Breaking the Waves

Lars von Trier directs this drama set in the 1970s and starring Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgård. In rural Scotland, a devout young religious woman, Bess (Watson) meets and falls in love with oil rig worker Jan (Skarsgård). Despite opposition from her community they marry, and when Jan returns to the rigs Bess counts the days until his return.

However, when Jan is later paralysed in an accident and unable to engage in intimacy with his wife, he urges her to take a lover and relate their sexual acts to him, which Bess believes will help him to recover.