Harvey Roy Greenberg wrote:

 

>For a piece I'm working on about BREAKING THE WAVES.

>lst: I was struck by the frontality of the film.

[snip]

>Relatively few long shots in this film. Does this accord with others'

>experience?

 

 

I felt the constant use of close-ups created a claustrophobic intimacy with

the characters which seemed influenced by a) television aesthetics (heavy

on the close ups; "reality" shows) b) "home-video" strategies (swish pans)

which look startling + "new" on the big screen; maybe they even lend a

certain "authentic" rough look to the piece, mirroring the tumultuous

experiences of the main character.

 

To describe my disatisfaction with the visual strategies concretely, there

was e.g. a minor scene on a cliff where the two main female characters

argue ( the two sailor friends had driven there with them) -- in the scene,

there was no sense of space, how landscape could figure into their argument

etc., just the same medium to close-up framings as in the indoor locations.

 

 

>

>2nd: Need list of associated films where a woman redeems

JOAN OF ARC (various versions), so forth.

 

In an interview with the actress Emily Watson who plays Bess, she states

that von Trier had her watch Dreyer's "Passion of Joan of Arc" and

Fellini's "La Strada".

 

Ines Sommer

 

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