Europa (1992)

Pretty Good

Don't Believe the Hype

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

You're never sure where you will find yourself when you watch a film by director Lars Von Trier. The style, environment and even color scheme of his movies differ drastically depending on the story he's trying to tell. "Europa" or "Zentropa" as it is commonly referred to, brings us to post world war 2 Germany. The film is shot mostly in black and white, with color dispersed intermittently within scenes to highlight important elements and during the few happy scenes that Europa has to offer. An American named Leopold Kessler moves to Germany just after the war and takes a job as a car conductor at the Zentropa railway network. Leopold falls in love with a woman tied to a pro Nazi group of extremist and finds himself entrenched in a conspiracy to blow up one of the Zentropa trains. Leopold's conflict stems from his desire to bring some good onto a darkened world. He believes that through kindness and charity, he can help lead the war torn country towards a brighter future. The conspiracy reflects Leopold's struggle to do what he feels is right and his desire to fix everyone's problems on his own. In the final scene, we see one of the Zentropa trains submerged under water as a result of the terrorist attack enacted by Leopold himself. We see Leopold trapped inside the sinking train unable to escape his fate. The problems of the world proved to much for him to take on alone and ultimately destroyed him making the world an even darker place. Europa shows us how fragile the line between good and evil is and how those determine to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders will inevitably be crushed

Just after World War II, an American takes a railway job in Germany, but finds his position politically sensitive with various people trying to use him.I waited too long to write this review, so I cannot do it justice until a second viewing. But it is a perfect storm of European genius. Max von Sydow narrating, Udo Kier appearing (as he does in many of von Trier's works). And the amalgamation of Europe on a train...What sells this film is the visuals, hands down. Von Trier's mix of black and white and classic color give this quite the dreamlike feel. That, mixed with the Kafkaesque plot, and you are sucked into an imaginary world of real life... perhaps not unlike David Cronenberg's "Naked Lunch".

Piece of subtle art. Maybe a masterpiece. Doubtlessly a special story about the ambiguity of existence. Tale in Kafka style about impossibility of victory or surviving in a perpetual strange world. The life is, in this film, only exercise of adaptation. Lesson about limits and original sin, about the frailty of innocence and error of his ways.Leopold Kessle is another Joseph K. Images of Trial and same ambiguous woman. And Europa is symbol of basic crisis who has many aspects like chimeric wars or unavailing search of truth/essence/golden age.Methaphor or parable, the movie is history of disappointed's evolution. War, peace, business or lie are only details of gelatin-time. Hypocrisy is a mask. Love- a convention. The sacrifice- only method to hope understanding a painful reality.

Wow, here's a strange film, at least visually. This Danish-German movie is a combination of black-and-white and color. Most of the time, the color is just used for one or two items in a scene, such as someone's face, or an object on screen.The narration is from a person who talks like a hypnotist (and sounds stupid, most of the time.) It negates the fascinating visuals. The story is just so weak and confusing that after 45 minutes, it's tough to stay interested. It's a depressing post WWII-Germany story. Note: this is the third film in a trilogy by director-writer Lars Von Trier. In fairness, I should see this on DVD, and the other two films. The visuals might be so good on that format that I could tolerate the story.