You're never sure where you will find yourself when you watch a film by director Lars Von Trier. The style, environment and even color scheme of his movies differ drastically depending on the story he's trying to tell. "Europa" or "Zentropa" as it is commonly referred to, brings us to post world war 2 Germany. The film is shot mostly in black and white, with color dispersed intermittently within scenes to highlight important elements and during the few happy scenes that Europa has to offer. An American named Leopold Kessler moves to Germany just after the war and takes a job as a car conductor at the Zentropa railway network. Leopold falls in love with a woman tied to a pro Nazi group of extremist and finds himself entrenched in a conspiracy to blow up one of the Zentropa trains. Leopold's conflict stems from his desire to bring some good onto a darkened world. He believes that through kindness and charity, he can help lead the war torn country towards a brighter future. The conspiracy reflects Leopold's struggle to do what he feels is right and his desire to fix everyone's problems on his own. In the final scene, we see one of the Zentropa trains submerged under water as a result of the terrorist attack enacted by Leopold himself. We see Leopold trapped inside the sinking train unable to escape his fate. The problems of the world proved to much for him to take on alone and ultimately destroyed him making the world an even darker place. Europa shows us how fragile the line between good and evil is and how those determine to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders will inevitably be crushed

Von Trier's last instalment of his European trilogy (also including "The Element Of Crime" and "Epidemic") probably remains his best film.We follow Leopold Kessler, half German and half American, as he returns to Germany after the World War Two. Having fled during the war to avoid an army service, he finds Germany in total disarray, but stays because "by taking a job as a civilian here is a small contribution towards making the world a better place" and "it's time someone showed this country a little kindness". Kessler then is a good-natured man and an idealist who gets trapped in a Kafka-like nightmare, having no control whatsoever on the proceedings, and probably the ultimate victim of the film.With the aid of his uncle, Kessler finds a job on the Zentropa train line, but he soon finds himself involved in an espionage intrigue.Germany is a wretched place. The allies are restructuring the place to their own needs (partly by destroying the infrastructure), while a group of terrorists called Werewolves are sabotaging the allies' plans.As a priest observes during a conversation with Kessler: "god represents the two sides mankind; he easily forgives those who defy him because they believe in something with all their heart, but he never forgives the unfaithful, the careless and indecisive; god condemns those in eternal confusion; if you're neutral you're rejected. Coincidentally Kessler is exactly that.As things get more and more out of control, in the final showdown (when it turns that Kessler's amour Katharina Hartmann is a Werewolf), she admits: "everybody here has been through a war; you can't compare yourself to us, everybody here has killed or betrayed -directly or indirectly- thousands of times, just to survive" and "a werewolf is only a werewolf at nights, during the days it's a human creature".But all this wouldn't aspire to much if it wasn't for Von Trier's direction. Basically a post-modernist expressionist thriller, but also with lots of black humour, Von Trier builds on the experiments of "The Element Of Crime" and "Medea". Not only is this an inspired blend of colour and B&W, but also a fascinating collage of powerful images, including some which belong in the pantheon of cinema (like the one when Kessler sees Katharina, while held captive in a car by a Werewolf).Occasionally the works of Fritz Lang and Hitchcock come to mind, but Von Trier uses humanist drama to promote his philosophical views. That is the difference with his latter films, say, Manderlay. Here Von trier uses cinema's arsenal as the ultimate vehicle to build timeless myths and fairy-tales.The ending even adds a spiritual twist, with Kessler seemingly eternally trapped in the vortex of Europa (even though dead), while all the film was narrated by a god-like figure.

Lars Von Trier is never backward in trying out new techniques. Some of them are very original while others are best forgotten.He depicts postwar Germany as a nightmarish train journey. With so many cities lying in ruins, Leo Kessler a young American of German descent feels obliged to help in their restoration. It is not a simple task as he quickly finds out.His uncle finds him a job as a night conductor on the Zentropa Railway Line. His job is to attend to the needs of the passengers. When the shoes are polished a chalk mark is made on the soles. A terrible argument ensues when a passenger's shoes are not chalked despite the fact they have been polished. There are many allusions to the German fanaticism of adherence to such stupid details.The railway journey is like an allegory representing man's procession through life with all its trials and tribulations. In one sequence Leo dashes through the back carriages to discover them filled with half-starved bodies appearing to have just escaped from Auschwitz . These images, horrible as they are, are fleeting as in a dream, each with its own terrible impact yet unconnected.At a station called Urmitz Leo jumps from the train with a parceled bomb. In view of many by-standers he connects the bomb to the underside of a carriage. He returns to his cabin and makes a connection to a time clock. Later he jumps from the train (at high speed) and lies in the cool grass on a river bank. Looking at the stars above he decides that his job is to build and not destroy. Subsequently as he sees the train approaching a giant bridge he runs at breakneck speed to board the train and stop the clock. If you care to analyse the situation it is a completely impossible task. Quite ridiculous in fact. It could only happen in a dream.It's strange how one remembers little details such as a row of cups hanging on hooks and rattling away with the swaying of the train.Despite the fact that this film is widely acclaimed, I prefer Lars Von Trier's later films (Breaking the Waves and The Idiots). The bomb scene described above really put me off. Perhaps I'm a realist.

Wow, here's a strange film, at least visually. This Danish-German movie is a combination of black-and-white and color. Most of the time, the color is just used for one or two items in a scene, such as someone's face, or an object on screen.The narration is from a person who talks like a hypnotist (and sounds stupid, most of the time.) It negates the fascinating visuals. The story is just so weak and confusing that after 45 minutes, it's tough to stay interested. It's a depressing post WWII-Germany story. Note: this is the third film in a trilogy by director-writer Lars Von Trier. In fairness, I should see this on DVD, and the other two films. The visuals might be so good on that format that I could tolerate the story.