Gunnar Obel Movies

Europa (retitled Zentropa for the American release) is an hallucinatory Danish film set in postwar Germany. Jean-Marc Barr plays a young German who aspires for a job as a street conductor. But this is no mere "Joe Job;" Barr's adventures on the line are designed as a metaphor for the emergence of the "New Europe" following the war. Barbara Sukowa costars as the daughter of a railroad magnate--and possible Nazi sympathizer. Many of the special-effects sequences are computer enhanced, but even the "live" scenes have an unsettling, surreal quality to them (colors changing abruptly, backgrounds shifting without warning, etc.) This experimental film left some viewers confused, which may be why English-language prints of Zentropa are narrated by Max Von Sydow. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Street waif Sally (Jane Eggertsen) hides out on the seventeenth floor of a modern Danish tenement, hence the film's title. She almost manages to make a living recycling various trash items. In this way, she avoids the dangers of street life. Sally comes into contact with an equally streetwise Turkish immigrant girl (Mia El Mousti) with a talent for playing the accordion. The two join forces as street musicians. They have fun and make good money, but the good times are ended when the Turkish girl's parents take her back home for an arranged marriage. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

John (Alan Olsen) is a Danish-born son who sets out to locate his father in this comedy thriller. While traveling to Los Angeles, John is caught in a small town in New Mexico and promptly has his money stolen. The main suspect is the waitress Lucy (Patricia Arquette), but she offers herself to him sexually. John soon is watched closely by the local sheriff (Richard Bright) and the suspicious hotel owner (Vincent Schiavelli). He joins a survivalist group run by Lucy's father, a local preacher who has more than fatherly love for his daughter. John and the father soon lock horns in an inevitable showdown. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi