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.

ZENTROPA is an alluring film that follows a German-American pacifist as he travels to Germany to help the country rebuild. Working on the railway Zentropa, he becomes involved with the daughter of the railway owner, who lures him into becoming a pawn in a pro-Nazi terrorist scheme. Lars von Trier's stylish thriller features hypnotic narration by the legendary Max von Sydow and is filmed with a variety of inventive visual techniques, resulting in another truly original motion picture.

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.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Interactive Features:
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Scene Access

Jean-Marc Barr: French Actor
Barbara Sukowa: German Actress
Ernst-Hugo Jaregard: Danish actor - The Kingdom

Lars von Trier: Danish Director/Screenwriter

"...The movie conceals its trump cards smartly, then plays them to full dramatic effect....It is a splendid movie..."
"...Striking and visually beautiful..."
"...Visually arresting..."
"Lars von Trier's first big splash was this lucid-dreamt 1991 ride deep into the heart of postwar guilt."
"It's one part CASABLANCA, two parts ERASERHEAD, and all parts excellent." -- Grade: A
"...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
"...It's innovative in its technique....Von Trier works up an inky, hermetic nightmare universe that is visually eloquent..."
"...[Von Trier is] fearless in showing off his cinematic know-how....Powerfully played by [Sukowa]..."