Zentropa
Zentropa ★★ Europa 1992 (R)
Clever cinematic allusions and visuals aside, this is essentially a conventional thriller. German-American pacifist Leopold travels to Germany in 1945 to help in the postwar rebuilding. He finds work as a sleeping-car conductor for a giant railway system called Zentropa and finds himself romancing the mysterious Katharina, who draws the hapless Leopold into an intrigue involving Nazi sympathizers. Director von Trier uses the voice of Von Sydow as an omniscient narrator to address the audience and move the story along. Filmed primarily in black-and-white with bursts of color denoting dramatic moments. In English and German with English subtitles. 112m/C VHS, DVD . GE Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa, Udo Kier, Eddie Constantine; D: Lars von Trier; W: Niels Vorsel, Lars von Trier; Nar: Max von Sydow.