Europa - Criterion Collection
by Lars von Trier
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barbara Sukowa, Jean-Marc Barr, Max Von SydowDirector: Lars von Trier
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); German (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-12-09
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Criterion Collection
Movie Reviews of Europa - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: Definitely worth watching, but ultimately hollow and a missed opportunity...
Summary: 3 Stars
This is one of Von Trier's most unseen films. It was initially released as Zentropa (the name of Lars's production company) to avoid confusion with Europa, Europa. When it was released on home video initially, it was a pan and scan print that did no justice to the film. Now, Criterion has put it out in a stunning, 2.35:1 DVD, so is it a good film?
There is much to like in Europa. The cinematography and the mise-en-scene is beautiful. Von Trier's early work (this film and The Element of Crime, his debut) show a great eye for composition and framing that was abandoned in his later work for a hand held, jump cut style. He also uses long takes in this film quite well, and the film has one of the more unique looks in his filmography. It is mostly shot in black and white with splashes of color. There are a lot of back screen projections that give the film a real sense of nightmare, and it works quite well.
There are some very funny moments, especially with Ernst-Hugo J?reg?rd as the uncle who gets his American nephew, Jean-Marc Barr, a job working in Germany after WWII. He gives the best performance in the film. Jean-Marc Barr's performance is good, but his character is rather one note. Barr's character is so simplistically written he might as well have had "idealist" tattooed to his forehead. In fact, the script of Europa is the weakest thing about the film. You can marvel at the look of the film (and it does look fantastic), but ultimately, it's not an insightful look at post-war Germany. Most of the dialogue is expository, and most of the characters feel like caricatures, not real people. In fact, aside from Ernst-Hugo J?reg?rd's character (which is very funny), the whole cast (with former Fassbinder regulars Barbara Sukowa & Udo Kier, and Godard and Fassbinder regular Eddie Constantine) slog their way through their one note characterisations. They're such good actors that they're worth watching, but I wish they had more to do.
While they are some amazing shots in this film, it's a rather hollow film. Still, I did like it, even though I felt it could have been much more profound.
Summary of Europa - Criterion Collection
You will now listen to my voice . . . On the count of ten you will be in Europa . . ." So begins Max von Sydow s opening narration to Lars von Trier s hypnotic Europa (known in the U.S. as Zentropa), a fever dream in which American pacifist Leopold Kessler (Jean-Marc Barr) stumbles into a job as a sleeping-car conductor for the Zentropa railways in a Kafkaesque 1945 postwar Frankfurt. With its gorgeous black-and-white and color imagery and meticulously recreated (if then nightmarishly deconstructed) costumes and sets, Europa is one of the great Danish filmmaker s weirdest and most wonderful works, a runaway train ride to an oddly futuristic past.SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalb?k Jensen (in Danish)
The Making of Europa (1991), a documentary following the film from storyboarding to production
Trier s Element (1991), a documentary featuring an interview with von Trier, and footage from the set and Europa s Cannes premiere and press conference
Anecdotes from Europa (2005), a short documentary featuring interviews with film historian Peter Schepelern, actor Jean-Marc Barr, producer Peter Aalb?k Jensen, assistant director T?mas Gislason, co-writer Niels V?rsel, and prop master Peter Grant
2005 interviews with cinematographer Henning Bendtsen, composer Joachim Holbek, costume designer Manon Rasmussen, film-school teacher Mogens Rukov, editor/director T?mas Gislason, producer Peter Aalb?k Jensen, art director Peter Grant, actor Michael Simpson, production manager Per Arman, actor Ole Ernst
A conversation with Lars von Trier from 2005, in which the director speaks about the Europa trilogy
Europa The Faecal Location (2005), a short film by Gislason
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Howard Hampton
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