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| Scene from Breaking the Waves |
Welcome to Alternative to What: a weekly column that tries to find a great alternative to driving to the multiplexes. Based on releases of that week, the selections will either be thematically related or feature recurring cast and crew. The goal is to help you better understand the diversity of cinema and hopefully find you some favorites while saving a few bucks. At worse, this column will save you money. Expect each installment to come out on Fridays, unless specified.
THIS WEEK:
Breaking the Waves (1996)
- Alternative To -
Deepwater Horizon (2016)
The idea of a hero is something that Mark Wahlberg takes seriously. He believes in the masculine ideal that Americans will bond to overcome any problem. In Deepwater Horizon, it is a plumbing issue in the middle of the ocean. With connection to his family at home, he fights mud and fire with hope of eventually coming home with everyone safe. It is a noble concept, but one that seems exploitative for cinema, if just because of how biased the film is to paint heroism as a clear cut issue. People do get hurt, but the strength of the community overcomes any obstacle. Considering that this is nothing more than a hazardous plumbing issue, Deepwater Horizon may be one of the most baffling needs for heroism. Yes, people need to survive. However, it makes you want to talk to the contractors who made the faulty plumbing to begin with.
For a better story about what ocean drilling likely will do to you, there is director Lars von Trier to thank. While his film doesn't focus on the heightened chaos of an event like Deepwater Horizon, it does feature the aftermath that it has on everyone. When a man gets injured while working a drill, his wife begins to take care of him as he falls into damaging health issues. The film is separated into chapters, including the happy first half where everything is so blissful and perfect. It isn't until the latter that things begin to become challenging in ways that Deepwater Horizon likely would never be.
Where Wahlberg is too obsessed with masculine achievement, von Trier is key to vulnerability and faith. When a character gets injured, he finds himself grappling with the effect that it has on the loved ones. They are tormented and forced to do actions that go well beyond their comfort zone. They become pariahs for the sake of the injured. It's a powerful story that reflects a different kind of strength. It isn't one that's rewarded with Wahlberg's thick, muscle-bound arms. It is rewarded with the sense of pride that even when things went horribly wrong, there was someone there dedicated to maintaining the peace.
Breaking the Waves does have the added benefit of being a more in depth story with artistic cues that elevate its material. The film manages to create an intimacy between characters that builds and makes the final actions all the more devastating. It features great performances and even produces some profoundly deep questions about faith and what it means to be truthful. There's optimism and hope until there isn't. The film explores a strength that isn't as welcoming to Wahlberg's type of cinema, but it does feature an emotional understanding that he likely wouldn't understand even if we saw the aftermath of Deepwater Horizon.
If this seems like an abstract selection, it really isn't. Both involve brutal injuries aboard an oil drilling site. Both have a chaotic element that defines the film's later actions. The bigger issue is that strength to overcome the central conflict instead of the long term traumatic aspects. Wahlberg's film could work as top notch action, but it doesn't really offer much emotional depth that makes us sympathize and understand what it means to sacrifice and be heroic. It's as simple as that. It wants to be the hero, but never shows the scars. To a certain extent, that's fine. However, it still would be nice to know if Wahlberg would be able to make a film where success wasn't entirely guaranteed at the end and that maybe things wouldn't end too well for him. Maybe he should see Breaking the Waves.
For a better story about what ocean drilling likely will do to you, there is director Lars von Trier to thank. While his film doesn't focus on the heightened chaos of an event like Deepwater Horizon, it does feature the aftermath that it has on everyone. When a man gets injured while working a drill, his wife begins to take care of him as he falls into damaging health issues. The film is separated into chapters, including the happy first half where everything is so blissful and perfect. It isn't until the latter that things begin to become challenging in ways that Deepwater Horizon likely would never be.
Where Wahlberg is too obsessed with masculine achievement, von Trier is key to vulnerability and faith. When a character gets injured, he finds himself grappling with the effect that it has on the loved ones. They are tormented and forced to do actions that go well beyond their comfort zone. They become pariahs for the sake of the injured. It's a powerful story that reflects a different kind of strength. It isn't one that's rewarded with Wahlberg's thick, muscle-bound arms. It is rewarded with the sense of pride that even when things went horribly wrong, there was someone there dedicated to maintaining the peace.
Breaking the Waves does have the added benefit of being a more in depth story with artistic cues that elevate its material. The film manages to create an intimacy between characters that builds and makes the final actions all the more devastating. It features great performances and even produces some profoundly deep questions about faith and what it means to be truthful. There's optimism and hope until there isn't. The film explores a strength that isn't as welcoming to Wahlberg's type of cinema, but it does feature an emotional understanding that he likely wouldn't understand even if we saw the aftermath of Deepwater Horizon.
If this seems like an abstract selection, it really isn't. Both involve brutal injuries aboard an oil drilling site. Both have a chaotic element that defines the film's later actions. The bigger issue is that strength to overcome the central conflict instead of the long term traumatic aspects. Wahlberg's film could work as top notch action, but it doesn't really offer much emotional depth that makes us sympathize and understand what it means to sacrifice and be heroic. It's as simple as that. It wants to be the hero, but never shows the scars. To a certain extent, that's fine. However, it still would be nice to know if Wahlberg would be able to make a film where success wasn't entirely guaranteed at the end and that maybe things wouldn't end too well for him. Maybe he should see Breaking the Waves.
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