Can definitely see how a film like this could have that effect on the big screen.

Yeah, I loved them in both as well!

You’re certainly not alone. A number of reviews from the time of its release had a similar sentiment.

This is one of the more common critiques of the film’s ending and it’s definitely valid. I wanted to address the bells in the video, but also, that scene feels like such a climactic moment that leaving it in for anyone who may not have seen the film just didn’t feel right. I was left devastated at the film’s conclusion, but also did not interpret the bells as necessarily proving God’s existence. To me this film was just as much about love as it was about faith (the original title for this film was ‘Amor Omnie’ or ‘Love is Omnipresent’ from Dreyer’s film Gertrud). Similar to the way the melodramatic narrative clashes with the documentary-like camera, the CG chapters and bells directly contradict an otherwise very naturalistic film. Rather than being grounded in reality as definitive proof of God’s existence, the bells to me had a more existential quality. The ending felt meaningful/impactful, but ultimately open to interpretation based on your perspective. Does Breaking the Waves reflect reality, or, like the children’s book that inspired its creation, a fairytale? Is the film rooted in religion, or something else? I think everyone engages with a film differently, so it’s really open to interpretation, as most of the best films are.

@@fromtheframe Faith is put down with those bell in the clouds. Their distant sound should have been enouugh There is no space for interpretation. What are the bells doing in the clouds? We either answer this or we question the whole movie. I prefer to question those last seconds. The film is not filmed like a fairytale. It's filmed in a way to reminds at all times that it is pretty real and raw. Everything else is just fine and is probably his best work.

Many of von Trier’s productions actually have some really interesting post-processes. I connected with this one the most because of the way the form sort of contradicts the film’s content, but yes, this film truly left me devastated and certainly isn’t something I can watch over and over.

@@fromtheframe Yeah, if it wasn't clear, this is also one of my favorite films. I just can't actually watch it again :-D But also can't forget it.

It’s an interview between Anthony Dod Mantle & Christopher Doyle from Berlinale ‘06 called 'Here's Looking at You, Kid' (it’s on the Berlinale Talents website).

I know a lot of editors don’t necessarily cut for continuity - Walter Murch’s book is pretty clear about prioritizing cutting for emotion - but this film ratchets that up to a pretty astounding level.

Agreed, she was such a talent.

The Room definitely is a rough film; however, for me, its sins lie beyond its cinematography.

I almost brought up McCabe & Mrs. Miller in this video, because that’s an excellent example of another filmmaker striving for a more realistic image over one that is viewed as conventionally beautiful. Altman wanted the film to resemble a dreamy, faded photograph so DP Vilmos Zsigmond flashed the entire film negative to give the film that pastel look. He then used diffusion filters and underexposed the negative, which was push-processed in post. That coupled with Altman’s use of overlapping dialogue creates layers of authenticity that add to the film’s realism.

Müller’s work is definitely some of our favorite!

What specifically?

@@fromtheframe well I feel like Nolan is a director that also likes to leave mistakes in his works, was just wondering if you were able to see that in Oppenheimer?

Oh yeah! That definitely is an aspect of that film, but in my opinion not necessarily in the same manner as Breaking the Waves. For Nolan, leaving in mistakes feels like more of a byproduct of the fully optical process where he can’t digitally go in and fix things. But more interesting, your comment just jogged my memory that Hoyte van Hoytema actually was mentored by Robby Müller, so…maybe there is something to the parallels you’re drawing after all!

Thanks! Haha, it admittedly hurt a bit to put this film in the category of ‘not conventionally beautiful’ because we love it so much, but its visual design is one of the reasons why it’s so compelling - and in the end that makes it truly beautiful.

Yeah, I think one of our goals on this channel is to push back against a tendency toward sweeping overgeneralizations that fall short of the potential for diverse interpretations and the richness of analysis. As fun as pithy one-liners and A/B comparisons can be (that’s us admitting we enjoy them too) they rarely show the whole picture (the whole ‘they don’t make movies like this anymore’ discussion rarely accounts for the historical shift in the industrial structure of Hollywood over the past century). Oh and Succession was heavily influenced by Dogma 95, specifically FESTEN (aka The Celebration). Jesse Armstrong has said that he originally conceived/pitched the show as “Festen-meets-Dallas,” following a mock family modeled off what he termed his holy trinity - Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone and Robert Maxwell.

I love that people find him crazy

Lars von Trier can be quite the controversial character. There’s an interesting interview with Anthony Dod Mantle (his longtime DP) on The Film Stage that delves into that a little bit deeper if anyone's interested.

Having seen almost all of his films, from the shorts, the debut feature Element of Crime up to the latest, The House that Jack Built and Riget S3. I get curious... When was the point he went crazy? Because in my mind, there's a form of unconventional rebelliousness in there from the start. The earlier films (pre-dogme95) are shot a bit more conventionally. But it's still a crazy mashup of whatever he could think of to make the storytelling interesting. Some work, some don't. I feel that once he did Epidemic and Europa. That's when he got real good.

it's hilarious how he made a trilogy about america without ever stepping foot in the country, or even north america. the guy's afraid of airplanes

@@goober7535 also his worst films, or at least two of them are.