Movie Description
Lars von Trier's bizarre yarn concerns Leopold Kessler (Jean-Marc Barr), a German American who becomes involved in a surreal nightmare in postwar Germany. Leopold travels to Germany in order to help restore the ravaged countryside. His uncle (Ernst-Hugo Jaregard) gets him a job as a sleeping-car conductor with a giant railway complex called Zentropa. On his first day, Leopold is seduced by Katharina Hartmann (Barbara Sukowa), who just so happens to be the daughter of Zentropa's owner. Leopold blindly falls for Katharina, unaware that she is about to draw him into a maze of suspense and intrigue involving pro-Nazi terrorists.
Opening with a hypnotizing image of rolling train tracks and a somber voice-over by Max Von Sydow, ZENTROPA unfolds calculatedly and ambiguously. Von Trier employs a series of ingenious technical tricks, using rear projection as well as cutting between color and black-and-white, in order to give his film a dazzling visual presentation. The result is a mysterious thriller that will beg for a second viewing once the final credits have rolled.
| Credits | | Cast: | Barbara Sukowa, Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, Jean-Marc Barr |
Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus, Disappointed that his film didn't win the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Palme d'Or, von Trier took a jab at jury president Roman Polanski by thanking "the midget" when he accepted the Grand Jury Prize.
The English subtitles are yellow.
Editorial Reviews
"...[Von Trier is] fearless in showing off his cinematic know-how....Powerfully played by [Sukowa]..."
New York Times - p.C14 - Stephen Holden (05/22/1992)
"...A comic-fantasy nightmare of the wickedest kind. It utilizes high-tech mixed media, audacious rear projection and shifts in pigment..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars
USA Today - p.4D - Mike Clark (07/22/1992)
"...The movie conceals its trump cards smartly, then plays them to full dramatic effect....It is a splendid movie..."
Film Comment - p.2-4 - Mary Corliss (09/01/1991)
"...Visually arresting..."
Sight and Sound - Paul Burston (04/01/1995)
"...It's innovative in its technique....Von Trier works up an inky, hermetic nightmare universe that is visually eloquent..."
Los Angeles Times - p.F6 - Peter Rainer (07/17/1992)
"...Striking and visually beautiful..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (07/03/1992)
"Lars von Trier's first big splash was this lucid-dreamt 1991 ride deep into the heart of postwar guilt."
Film Comment - Nicolas Rapold (11/01/2008)
"It's one part CASABLANCA, two parts ERASERHEAD, and all parts excellent." -- Grade: A
Entertainment Weekly - Aubry D'Arminio (12/19/2008)
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