Europa (1991 Film)
''Europa'' (known as ''Zentropa'' in North America) is a 1991 experimental psychological drama anti-war film directed by Lars von Trier. It is von Trier's third theatrical feature film and the final film in his Europa trilogy following ''The Element of Crime'' (1984) and ''Epidemic'' (1987). The film features an international ensemble cast, including Germans Barbara Sukowa and Udo Kier, expatriate American Eddie Constantine, and Swedes Max von Sydow and Ernst-Hugo Järegård. This was German-born French-American Jean-Marc Barr's first collaboration with von Trier. ''Europa'' was influenced by Franz Kafka's '' Amerika'', and the title was chosen "as an echo" of that novel. Plot A young, idealistic American hopes to "show some kindness" to the German people soon after the end of World War II. In US-occupied Germany, he takes on work as a sleeping-car conductor for the Zentropa railway network, falls in love with a ''femme fatale'', and becomes embroiled in a pro-Nazi terror ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lars Von Trier
Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominating and awarding his films on numerous occasions, once listed him as '' persona non grata'' for flippant Nazi remarks during an interview; depictions of graphic violence and unsimulated sex in some of his films have drawn criticism; and he has been accused of mistreating actresses during filming, including Björk and Nicole Kidman. Trier's career has spanned more than four decades and his works have gained notoriety for his trademarks including European frequent actors (particularly Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgård), different thematic trilogies, handheld camerawork, upsetting subject matters, genre and technical innovation, confrontational examination of existential, social, and political issues, and his treatment of subje ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color. The monetary policy of the United States is conducted by the Federal Reserve System, which acts as the nation's central bank. The U.S. dollar was originally defined under a bimetallic standard of (0.7735 troy ounces) fine silver or, from 1837, fine gold, or $20.67 per troy ounce. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 linked the dollar solely to gold. From 1934, it ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include the short story "The Metamorphosis" and novels ''The Trial'' and '' The Castle''. The term ''Kafkaesque'' has entered English to describe absurd situations, like those depicted in his writing. Kafka was born into a middle-class German-speaking Czech Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today the capital of the Czech Republic. He trained as a lawyer and after completing his legal education was employed full-ti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Max Von Sydow
Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television series in multiple languages. He became a French citizen in 2002 and lived in France for the last two decades of his life. Capable in roles ranging from stolid, contemplative protagonists to sardonic artists and menacing, often gleeful villains, von Sydow was first noticed internationally for playing the 14th-century knight Antonius Block in Ingmar Bergman's ''The Seventh Seal'' (1957), which features iconic scenes of his character challenging Death to a game of chess. He appeared in a total of eleven films directed by Bergman, among which were ''The Virgin Spring'' (1960) and '' Through a Glass Darkly'' (1961), both winners of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He starred in a third winner, Bille August's ''Pelle the Conq ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eddie Constantine
Eddie Constantine (born Edward Israël Constantinowsky; October 29, 1917 – February 25, 1993) was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France. He became well-known to film audiences for his portrayal of secret agent Lemmy Caution and other, similar pulp heroes in French B-movies of the 1950s and '60s. His celebrity and status as something of a pop icon saw him work with prominent arthouse directors like Jean-Luc Godard (as Caution in '' Alphaville'' and ''Germany Year 90 Nine Zero''), Rainer Werner Fassbinder (as himself in ''Beware of a Holy Whore'' 1971), Agnès Varda, Rosa von Praunheim, Lars von Trier, William Klein and Mika Kaurismäki. Early life Constantine was born Edward Israël Constantinowsky in Los Angeles, California to Jewish immigrant parents, a Russian father and Polish mother; his father was a jeweler. In pursuit of a singing career, he went to Vienna for voice training. However, when he returned to the United States, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either independently or sent abroad by their employers. However, the term 'expatriate' is also used for retirees and others who have chosen to live outside their native country. Historically, it has also referred to exiles. Expatriates are immigrants or emigrants who maintain cultural ties such as the language of their country of origin. Etymology The word ''expatriate'' comes from the Latin terms '' ex'' ("out of") and ''patria'' ("native country, fatherland"). Semantics Dictionary definitions for the current meaning of the word include: :Expatriate: :* 'A person who lives outside their native country' (Oxford), or :* 'living in a foreign land' (Webster's). These definitions contrast with those of other words with a similar meaning, such a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ensemble Cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the popular model, which gives precedence to a sole protagonist, an ensemble cast leans more towards a sense of "collectivity and community". Cinema Ensemble casts in film were introduced as early as September 1916, with D. W. Griffith's silent epic film ''Intolerance'', featuring four separate though parallel plots. The film follows the lives of several characters over hundreds of years, across different cultures and time periods. The unification of different plot lines and character arcs is a key characteristic of ensemble casting in film; whether it's a location, event, or an overarching theme that ties the film and characters together. Films that feature ensembles tend to emphasize the interconnectivity of the characters, even when ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Epidemic (film)
