Europa
"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 Features
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary featuring director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen (in Danish, with English subtitles)
- 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 Aalbæk Jensen, assistant director Tómas Gislason, co-writer Niels Vørsel, 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 Tómas Gislason, producer Peter Aalbæk 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
New cover by Jason Hardy
Special Features
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary featuring director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen (in Danish, with English subtitles)
- 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 Aalbæk Jensen, assistant director Tómas Gislason, co-writer Niels Vørsel, 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 Tómas Gislason, producer Peter Aalbæk 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
New cover by Jason Hardy
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Cast
- Jean-Marc Barr
- Leopold Kessler
- Barbara Sukowa
- Katharina Hartmann
- Udo Kier
- Lawrence Hartmann
- Ernst-Hugo Järegård
- Uncle Kessler
- Henning Jensen
- Siggy
- Erik Mørk
- Pater
- Eddie Constantine
- Colonel Harris
- Max von Sydow
- Narrator
Credits
- Director
- Lars von Trier
- Producer
- Peter Aalbæk Jensen
- Producer
- Bo Christensen
- Executive producers
- Gerard Mital
- Executive producers
- Gunnar Obel
- Executive producers
- Patrick Godeau
- Executive producers
- François Duplat
- Screenplay
- Lars von Trier
- Screenplay
- Niels Vørsel
- Cinematography
- Henning Bendtsen
- Cinematography
- Jean-Paul Meurisse
- Cinematography
- Edward Klosinsky
- Production design
- Henning Bahs
- Music
- Joakim Holbek
- Costume designer
- Manon Rasmussen
- Editing
- Hervé Schneid
- Sound designer
- Per Streit Jensen
- Sound recordist
- Pierre Excoffier
