The Element of Crime (1984)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Veronique K

  
  i confess the only reason i have owned this dvd was because my good friend is a big fan of lars von trier, whose "dogville" was practically his only work i had seen before this one. i was not particularly infatuated with the "unique" way dogville was made, so… More
  i confess the only reason i have owned this dvd was because my good friend is a big fan of lars von trier, whose "dogville" was practically his only work i had seen before this one. i was not particularly infatuated with the "unique" way dogville was made, so purposely drab in a plain playground while i wish to see trees and grass all the time, and i was not really into its overtly hostile generalization of america as an enclosed land with narrow-minded people, who ought to be torched down into death! BUT i'm really surprsied how good "element of crime" really is! i picked this one because it says it was inspired by 1930s~40s hard-boiled movies both in europe and america. but let's point out several formuli in the genre of hard-boiled detective movies (film noir) first then you would start to see the creative breakthroughs of "element of crime": the primary principle in the american detective fiction, which differentiates from british sherlock homles, is that the private dick is INVOLVED in the crimes, and he excels in his fearless actions to get inside the criminal deals. (in other words, he's not intellectually brilliant like sherlock homles, social elite who solves the cases in a detached manner through the scale of his intelligence). american detectives in hard-boiled fictions are all blue-collar tough guys who dare to expose the truth by putting himself into a series of riskes (raymond chandler's phillip marlowe; danshiell hammett's sam spade; or chinatown and dirty harry in 1970s). also, the detectives live another day just to solve another crime not because he's particularly into the course of justice. it's because he's addicted to the traces of crimes, and he takes great pleasure in following the killer's footsteps and even wriggling with the criminals through wits, and the only reason he could track down the criminal is because he personally puts himself into the shoes of the killer. in a way, he enjoys the pleasure of transgression through proxy. now let's get down to the "element of crime," which is practically a satire mocking american hard-boiled fictions. a pseudo-policeman named fisher abandons his family in cairo to arrive at europe just to solve a serial killer case. he has a specialized methodology of his own in solving the crimes, and he simply follows the code composed by his mentor osbourne, who claims the only way to solve a crime is to put yourself into the shoes of the criminal and adjusting your mind into his thinking mode, then you could foresee the next crime and catch the murderer. (sounds just like the behavioral patterns of american private dicks)..osbourne pens a book called "element of crime"..so our protagonist goes from door to door, examines the corpses, checks into the hotel in which the suspect has stayed before and even sleeps with the same prostitute the suspect has slept with he has done all these just to get into the criminal's mode of thinkings.so, could fisher really solve the crime by this hard-boiled methodology??? SPOILER: eventually fisher fails to solve the crime, and he even commits a murder in the same pattern as the murderer did. the most ironic of all is that the real murderer is his mentor who writes the book "element of crime"...after this horrid experiences, fisher escapes europe and spends most of his time consulting a shrink, haunted and tormented by these nightmarish memories. lars von trier's "element of crime" is a comment on american hard-boiled dectective fictions as well as american film noir in 1940s or the retro-noir in 1970s (chinatown, the long goodbye. dirty harry). its message shall be: it is sheer anarchy in great futility to even think of the possibility that individual effect could reform the society or serve the justice or make any impact on the vile system, and inevitably you're doomed to get contamined. after all, real person ain't like clint eastwood or humprey bogart, the american commoner's hero who is incorruptible within seedy surroundings. (he dismisses as gullible naivete)..of course, he also barrows this criticism on american culture to sneer at european bucreacracy since "element of crime" is the first of his triology on europe. (the second one is epidemic, then the third one is europa).

• Drew S

  
  Whoo, what a slog. I love that Lars von Trier has the potential to make such challenging work, and I found The Element of Crime to be wholly compelling, but its total inscrutability and unwillingness to give its audience any sort of satisfaction makes it a harsh viewing experience.… More
  Whoo, what a slog. I love that Lars von Trier has the potential to make such challenging work, and I found The Element of Crime to be wholly compelling, but its total inscrutability and unwillingness to give its audience any sort of satisfaction makes it a harsh viewing experience. Its immediate rejection of any sort of cinematic benchmarks, such as three-act structure, ending the movie even remotely conclusively, and even the post-production sound dub, make this an intrinsically unsatisfying experience. Essentially, The Element of Crime must be assessed with an eye on the man behind the camera - what is von Trier trying to accomplish here? It's obviously the groundwork for his "E" trilogy, an examination of the failures of Europe; this paints the continent as a waterlogged, barely functional dystopia, oppressive both in aesthetic (the incessant red tinting) and nature. Thematically, it sports the moral ambiguity of a film noir and synthesizes it with an almost post-apocalyptic sense of resignation and defeat. The movie's a downer, no questions asked. It's also a great companion piece to Irreversible, and I guess Enter the Void by proxy. They are both very simple stories told in convoluted ways that draw attention to the nature of the media, rather than the content therein. Ninety minute stories told backwards and without any sort of cutting, or within a hypnotic red-hued dream where nothing makes sense: there's no way that these narratives could NOT be films. Thus, what I admire most about The Element of Crime is its intrinsic respect for the cinema, as it crafts a story so wonderfully synthesized for how it's designed to be shown, even if that story confuses and frustrates us. So no, I really didn't ENJOY the movie, but I was intrigued by it, and I feel that at the end of the day it broadened my concept of the form. That in itself is highly valuable.

