Europa (1991)

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

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writers:

Lars von Trier, Niels Vørsel

Stars:

Barbara Sukowa, Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier

16 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

An American of German descent arrives in post-war Germany 1945. His uncle gets him a job on the Zentropa train line as a sleeping car conductor. The American's wish is to be neutral to the ongoing purges of loyalists by the Allied forces and do what he can to help a hurting country, but he finds himself being used by both the Americans and the influential family that owns the railroad. After falling in love with the railroad magnate's daughter, he finds that he can't remain neutral and must make some difficult choices.

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Plot Keywords:

germany | 1940s | train | sleeping car | american | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for scenes of violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Denmark Sweden France Germany Switzerland

Language:

English German

Release Date:

27 June 1991 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Zentropa

Filming Locations:

Chojna Cathedral, Chojna, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland

Box Office

Budget:

DKK 28,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,007,001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alicéléo, Coproduction Office, Det Danske Filminstitut

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Black and White Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lars von Trier: [Hypnosis] Max von Sydow's narration.

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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. On the count of ten, you will be in Europa. I say: one. And as you focus your attention entirely on my voice, you will slowly begin to relax. Two - your hands and your fingers are getting warmer and heavier. Three - ...

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Connections

Featured in Portræt af: Lars von Trier (1991)

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Soundtracks

Variation on a theme by Bernard Herrmann's score for the film 'Vertigo'
(Vertigo (1958))

User Reviews

As multipurpose at a Swiss Army knife

Von Trier has created a film that is a noir satire, a joke on psychotherapy, the last great hurrah for back-projection in movies (even tops "The Nasty Girl" in that depatment), a historical hoax, a satire of the Prussian work ethic, a satire of noir romances, and an indirect indictment on the firms which profited off twelve years of Hiterite insanity. The train is Germany, with Ernst-Hugo Jaregard and Jean Marc-Bar decked out as its' SS and military (notice the tunic design, the collar patch piping, the peaked caps, the fact that it's all black.) The Werewolves are taken from Reichspropagandaminister Goerbbles' last hat trick, that the Reich gov't. was prepping an army of saboteurs in 1944-45 to make occupation a misery. The Zentropa firm is a combination of the steel kingpin Krupp (which used slave labor at Auschwitz), and Deutche Reichsbahn (the state railway firm which sent so many to their deaths), along with others like Ford, who profited from Axis and Allied war efforts. Hence the burial sequence is doubly ironic; the Nazi war profiteer getting last rites in a ruined cattle car that was probably resposible for the oblivion of hundreds. The film leaves you with the suspicion that Nazism was an extreme expression of the German national psychology of sado-masochism and that 46 years later Hitler's shadow still stalked Europa (the cathedral scene was shot in an actual Polish cathedral which had been left roofless by the Communist Polish gov't.) I will say no more, but I do love the "Europa Aria" over the final credits. That song says more then I possibly could.