Europa (1991)

There are many words that can accurately describe Lars von Trier's pre-Dogme 95 masterpiece; hypnotic, neo-noir, innovative, but I'll go with visual feast. The film has so many reference points, the images recall silent Soviet cinema, German Expressionism, and noir to name a few (not to mention Polish realism thanks in large part to DP Edward Klosinksi, a frequent collaborator of Andrzej Wajda), this is a film truly worthy of its title. The groundbreaking filming techniques, which consist mainly of layering actors with previously filmed rear projections and mixing black & white with color, are still influencing directors as diverse as Robert Rodriguez and the Wachowski brothers (its hard to imagine Speed Racer existing as it does without the influence of Europa). Its clear that in my excitement I'm rambling a bit, so why don't I slow down and tell you what the films about.

A young American, Leopold Kessler (frequent von Trier collaborator Jean-Marc Barr), arrives in post-war Germany to fulfill his dream to become a sleeping car conductor for the successful Zentropa rail company so that he may show Germany some kindness after all the devastation the US had caused them. It is not long however before Nazi intrigue and American military interests lead our hero astray and he is forced to abandon his initial neutrality.

It's very interesting to see von Trier's early work, being the main architect of the Dogme 95 manifesto, because it is so incredibly dishonest in its images and storytelling. We are constantly witnessed to artificial construction and visual manipulation that it becomes maddeningly fruitless to try to determine what is layered over what, how this was filmed etc. But of course this is the point, just as we are unable to trust what we see, so is Kessler unable to trust those whose interests lie in his particular situation. Europa is a film that is likely to spur imitations for years to come, but it certainly will never be duplicated. B+

Other semi-related thoughts:

-Lookin forward to Antichrist, the trailer looks incredible.

-If you haven't seen it already, The Five Obstructions is required viewing.

-Max Von Sydow has such a powerful narrative voice. Eat your heart out Morgan Freeman.

-This is a movie that really deserves to be seen on the big screen