Europa (1991)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writers:

Lars von Trier (writer) &
Niels Vørsel (writer)

Release Date:

27 June 1991 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Just after WW2, an American takes a railway job in Germany, but finds his position politically sensitive with various people trying to use him.

Plot Keywords:

American | Germany | Train | Uncle | Sleeping Car

Awards:

16 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Jean-Marc Barr	...	Leopold Kessler
Barbara Sukowa	...	Katharina Hartmann
Udo Kier	...	Lawrence Hartmann
Ernst-Hugo Järegård	...	Uncle Kessler
Erik Mørk	...	Pater
Jørgen Reenberg	...	Max Hartmann
Henning Jensen	...	Siggy
Eddie Constantine	...	Colonel Harris
Max von Sydow	...	Narrator (voice)
Benny Poulsen	...	Steleman
Erno Müller	...	Seifert
Dietrich Kuhlbrodt	...	Inspector
Michael Phillip Simpson	...	Robins
Holger Perfort	...	Mr. Ravenstein
Anne Werner Thomsen	...	Mrs. Ravenstein

Also Known As:

Europa (Sweden)
Zentropa

MPAA:

Rated R for mature treatment of holocaust issues.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Denmark | Sweden | France | Germany | Switzerland

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White | Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Italy:T | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Chojna Cathedral, Chojna, Poland

Company:

Alicéléo

Trivia:

The final film in Lars von Trier's 'Europa' trilogy which illuminates the traumas of Europe in the future. The two other parts are Forbrydelsens element (1984) and Epidemic (1987).

Quotes:

[opening lines]
Narrator: You will now listen to my voice. My voice will help you and guide you still deeper into Europa. Every time you hear my voice, with every word and every number, you will enter into a still deeper layer, open, relaxed and receptive. I shall now count from one to ten...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Antichrist (2009)

Soundtrack:

Europa Aria

Manipulation

Von Trier once explained how he created such strong involvement from the viewer with his movies by placing his movie world in about the middle of the real world and the imagined world. So as viewers we think we watch a "true" story while in fact we are thoroughly manipulated, often to the point that the movie works disturbing (Dancer in the Dark) or painful (The Idiots/ Idioterne). Of course the Dogme-films acted only as a vehicle for this theory (besides creating some welcome spotlight on Von Trier).

The story is typical for Von Trier: our hero is idealistic, seems to balance his relations with everybody else, but soon becomes the victim of the problems others have created in the past for themselves. The idealist inevitably has to reject society in order to stay idealistic and becomes the terrorist. Mankind is spoiled and purity only leads to (self-)destruction. (These elements were also very omnipresent in Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark.) The movie is also full of cynical (even humorous) undertones about the role of the Germans and Americans in post-war Germany.

As a technical achievement the movie is wonderfully designed: shifting and fading washed-out colors, screen overlays, action on different overlays (with the shooting of the soon-to-be mayor as the most interesting). In this movie we can see how good Von Trier's handles film as a technical medium. In his later works he seems to step down from this (as if he is not longer interested in technical achievements because they become so easily available).