''Epidemic'' is a 1987 Danish experimental meta- horror black comedy film directed by Lars von Trier; it is the second installment of Trier's Europa trilogy, following ''The Element of Crime'' (1984) and succeeded by ''Europa'' (1991). Co-written by Trier and Niels Vørsel, the film focuses on the screenwriting process. Vørsel and Trier play themselves, coming up with a last-minute script for a producer. The story is inter-cut with scenes from the film they write, in which Trier plays a renegade doctor trying to cure a modern-day epidemic. The film marks the first in a series of collaborations between Trier and Udo Kier. Plot The film is divided into five days. On the first day the protagonists, screenwriters Lars and Niels lose the only copy of a film script (Kommisæren Og Luderen, "The Policeman and the Whore", a reference to ''The Element of Crime''). They begin to write a new script about an epidemic: the outbreak of a plague-like disease. The protagonist is a doctor, Mesme ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Element Of Crime
''The Element of Crime'' ( da, Forbrydelsens Element) is a 1984 experimental neo-noir crime film co-written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is the first feature film directed by Trier and the first installment of the director's Europa trilogy – succeeded by ''Epidemic'' (1987) and ''Europa'' (1991). Plot A detective named Fisher, who has become an expatriate living in Cairo, undergoes hypnosis in order to recall his last case. The Europe of his dreamlike recollection is a dystopia, dark and decaying. Fisher remembers pursuing an elusive killer called the "Lotto Murderer", who was strangling and then mutilating young girls who were selling lottery tickets. He attempts to track down the killer using the controversial methods outlined in a book entitled ''The Element of Crime'', written by his disgraced mentor, Osborne. He is joined in his search by a prostitute named Kim, who, it turns out, has had a child by his target. Fisher's search is based on a tailing report written by O ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Europa Trilogy
The ''Europa'' trilogy is an experimental film trilogy created by Danish writers Lars von Trier and Niels Vørsel, comprising his three feature films ''The Element of Crime'' (1984), ''Epidemic'' (1987) and ''Europa'' (1991). Each films set in different locations of Europe, and are not a narrative trilogy but rather are linked by common themes and stylistic explorations. The overarching subject of the trilogy may be taken to be the social crises and traumas of Europe in the future. Each of the three films follows a character whose idealistic actions ultimately perpetuate the very problem he seeks to solve. Von Trier's later '' USA - Land of Opportunities Trilogy'' also deals with both apparent social collapse, and the ill-effects of the interventions of idealistic individuals. The trilogy also experiments with film noir conventions, and explores hypnosis and the relationship between reality and unreality. The first and third films received largely positive reviews and garnered n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Anti-war Films
Anti-war films may criticize armed conflicts in a general sense to illustrate that war is futile and a loss for all sides involved, while others focus on acts within a specific war, such as poison gas use or genocidal killing of civilians. There also are anti-war movies that use parody and black comedy to satirize wars and conflicts that do not necessarily take place on the battlefield. Additionally, non-fictional anti-war films aim to document the realities of war or historical events. The following is a list of anti-war films. Anti-war films See also * List of anti-war books * List of anti-war songs * List of anti-war plays *List of films about nuclear issues * List of peace activists References External links Anti-war filmsat thIraq Media Action ProjectAnti-war filmsat AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Psychological Drama
Psychological drama or psychodrama is a sub-genre of drama that places emphasis on psychological elements. It often overlaps with other genres such as crime, fantasy, black comedy, and science fiction, and it is closely related with the psychological horror and psychological thriller genres. Psychological dramas use these genres' tropes to focus on the human condition and psychological effects, usually in a mature and serious tone. Psychological dramas explore thematic elements such as abandonment, coming-of-age problems, denialism, disability, distorted sequences, dysfunctional relationships, human sexuality, mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...s, mood swings, Behavior, odd behaviors, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychological abuse, psychedel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |