‘Breaking the Waves’

In what is arguably the boldest film of 1996, Dutch director Lars von Trier tells a love story of intense passion, between a Scottish girl (Emily Watson, pictured), living in a rigidly religious village, and an earthy Dutch oilworker (Stellan Skarsgard). When he is left paralyzed in an accident, his young wife comes to believe that by prostituting herself she can trigger a miracle cure for her husband. The result is a film of overwhelming, stormy impact, marked by wrenching, wide-ranging portrayals by Watson and Skarsgard (TMC early Monday at 2:10 a.m.).