THE ELEMENT OF CRIME

'''The Element of Crime''' (Danish: '''Forbrydelsens element''') is the first feature film directed by noted Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. The film, released in 1984, is also the first in the director's Europa trilogy.

Contents

Synopsis

Style

Awards

DVD releases

External link

Synopsis

''The Element of Crime'' is set in a dystopian, crumbling Europe undergoing social decay. A British detective named Fisher (Michael Elphick) has become an expatriate living in Cairo. Fisher undergoes hypnosis in order to recall his last case, in which he pursued an elusive killer called the "Lotto Murderer", who brutally savaged young girls selling lottery tickets. Fisher had attempted to track down the killer using the controversial methods outlined in a book entitled ''The Element of Crime'', written by his disgraced mentor, Osborne (Esmond Knight). Fisher is joined in his search by a prostitute named Kim (Me Me Lai). Fisher's search is based on tailing reports written by Osborne when he was trying to track down a murderer who killed in the same way as the "Lotto Murderer". However, the Osborne method requires the detective to try to identify with the mind of the killer. This Fisher does, but in so doing begins to behave like a serial killer himself.

Style

The film employs the film noir conventions of monochrome footage, apparently constant night, and the ubiquitous presence of water. The film is shot almost entirely in sodium light resulting in images reminiscent of sepia tone, though with a more intense yellow. Sodium lamps produce light in a few narrow emission peaks, which causes the almost monochrome appearance of the film. The sepia is occasionally contrasted with piercing blues or greens.
The world depicted in the film is semi-derelict. Disordered collections of similar or identical object are found in many of the scenes, reinforcing the sense of a crumbling society. Examples include heaps of keys, surgical scissors, glass bottles, rubber stamps and Coca-Cola cans.
The film's slow pace, dark visuals occasional surreal imagery give it a dreamlike quality. In addition, much of the dialogue is contradictory. An example is one conversation between Fisher and his mentor's housekeeper:
:Fisher: Is it always as dark as this at this time of year?
:Housekeeper: There are no seasons any more. The last three summers haven't been summers. The weather changes all the time. It never alters.
In the opening of the film, a shot of a horse lying on its back and then slowly struggling to stand may be an homage to a similar shot in Andrei Tarkovsky's ''Andrei Rublev'' (1968). Von Trier has stated that he is an admirer of Tarkovsky's work.

Awards

''The Element of Crime'' received several awards, including a nomination for the prestigious Palme d'Or award at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.

DVD releases

''The Element of Crime'' has been released on DVD in North America by the Criterion Collection. In Europe, a digitally remastered DVD is available as part of the box set ''Lars von Trier's Europe Trilogy - Hypnotic Edition''.

External link

★

★ Criterion Collection essay by Peter Cowie