On Watching Theology, Joe, Duke, and Melissa take a single film and examine it closely, looking at the assumptions and ideas in the story. Every episode considers the theological, philosophical and thematic elements of a film, listening closely to what the author has to say, and interacting with those ideas. (It's more fun than it sounds).

Joe watches too many movies. He grew up in central Washington, earned his B.A. in Education and Fine Art, an M.A. in Theology and is currently completing an M.A. in English Literature. He's smuggled film classes into each degree. He is interested in writing, theology and hopes to one day compose the ultimate Joe Versus the Volcano commentary track.

Melissa has a B.A. in History and an M.A. in English with an emphasis on Film Studies. She has taken classes on everything from silent to romance to post-colonial films and much in between. Her research and interests lie mainly in feminist film theory, women in film, Hitchcock and the studio era. At the end of the day, however, she just loves films; from Notorious to Die Hard!
Duke enjoys the way movies can tell stories like no other medium. He is an amatuer critic that loves the atmosphere of the theater and the taste of overpriced popcorn. He loves a good story and appreciates the effort and skill of good story tellers. He is a nerd at heart and a sucker for heist movies. He hopes to see every good movie and lampoon every bad movie ever made before he dies.

Contact the hosts at mail@watchingtheology.com for more information.

Show DescriptionWatching Theology

WT03.06 Breaking the Waves (1996)

Watching Theology June 17th, 2009

wt_f_0306_breaking.jpgGod's Silence Series: no. 4. When Bess married Jan, it united an outsider and an insider, an oilworker and a member of a strict religious community. Their marriage was a happy one: sensual, fun, passionate. All that ended when Jan returned to his oil platform and Bess was left alone. She resumed prayers to a talkative God, a being who once was her only confidant. When Bess asked God to bring Jan back home to her, she took a significant step to a time of trial and atonement, losing her dignity and experiencing the silence of God in a real and traumatic way. Breaking the Waves is Lars von Trier's controversial parable about the struggle between the sacred and profane, spiritual and physical love, and an angry and loving God. It may also be a 1970s Scottish version of Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc.

See Davey Morrison's excellent interview with Richard Dutcher and his review of Falling.
Need Netflix to watch Breaking the Waves or Brigham City? Click here for a free trial.

Coming soon: In Bruges (perhaps) and Richard Dutcher's Brigham City.

NOW AVAILABLE: Watching, a film book by Joe and Melissa Johnson (also available through Amazon)

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5 Responses to “WT03.06 Breaking the Waves (1996)”

Davey June 21st, 2009

This was maybe the single most difficult movie-watching experience I've had when I saw it a year or two ago. I thought there was a lot of great stuff in the film, but didn't think I'd ever want to see it again. Your podcast made me reconsider. I think one of the most important things you didn't bring up, however, is whether or not Bess really is communicating with God, or whether she is mentally ill–the characters within the film ask this question, and it's impossible (for me, at least) to watch Watson's incredible, heartbreaking performance without asking it myself. I think that question is central to the film's success, and part of why the epilogue really worked for me, and still seemed to retain a good degree of ambiguity (again, for me, at least). Great episode though, one of my favorites in awhile–and thanks again for the shout out! Looking forward to both "In Bruges" and "Brigham City" (and "Falling," sometime).

sam l. June 30th, 2009

Have you considered doing Wise Blood? Seems like a interesting movie, theologically.

J Raines July 5th, 2009

you may be interested in this book, blog, and podcast:
"a year of hitchcock"

i'll leave out the link as i believe they are forbidden.

just google the title along with the word "podcast" to find the site.

jr

Daniel Crooke July 13th, 2009

I have yet to listen to this episode (still waiting for Breaking the Waves to come on TV…) but I'm a big fan of WT and WTD. I'm sure this has been suggested before, but have you ever considered featuring 'It's a Wonderful Life' on WT? It seems like there are numerous themes, both theological and not, within the film that would be interesting to hear you discuss.

Davey Morrison July 31st, 2009

I just posted a brief review examining the movie "Happy Feet" from a theological and philosophical perspective, if you're interested.
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-9888-Salt-Lake-City-Movie-Events-Examiner~y2009m7d31-Review-Happy-Feet-dir-George-Miller-2006
Still looking forward to "Brigham City" and "In Bruges"! :)

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