Let's face it. American audiences are dumb (Not Americans per se, just the pizza munching, pimple popping dreck that go to the movies there). They can barely READ, let alone follow a complex, philosophically and historically charged story. America itself doesn't even have a history proper. This is a very European film, made for mature, educated European viewers. Unsurprisingly, it failed at the US box office.
shareSpeaking as an uncouth American...
I saw this movie in about '88- on VHS when I was ~10. I loved it.
A few years later, I showed it to my pizza munching, pimple popping, dreck of a friend.
He also enjoyed the movie.
A few years after that, I showed it to another pizza munching, pimple popping dreck of a friend. He also loved it.
After that, I showed it to another blah blah blah. He also enjoyed it very much.
Also, generalizing about "European" is kind of silly. Is Scotland the same as Hamburg? Is Nice the same as Vukuvar? Let's not be silly.