having never had a great deal of luck with lars von trier i approached europa with some trepidition. granted, my previous endeveours within his work all circled around that of the dogme period, and this looked very different. europa centres around the story of a young american man who heads to germany after the second world war in order to work with his uncle as a ''sleeping car conductor''.
the look of the film is what appeals most. using lots of back projection von trier creates a world that is reminescent of the type of film one would expect from the period of the films setting, but is almost cutting edge in its satirical note. as a fan of canadian avant-garde filmmaker guy maddin i noted many similiarities between europa and his work, be it in the use of film type and the style of the dialogue. it is said in the liner notes for criterion's new release that europa inhabits a setting that is an "oddly futuristic past", a description that i would wholeheartedly agree with.
one final note; max von sydow's iconic narration is outstanding. its a key ingredient with regards to clarifying the intended state of mind necessary with regards to viewing the film in the best way possible.
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