One Day in Europe (2005)

Truly Dreadful Film

People are voting emotionally.

i must have seen a different film!!

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This amiable journey takes us to four European cities in the course of one day, with stories that feature the stumbles, misunderstandings and possible friendships in a Europe trying to become more unified. There are some common threads to help us see the pattern. In Moscow, an unpleasant Kate, an English woman, has her luggage stolen and must depend on the kindness of Ludmilla, a middle-aged, buxom Russian woman. Vodka and dill pickles help. In Istanbul, Rocco, a German student fakes the theft of his luggage for the insurance, and then finds himself with Celal, a taxi driver who is determined to help find the thieves, and then help him with the police. In Santiago de Compostela, Gabor, a Hungarian on a pilgrimage to the great places of faith, has his digital camera stolen with all the pictures he's taken. Sergeant Barreira, the local policeman, is helpful in between visits to his wife, mistress and local bar for wine. In Berlin, Claude and Rachida, two street entertainers from France who can't speak German, are having trouble surviving. Faking a mugging and claiming their luggage was stolen seems like a good idea. Well, at least they have each other when two Berlin police are skeptical. All this happens when, in Moscow, Galatasaray is playing Deportivo la Corunna in soccer's Champion's League Final. If there is one common passion that might unify Europe, it's clear that soccer is that passion. While the crowds wave their teams' flags in the streets of all four cities, even the cops are holed up in their offices watching the game on television. It's also clear that the Euro might not be meeting its advocates' unifying expectations. Every police station and taxi driver we meet keeps whipping out calculators to figure costs in "real" money, their outdated national currencies. There are, thank goodness, no expositions on the human condition or on our common humanity, just four stories where people manage to help others, even if the help is frustratingly arrived at. The only downbeat lesson is that spending a day in a Moscow or Istanbul police station filling out forms is something to avoid. The four episodes are nicely acted and we get to see parts of four great cities that are off the tourist routes. There are some relationships that are just fine to watch, especially Kate and Ludmilla in Moscow and Rocco and Celal in Istanbul. One Day in Europe may not, in my view, add up to more than four pleasant and amusing stories, but that's a pretty good average for a filmmaker.

I've just watched the DVD of this movie. I feel it interesting, and I consider the difference of the different country's culture and languages is similar to China. But unlike European divided countries, China is huge country with 23 different provinces. Each province is equals the size of an European country. Each Chinese province has its unique culture, localisms, dialects,etc. Especially in the southern provinces, even in one province, people from different cities or counties can't understand each other if they just speak their own dialect. Like this movie, people in Europe usually could speak English. In China, people usually could speak "mandarin" which is the Chinese official language. But at Guangdong or Hongkong, people prefer Cantonese to mandarin. So usually when people from northern arrive in Hongkong at first time, he or she will find that the native may understand what he says, but he he could understand nothing of what the native says. That's just about the language the Han People, in fact, there are 56 different nationalities in China. Welcome to China!

A very nicely done movie; this could be a good first feature preceding "Night on Earth". It's a bit more straight-forward; save the Jarmusch for dessert.The unifying plot element is a soccer match in Moscow between teams from Spain and Turkey. The secondary element is luggage insurance: in each of the four vignettes the recovery of money for lost baggage is either desired or assumed. (No deeper meaning.) The Englishwoman in Moscow gets ripped off. The German in Istanbul is trying to rip off. The Hungarian pilgrim in Spain only wants his photos of the holy places returned. The French couple are trying to make their so far unsuccessful trip to Berlin more profitable than it has been.In each there is good acting and a great presentation on the language barrier. It's comforting to know it's not only Americans who can't speak the language. The lack of understanding is secondary to the half-understandings and slight misunderstandings, often made even more comedic by the (very slight) national profiling in play. None of the characters seem too much like their own national stereotype, yet most assume the other nationalities have a particular character.And although I listed this as containing spoilers, I won't tell you who wins the soccer shootout (you'll need to stay through the credits for that!).

One day in Europe shows stories set in four European countries. All of them involve thievery in some way or the other. The protagonists are strangers in the respective country. For none of them their stay turns out as planned. With sympathetic mockery a small share of each of the different cultures is highlighted. The film uses characteristics typically attributed to the countries and weaves numerous funny events around, without becoming stereotypical. Especially the police scenes are fun to watch.Straight forward directing and a good ensemble cast. The script cleverly uses the potential provided by language barriers. All in all the movie is quite entertaining and shows why Europe really is to enjoy.