ornamental line

Forwards or Backwards

"And there's the feelinlg that I don't know in which direction the train is moving.
I don't know if we're moving forwards or backwards."
Lars von Trier's Europa (1991)


Points for Reflection

Lars von Trier's Europa (1991)

  1. does von Trier’s film implicitly sympathize with the Germans living through post-WWII reconstruction?
  2. does Colonel Harris, the primary representative on screen of America’s post-war occupation forces, provide a righteous foil for German villainy?  Why might von Trier give him so much screen time?
  3. when Jews show up in the story, what emotion does von Trier stoke in the audience towards them?
  4. von Trier attempts to draw us into the perspective of Leopold Kessler from the very start, mesmerizing us with a hypnotic voice that counts 1-10 as we gaze at passing railroad tracks.  Does Von Trier encourage us to viewer the story’s events primarily from Leo’s perspective?
  5. do the narrator’s periodic voiceovers interrupt the flow of events, or draw us deeper into the storyline?
  6. does von Trier intend his viewer to sympathize with the actions of Siggy and the other Werewolves?
  7. does Leo, a returning German expatriate, succeed in his efforts to help with reconstruction?
  8. would you class Leo as street-smart or naïve, a realist or an idealist?
  9. does Uncle Kessler (Ernst-Hugo Järegård) appear more ridiculous than earnest, more comical than authoritative?
  10. does Katharina show her hand—do her core motivations lie on the surface for everyone to see?
  11. when Leopold asks if Pater is still in contact w/ Katharina/Kat Hartmann (Barbara Sukowa), Pater dodges his question, then suggests he attend the midnight mass at St. Christopher’s that evening.  There, Leopold watches Katharina take the Eucharist.  Why is it important to Pater that Leopold see this?
  12. what does Lawrence/Larry Hartmann (Udo Kier) think of his homeland?
  13. did Max Hartmann gain or lose wealth during the war, and did he help protect any Jews?
  14. what prompts Max’s violent actions?
  15. does the priest take sides?  Trace his opinion concerning the ongoing conflict between the rebellious partisans (Werewolfs) and those Germans willing to work with the American occupation.
  16. why does Colonel Harris maintain close ties with his college buddy Max Hatmann?
  17. does von Trier’s film itself privilege one side of this ongoing civil conflict over the other side?
  18. do Leo’s actions at the film’s close effectively move him off the fence and out of that lukewarm, gray space decried by the priest?
  19. does the train come to represent something besides its literal self?
  20. is there rhyme or reason to the characters’ quick shifts between the German and English languages?
  21. when and why does von Trier introduce color into this film?
  22. does von Trier draw attention to his use of back projection, or try to make it inconspicuous?
  23. at what moments does von Trier allow the film’s audio looping to be out of sync?
  24. how do you imagine von Trier managed that crazy cool shot that begins in an attic in front of a train set and ends up inside an actual, moving train car?  (Remember, this film opened in 1991.)
  25. does von Trier allow for humor in this film?
  26. at what moments does this film dally with absurdity?


A beach from the side with the ocean on the left. A colorful sky containing dark red, light brown and blue
Soulful Sky (1988)
Poul Anker Bech



Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu