Europa Film Difficulty Ranking: 4
If you want to get an idea of how life was in Germany after the Second World War, Europa is your film. It recreates the inevitably nightmarish environment in a country shrouded by the horrors it has committed. It’s inventive, creative, and amazingly dark.
From: Germany, Europe
Watch: Trailer, Buy on Amazon
Next: Wings of Desire, Children of Men, Persona
Why Watch Europa?
- Experience the brilliance of the controversial director Lars von Trier
- To feel the darkness of post-war Germany
- For some amazing shots – such as a midnight mass in the ruins of a church and a steam train running through a tunnel
- If you liked the isolation of Wings of Desire or the post-apocalyptic world of Cuaron’s Children of Men
The Breakdown
The opening of Europa is brilliant. I could explain it in writing, but it’s always better to actually see it. Check it out in the YouTube clip below.
What’s unique about the opening, and the film in general, is the narrative. Lars von Trier uses it to foreshadow the protagonist’s emotions as well as events in the film by telling us how to feel and what is going to happen to us. As a result, you’ll begin to see the film (and Germany’s position after the war) as completely in the hands of a hypnotic narrator. After astounding the world with the Holocaust and the War, they are now resigned to their fate to follow the narrator.
Their resignation to fate is also embodied in the train which the American visitor (Kessler) tries to run as a conductor. The train endlessly runs between the West, East, and South of Germany without any clear reason why it is continuing to run. But the important thing is for the train to keep running even if the destination keeps changing. For the train is like post-war Germany, to stop would give the passengers time to reflect on their part in the horrific war crimes. It must keep going even if one’s friends, family, or personal safety is at risk (this is emphasised in the last few scenes where the importance of Kessler’s conductor examination comes before his and the passengers safety). As a result, their past can be left behind and hopefully forgotten.
What to Watch Next?
If you want to watch another film set in Germany with a similar dark feel as Europa, check out Wings of Desire. It’s a film set in Berlin before the collapse of the Berlin wall. Whilst it’s more contemplative and calm than Europa it still feels dark and lonely.
Or if you want to see a more accessible post-apocalyptic film, check out Children of Men. Whilst the style of the two films are very different, the scenario/setting is pretty similar.
Or if you’re up for another piece of experimental genius, check out Ingmar Bergman’s Persona. Like Europa you’ll be controlled by the director’s will.
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