FrontPage

Europa Europa (1990; Orion, 1991)

American Reception

While the film received a lukewarm reception in Germany, it was the most popular German film in America since Wolfgang Peterson's Das Boot (1982).  What themes from the film does this trailer play up that American audiences might find appealing?

Controversy

In 1992, the German Export Film Union refused to nominate any German film for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, claiming that no German film that year was worthy of the award.  The head of the Union called the film "an embarrassment," and the trade weekly Variety quoted a selection committee member referring to it as "junk" (New York Times)  What would be embarrassing about this film, and why would someone think that it was junk?

The Union also defended their decision by claiming the film was not German, mostly shot in Poland and financed with Polish and French funds (New York Times).  Given the subject matter of the film, should the Committee have overlooked these factors in their decision?

German film makers sharply protested this decision, writing an open letter appearing in Hollywood trade publications claiming that "as German film makers we are well aware of the special responsibility the past imposes upon us" (New York Times)  Why would German film makers feel the need to bear this special responsibility?

After the filmmaker, Agnieszka Holland, learned that Germany refused to nominate Europa, Europa as Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards, she told the New York Times:

I have many German friends, but I was really shocked at how the minds of the people changed after unification. The arrogance and xenophobia which was hidden is now official. I cannot imagine making a movie in Germany. They felt guilty many, many years after the war, but it was official guilt. This time is over. This generation hates all those people who put them through the official guilt. What is left is arrogance and stupidity. My presence and my cinema is an offense to these people (New York Times).

How is this account different from other accounts of the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification?

Popularization of Holocaust

In 1999, another controversial Holocaust film, Life Is Beautiful (1997; Miramax, 1998) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for 1998.  Although very different, both films include a sequence mocking racial science.  In what ways do these scenes both resemble and differ from one another?

EUROPA_EUROPA480.mov | VITABELA.mov

What qualities do these scenes reveal about the films themselves, and could these qualities help explain why these films were both controversial and popular with American audiences?

Had anything changed for Holocaust film by 1999 that would allow Life Is Beautiful to win an Academy Award, or were the circumstances for each film just too unique to compare the success of the two films?