Spotlight on Lars von Trier: Zentropa (aka Europa)

Lars von Trier’s noir-soaked thriller casts postwar Germany as a mesmerizing, Kafkaesque dreamscape marauded by “werewolves” (underground Third Reich partisans). Leopold Kessler, a young and idealistic American of German stock, returns to the Old Country and takes a civilian job as a sleeping-car conductor for the mysterious Zentropa railway company. Falling into the clutches of Zentropa heir-apparent and vampy femme fatale Katharina Hartmann (played by a feral Barbara Sukowa), Kessler becomes caught in a web of intrigue that reveals Germany’s Nazi past is barely hidden beneath the rubble and ruins. From the hypnotic voice-over by Max von Sydow that opens the film to its masterful scope cinematography by Dreyer cameraman Henning Bendtsen (employing rear projections, expressionist double-exposures, and mixed color stocks to intoxicating effect), Zentropa (released worldwide as Europa) finds Von Trier at the peak of his powers as a movie-mad stylist. “One part Casablanca, two parts Eraserhead, and all parts excellent.”—Entertainment Weekly.

Bing Theater | New 35mm print | FAQs

$10 for the general public, $7 for LACMA members, seniors (62+), and students with valid ID | Tickets available Thursday, January 26 at 5 pm | Tickets: 323 857-6010 or purchase online.

$5 for Film Independent, LACMA Film Club, and New York Times Film Club members | Pre-sale tickets available Thursday, January 19 at 5 pm | Members of these groups will be required to show proof of membership when retrieving their tickets | Tickets: 323 857-6010 or purchase online.