Breaking the Waves (1996)

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Emily Watson	...	Bess McNeill
	Stellan Skarsgård	...	Jan Nyman
	Katrin Cartlidge	...	Dodo McNeill
	Jean-Marc Barr	...	Terry
	Adrian Rawlins	...	Dr. Richardson
	Jonathan Hackett	...	Priest
	Sandra Voe	...	Mother
	Udo Kier	...	Sadistic Sailor
	Mikkel Gaup	...	Pits
	Roef Ragas	...	Pim
	Phil McCall	...	Grandfather
	Robert Robertson	...	Chairman
	Desmond Reilly	...	An Elder
	Sarah Gudgeon	...	Sybilla
	Finlay Welsh	...	Coroner (as Finley Welsh)

Storyline

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. Written by Jonathan Broxton <j.w.broxton@sheffield.ac.uk>  

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