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Thoughts on Lars Von Trier’s ‘Europa’

The camera is looking down at a set of railroad tracks and the hypnotic voice of Max von Sydow says: “You will now listen to my voice. My voice will help you and guide you still deeper into Europa. Every time you hear my voice, with every word and every number, you will enter into a still deeper layer, open, relaxed and receptive. I shall now count from one to ten. On the count of ten, you will be in Europa. I say: one. And as your focus and attention are entirely on my voice, you will slowly begin to relax. Two, your hands and your fingers are getting warmer and heavier. Three, the warmth is spreading through your arms, to your shoulders and your neck. Four, your feet and your legs get heavier. Five, the warmth is spreading to the whole of your body. On six, I want you to go deeper. I say: six. And the whole of your relaxed body is slowly beginning to sink. Seven, you go deeper and deeper and deeper. Eight, on every breath you take, you go deeper. Nine, you are floating. On the mental count of ten, you will be in Europa. Be there at ten. I say: ten.”

This is how ‘Europa’, Lars Von Trier’s absorbing thriller, begins. Released in 1991 as the third part of his ‘Europa trilogy’, the film follows the story of Leopold Kessler (Jean-Marc Barr), a young and ‘idealistic’ American of German descent who returns to his homeland, a post-war Germany, to help rebuild a country that was torn apart by war and to show some compassion to the German people after the end of world war II. He arrives in an American- occupied territory, his uncle who works as a sleeping-car conductor, helps him and gets him a similar job for the mysterious Zentropa railway. He later meets the femme fatale Katherina Hartman (Barbara Sukowa) the daughter of the owner of the railway company on the train. Surprised by the unusual presence of an American who’s taking a civilian job in post war Germany, she asks him why he’s here, and as an idealist he naively told her about his good intentions. He gets invited to dinner at the house of the Hartman family, where he meets Colonel Harris (Eddie Constantine) an American old friend of Katherina’s father, Max. Max is living with an inner guilt because of his past with the Nazi regime and because under his surveillance the Zentropa railway has been used to transport Jews to the concentration camps. Later that night, Colonel Harris asks Leopold to obtain some information about a pro-Nazi group called “The werewolves” while doing his shifts on the train, a group who have murdered some German diplomats who have cooperated with the allies and caused a lot of damage and disrupt. Leo, who is now in love with Katherina, agreed. Leo begins a steamy relationship with Katherina and later, the werewolves start sending Max threatening letters because of his post-war cooperation with the Americans. Overcome by guilt because of his past with the Nazis, he commits suicide. The death of Max and Katherina’s later revelation that she used to be a member of the werewolves will make him take choices that go against his idealistic principles as he becomes involved in a Pro-Nazi Terrorist conspiracy.

Masterfully shot by cameraman Henning Bendtsen, ‘Europa’ is a rare example of how a film can use multiple visual styles while remaining faithful to the substance. It is considered an experimental film because of its unique and rich visual composition. It features black and white photography with occasional insertions of colored shots, actors genially interacting with rear-projected footage, hypnotic voice-over narration, double (and sometimes multiple)-exposures creating strikingly beautiful surreal images, dialogue that switches from one language to another and more. This compilation of styles worked perfectly because each style helped emphasizing a particular situation. The intrusions of colored shots were stunningly beautiful, but they highlighted a particular character or object that will eventually alter the plot and thicken the story. The multiple-exposures or the interaction with rear projected footage visually represent the psychological state of the actors, we can see what’s going on in their minds through the images. The interposition of images metaphorically represented a sense of perplexity and disorientation of a post war society. The use of two or more languages created an intended confusion that will stimulate the viewers’ curiosity and make them eager to analyze the scene or maybe watch it again. This is a dazzling interpretation of a rich material; Von Trier co-wrote a multi-layered text and visually executed it using every possible filming technique recalling the works of Welles, Hitchcock and Lynch and creating a dark, intense and exemplary war film that proved him to be, and I quote, a “movie-mad stylist”.

Europa’s  main element, the train, represents the passage of humanity toward destiny. ‘Europa’ is a rare instance in which voice-over is welcome in a movie. Wonderful and appropriate use of switching from monochrome to color, without feeling contrived. The conflicted loyalties of the naive antihero reflect the ambiguities of reviving a necessary corporation during reconstruction that had collaborated with the Nazis. The genuine shock of Max’s suicide. It is redolent of Kafka, and Reed’s “The Third Man”, and the clouded politics hints menacingly at the coming darkness of the cold war and the lingering cancer of Nazism.

‘Europa’ is Lars Von Trier at the peak of his career; unfortunately he later dragged himself into controversial but self-absorbed films that aim to shock and not to manipulate, and while getting the all the attention, none of his latter efforts are even comparable with this movie.