Europa(a.k.a. Zentropa)

Max von Sydow’s ominously hypnotic voice-over inaugurates the final instalment of von Trier’s fever dream of postwar Europe wreckage. The highly idiosyncratic mystery traces the journey of an idealistic American who, taking a job as a train conductor in postwar Germany, finds himself plunged into a Kafkaesque world of intrigue, betrayal and revenge. Flamboyant for his disjointed style and bravura visual pyrotechnics using double exposures, rear projections and trick photography, the ambitious director places his characters inside a multi-layered universe under the shadow of Nazi menace, conjuring a moral tragedy – alongside ostentatious visual grandiose.

Cannes Film Festival: Jury Prize, Technical Grand Prize and Best Artistic Contribution

18/1 (Sat): Film talk with Bryan Chang