Winner |
Guldbagge Awards
1 nomination, 1 won
| Best Foreign Film | Lars von Trier | Winner |
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
1 nomination, 1 won
| New Generation Award | Emily Watson | Winner |
Boston Society of Film Critics
3 nominations
| Best Actress | Emily Watson | Nominee |
| Best Cinematography | Robby Müller | Nominee |
| Best Director | Lars von Trier | Nominee |