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The Element of Crime

The Element of Crime (1987)

April. 17,1987
|
6.7
|
NR
| Drama Crime Science Fiction

Fisher, an ex-detective, decides to take one final case when a mysterious serial killer claims the lives of several young girls. Fisher, unable to find the culprit, turns to Osbourne, a writer who was once respected for his contributions to the field of criminology. Fisher begins to use Osbourne's technique, which involves empathizing with serial killers; however, as the detective becomes increasingly engrossed in this method, things take a disturbing turn.

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Spidersecu
1987/04/17

Don't Believe the Hype

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CommentsXp
1987/04/18

Best movie ever!

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Kaelan Mccaffrey
1987/04/19

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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Deanna
1987/04/20

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

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bmoviep
1987/04/21

The element of crime plays like a Film Noir, set in a dystopian alternative universe, within the mind of David Lynch. Detective Fisher returns to Europe after a thirteen year stay in Ciarro, to catch a murderer responsible for the deaths of several young girls. Fisher takes an untested approach to investigating, after reading a book written by his old mentor entitled "The Element of Crime". This book argues for an alternative method of understanding the human mind. It requires the researcher to relive the life of the one they are following, in order to gain a greater understanding of who that person is. Fisher soon finds himself, living the life of suspect Harry Grey, living in his home, interacting with his cohorts, and loving his former lover. Fisher's sense of identity is challenged as his individuality becomes indistinguishable to that of Harry Grey. The film is encompassed in a reddish overtone, resembling an eternal twilight, which could either represent dawn or day break. The story is told from the point of view of a man attempting to recall his memories while in a hypnotic state. Fisher even deliberately skips certain parts of his story, declaring that they are pointless to recall and at times admits that he isn't sure if certain parts of the story are true. 'The Element of Crime" is a good introductory film for anyone interested in the works of director "Lars Von Trier" It's unorthodox style of environment and story telling immerse the viewer head first into the mind of Lars Von Trier, showing them that the typical rules of story telling no longer apply.

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William O. Tyler
1987/04/22

Director Lars Von Trier's first feature length film, The Element of Crime, follows a former cop named Fisher, played by Michael Elphick, who is remembering the last case he worked on using unconventional methods to track down a serial killer known as the Lotto Murderer. As Fisher returns to the investigation, searching through his memories, everything is extremely eerie and surreal. The entire film, in fact, is like watching a dream. This world that he remembers is a dystopian film noir, complete with a femme fatale, a monochromatic styling, crazy plot twists and everything else the genre is known for, but all in Von Trier's unique style.First and foremost, this film is a visual feast. Perhaps it is even too much of a feast, as often is the case with first time experimental filmmakers, but there is definitely something to watch in every shot with such incredible cinematography. Brilliant shots, like looking down at a mirror so that you see both a face and feet all at once, jump at every edit. Color is very important, despite the fact that it is mostly a sort of sepia tone. It's a different take on the black and white noir style to have the entire film in a yellowish, orangish tint, and this coming before it became an overused Hollywood trick. Blacks and shadows are just as important as the colors, creating depth as light sources themselves live and move through the frames and every once in awhile a highlighted blue object will appear to add contrast and shake up your visual interest.Heightening the dreamlike state, the film unfolds in such a melodic way that it becomes hypnotizing. The editing keeps the ambiance flowing through from scene to scene. Often the dialogue of the film will purposely contradict itself, creating a little bit of confusion and causing a step back. It's like watching poetry where the feeling you get and the rhythm in which it's presented is just as important as what's actually happening, even if they don't always match. This is how the brain works, going back and forth sorting out our issues until we're finally resolved in the end.The Element of Crime is very similar to and even on par with another film noir with a science fiction slant, Jean-Luc Goddard's Alphaville. Both are mysterious and atmospheric, as any film noir should be, but these are different. They are heavier and darker in mood. The low, grumbling voice over heard throughout both creates a tension and an uneasy spine tingle that is not often found within the genre. Likewise, it's not hard to see where this movie may have influenced others. The City of Lost Children definitely seems to have taken some visual cues from here.You can see all of the early details that would come to be staples for the director in his career, including the overlaying fantasy aspects that makes his films otherworldly while still based in realism, as well as his love of trilogies, one of which, the Europa Trilogy which shows crisis situations set in a futuristic Europe, is started by this film. Von Trier spared no expense, or thought, on this endeavor and it really payed off and paved the way for a great artistic career. What a way to come full fledged into the industry with a debut feature like The Element of Crime.

