Europa (1991 film)

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Europa
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLars von Trier
Written by
  • Lars von Trier
  • Niels Vørsel
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byHervé Schneid
Music byJoachim Holbek
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Nordisk Film Biografdistribution (Denmark; through Constantin-Fox-Nordisk[4])
  • Svenska Filminstitutet (Sweden)[4]
  • UGC Distribution (France)[5]
  • NEF Filmverleih (Germany)[5]
Release dates
  • 12 May 1991 (1991-05-12) (Cannes)[1]
  • 22 June 1991 (1991-06-22) (Germany)
  • 16 August 1991 (1991-08-16) (Denmark)
  • 13 November 1991 (1991-11-13) (France)
  • 25 November 1991 (1991-11-25) (Sweden)
Running time
114 minutes[6]
Countries
Languages
  • English
  • German
Budget
Box office$1 million[7]

Europa (known as Zentropa in North America) is a 1991 experimental psychological drama period film[8][9] directed and co-written by Lars von Trier. The film is an international co-production between Denmark and five other European countries, it is von Trier's third theatrical feature film, and the third and final installment in his Europa trilogy, following The Element of Crime (1984) and Epidemic (1987).[10]

The film features an international ensemble cast, including Germans Barbara Sukowa and Udo Kier, expatriate American Eddie Constantine, and Swedes Max von Sydow and Ernst-Hugo Järegård. This was German-born French-American Jean-Marc Barr's first collaboration of a series of films with von Trier.

Europa was influenced by Franz Kafka's Amerika, and the title was chosen "as an echo" of that novel.[11] The music, including the main theme, was composed by von Trier's ex-brother-in-law and frequent collaborator Joachim Holbek, who also composed Riget (1991-2022) and Manderlay (2005).

Plot[edit]

In the U.S.-occupied zone of Germany after the end of World War II, the entire population is under close surveillance.

A young American of German descent, Leopold Kessler, comes to Germany and gets a job as a train conductor for the railway company Zentropa with his uncle. Leopold sees Germany from the perspective of moving trains, train stations or dormitories. As he tries unsuccessfully to conform to society's rules, he witnesses the country's inner turmoil and the aftermath of its recent past.

Before that, he falls in love with a young German woman, Katharina, the younger sister of Lawrence Hartmann and daughter of the founder of Zentropa, Max Hartmann, who is secretly associated with a group of underground Nazi terrorist conspiracy Werwolf. Katharina invites Kessler to dinner at her half-bombed family mansion. With the help of false testimony from a Jewish American, who claims he was the lifesaver, Max Hartmann receives a clean bill of health and is rehabilitated, but he later commits suicide out of shame. Later, Leopold marries Katharina in the cathedral, but shortly afterwards she disappears without a trace.

One day, the Werwolf group demands that Kessler use explosives to blow up the train. He makes the necessary preparations, but he then rediscovers Katharina, who makes the same demand of him. He tries to tell an American officer about the explosives, but circumstances prevent him from doing so. At this time, Leopold's superiors are trying to test his professional suitability. In desperation, he plants the explosives and sets the clockwork, but pity for the potential victims makes him turn it off.

In the meantime, the occupation authorities have uncovered the Werwolf cell. Kessler sees Katharina in handcuffs. She convinces him that it was he who made the mistake, because there are no innocent people in Germany, since during the war years its citizens either killed or betrayed. Kessler, driven to despair, pulls the emergency brake to prevent the train from leaving Germany, and reluctantly decides to detonate the explosives after all. As a result, one of the trains explodes on the bridge as intended. It crashes into the river and several people are killed, including Kessler's uncle and Katharina. Kessler too is drowned in the sunken train, and floats out to sea.

Cast[edit]

Style[edit]

Screenshot illustrating the film's use of black and white images mixed with colour, and of characters interacting with back projections.

Europa employs an experimental style of cinema, combining largely black and white visuals with occasional intrusions of colour (which later inspired Steven Spielberg's 1993 Holocaust film Schindler's List), having actors interact with rear-projected footage, and layering different images over one another to surreal effect. The voice-over narration uses an unconventional second-person narrative imitative of a hypnotist.

The film's characters, music, dialogue, and plot are self-consciously melodramatic and ironically imitative of film noir conventions.

Morando Morandini writes: "More than the characters, what counts is the technical-formalistic apparatus: color contrasted with black and white, superimpositions, distorting lenses, dynamic camera, expressionistic-style set designs. Anti-German in substance, it is profoundly German in form".[12]

Production[edit]

The film was shot throughout Poland (Chojna Cathedral (Marienkirche) and the Chojna Roundhouse) and in Denmark (Nordisk Film studios, Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Dansk Hydraulisk Institut). The cathedral where the main characters are getting married is that of Chojna, whose roof was destroyed by the Soviet army during the war.

Von Trier's production company, Zentropa Entertainments, is named after the sinister railway network featured in this film, which is in turn named after the real-life train company Mitropa.

Reception[edit]

Europa was released as Zentropa in North America to avoid confusion with Europa Europa (1990).

Critical reception[edit]

The film received largely positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 82% score based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10.[13]

The Lexicon of International Film gave a positive review: "A straightforwardly told mixture of thriller and melodrama, which is based on the classic role models of the genres, but goes beyond the given limits due to its unusual visual creative will. At the same time, an attempt is made to use film as a means of mass suggestion. Worth seeing because of the optically sophisticated form".[14]

Accolades[edit]

The film won three awards at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival (Best Artistic Contribution, Jury Prize, and Technical Grand Prize).[10] Upon realizing that he had not won the Palme d'Or, von Trier gave the judges the finger and stormed out of the venue.[15]

In 1991, the film received the Grand Prix for Best Film at Film Fest Gent.

Home media[edit]

The Criterion Collection released the film on DVD in 2008. The package contained several documentaries on the film and an audio commentary by von Trier. In 2023, Criterion released a 4K restoration of the film as part of the Blu-ray box set, Lars von Trier's Europe Trilogy.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Stevenson, Jack (2002). Lars von Trier. British Film Institute. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-85170-902-4. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d "Europa (1991)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  3. ^ Lasagna, Roberto; Lena, Sandra (12 May 2003). Lars von Trier. Gremese Editore. p. 123. ISBN 978-88-7301-543-7. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Europa (1991)". Lumiere. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Zentropa (1991)". Unifrance. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  6. ^ "EUROPA (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 25 February 1992. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Zentropa (1992)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  8. ^ Europa (1991), retrieved 13 October 2022
  9. ^ Zentropa (1991) - Lars von Trier | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie, retrieved 13 October 2022
  10. ^ a b "Festival de Cannes: Europa". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  11. ^ Lars Von Trier: Interviews, pp. 82-83
  12. ^ Europa - MYmovies
  13. ^ "Zentropa (Europa) (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Europa". www.filmdienst.de (in German). Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Zentropa". Chicago Sun-Times.
  16. ^ "Europa". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 14 August 2023.

External links[edit]