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Benedict_Cumberbatch
1987/04/23

Lars Von Trier's feature début is a stylish, extremely bizarre and intriguing tapestry about an ex-cop (Michael Elphick) who obsessively pursues a serial killer. Playing with different film genres and supported by a fantastic production design, "The Element of Crime" was very different from what I expected, but not in a bad way. This is the first film in Lars' 'Europe trilogy', followed by "Epidemic" (1987) and "Zentropa" (1991). Influenced by Fritz Lang, Terry Gilliam and many others, the film also has a voice of its own (Von Trier's raging verve); I'd call it "The Silence of the Lambs" meets "Delicatessen", so you can have an idea of how bizarre it is. If that sounds interesting to you, you should check it; even if you're not into the likes of "Dogville" or "Breaking the Waves", you may still appreciate it. Interesting for Von Trier fans and admirers of puzzles alike. 8/10.

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Camera Obscura
1987/04/24

Some called it the kick in the pants cinema needed, the savior of cinema and work of genius. Others find Lars von Trier's debut feature unbearably pretentious and consider this a beautiful but utterly empty work of art. Whatever your opinion will be after seeing this film, you're almost guaranteed to have strong feelings about it afterwards and will almost force you to reconsider the possibilities of the medium of film once again.Shot in English, ELEMENT OF CRIME was the first film in the Europe-trilogy, followed by EPIDEMIC (1987) and ZENTROPA (1991) and is best described as a futuristic neo-noir crime thriller. Von Trier never intended this film to be part of a trilogy. He only came up with that concept right before filming on ZENTROPA started. Actually, the three films are all very different and the only thing they have in common is a vaguely defined theme of "Europe" (practically all the films made in Europe deal with the subject in some way) and that they all start with the letter E. It's a practical joke to give his films some extra cachet, just as he's doing with his America-trilogies now. Set in the near future, the film gives an apocalyptic view of a decayed and demonic Europe, stunningly photographed in yellow and sepia colours with a vision of constant darkness (no ray of light whatsoever in the film), abandoned buildings and almost constant rain. Police detective Fisher is called in to solve a series of murders of small girls. In the process he gradually comes to realize that he must follow in the footsteps of the assumed murderer, finally completing the murderous pattern himself.Von Trier's passion about Europe is almost exclusively a deep and long-going fascination with Germany, the catalyst of modern history, that has been the defining factor in Europe's faith for most of the twentieth century. This film, as ZENTROPA and to a lesser extent EPIDEMIC, paint the apocalyptic picture of a world, resemblant of post-war Germany, with not just the physical damage involved, but with people who were emotionally battered as well. It's one thing to lose your belongings, even your relatives, but they didn't just lose everything they had, they lost morally as well. Von Trier presents to us a sort of neitherworld where morals are discarded and people are merely trying to survive.Not an easy film, to be sure. It was rewarded with a technical prize at Cannes in 1984, but was denied the grand jury prize, mainly because of Dirk Bogarde, who headed the jury, and reportedly was appalled by the film. He thought von Trier wanted to put an end to cinema and destroy the medium of film altogether. He threatened to pull out of the jury, if the film got any prizes. Apparently, they somehow managed to give the film this award for technical achievements. Relatively harmless and who would notice anyway? In interviews Von Trier blatantly claims that his film was historically by far the most important that year and this claim can arguably be protracted for a considerable longer period of time.Could this film be recommended for your enjoyment or regular entertainment value? No, it can't. But most movies can't. Historically however, this film is important, if there ever was one. This one of the few examples of a film that poses real questions about the way we judge film. Perhaps it's best enjoyed, and I don't want to sound pretentious myself here, by the more experienced moviegoer and for me the film worked best the second or third time I saw it. Upon it's first release in Denmark, half the people - even ardent cinema lovers - were running for the exits within the first half hour.To the horror of many and delight of some, it's already a staple for students at many film academies, and understandably so. The film is an innovative panache of cinematic styles and expressions, gorgeous sets, the yellow lighting (they used very powerful natrium lights) and stuffed with references and allusions to earlier cinema, like Andrei Tarkovsky and BLADE RUNNER. Any reference to Tarkovsky will probably have the other half still watching running for the exits as well, but cinematic literacy is easily misunderstood.Not my favorite or the most enjoyable in any sense, so one star off because of the silly detective story and the sometimes over-pretentiousness, otherwise a stunning work of visual art. I think everyone with an interest in cinema should see this film.Camera Obscura --- 9/10

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