• Anthony L

  
  An astonishing debut from Von Trier. There are a few obvious influences here but nothing compered to the amount of films and directors who have obviously been influenced by it. I believe The Element of Crime truly changed cinema and was way ahead of it's time (Jeunet's… More
  An astonishing debut from Von Trier. There are a few obvious influences here but nothing compered to the amount of films and directors who have obviously been influenced by it. I believe The Element of Crime truly changed cinema and was way ahead of it's time (Jeunet's Delicatessen came out seven years later), amazing since few people seem to have seen it. A true masterpiece from the savour of European cinema.

• Coxxie M

  
  element of crime is one of the most beautifully filmed movies ive ever seen and its definitely the kind of thing criterion would release

• Eric B

  
  I have seen and enjoyed all sorts of "difficult" films (check some of the other titles I've rated), but If "The Element of Crime" had caused me one more smidge of boredom or exasperation, I wouldn't have been able to sit through it. I stopped caring what… More
  I have seen and enjoyed all sorts of "difficult" films (check some of the other titles I've rated), but If "The Element of Crime" had caused me one more smidge of boredom or exasperation, I wouldn't have been able to sit through it. I stopped caring what was happening about halfway through, and just tried to enjoy the camerawork and set design. What a shame about the negative accidentally being dunked in maple syrup. I'm boosting my rating from two to 2.5 stars as an act of faith, just because I suspect something was lost in the transition to the small screen. Disclaimer: I didn't like "Blade Runner" much either.

• Ryan M

  
  9.3/10 "The Element of Crime" is a modern film-noir so fascinating, that the mere experience of watching it almost cannot be described. You cannot truly absorb all of its contents on one viewing; and I imagine that it keeps improving each time one revisits it. The… More
  9.3/10 "The Element of Crime" is a modern film-noir so fascinating, that the mere experience of watching it almost cannot be described. You cannot truly absorb all of its contents on one viewing; and I imagine that it keeps improving each time one revisits it. The film is a visual feast, a surrealist's joint, and also the film debut of Lars Von Trier. Now, that's a name you may know. The man is a lover and attractor of controversy; something that he embraces rather than resents. Here is a man that makes the films he wants to make, regardless of what others think. Some people believe these aspects of the man to be signs of pure pretension, but I see him as a "dark artist", as I often call him when referring to my first outing with a Von Trier film, "Antichrist". If you have seen a Lars Von Trier film, but have not seen this one, then allow me to assure you that for the better or for the worst, "The Element of Crime" is no different than any of the great director's other films. It requires a certain audience and a certain state of mind to truly appreciate it, and you either love it or you hate it. It's not particularly difficult to imagine someone despising this thing to death, but there will also be those who admire it for the craft and skill that went into it. Me, I think it is kind of brilliant. It has a disturbing atmosphere, its style is intoxicating and rich, and it's a damn fine modern noir. When I say the film requires a certain audience, I mean that it is not for everyone. If you have a taste or love for surrealist films, then you will probably enjoy watching the film. I also imagine that if you enjoy classic detective novels, you will also find some good influence and references here. Von Trier takes influence from Hitchcock films, and many other novels. He probably read them all; saw them all. He manages to cram so much into this divisive little debut picture, and it turns out to be something beyond comprehension. It is one-of-a-kind. Detective Fisher (Michael Elphick) undergoes hypnosis methods to remember his most recent case. The case takes place in a dystopian, almost apocalyptic Europe; where a serial killer is targeting young women (particularly the ones who sell lottery tickets). I suppose this is how the killer got the name of "The Lotto Killer". Fisher understands that standard detective methods cannot solve this crime; cannot bring the criminal to justice. This is why he consults the titular novel, "The Element of Crime", which contains highly controversial methods when it comes to criminal justice. The book suggests that perhaps the detective must think like a killer in order to understand him; because if you can understand a criminal, then you can most certainly capture him, can't you? The story plays out like some sort of anti-self-journey into insanity. It's not a tale that I'm particularly used to hearing, but I've heard it somewhere, and whether it's original or not, "The Element of Crime" strikes me as twisted, haunting genius. There's something ominous about the way the film moves; slowly, with dialogue that is as dragging as its pacing. If you don't mind that, then you will be entertained and perhaps even intrigued by Von Trier's film. Some might not find it as perfect as I do, but I hope I've said enough to convince you to see it as it is. The film's visual style consists of sodium light. The colors are mostly consisting of reds and oranges, with blue occasionally showing up to crank up the level of surrealism even higher. Von Trier designs his film as a dream; one moment a fascinating one, another moment a frightening and disturbing one. The film is unforgettable, expansive, and inventive. I have never seen another one quite like it, although there are many that might try to mimic its style. No two films are exactly the same, but some are so alike that it is hard to be entertained by one or the other. We will always need new images; new visual masters, and Von Trier is what I believe to be one for the new age. "The Element of Crime" does not only contain new and provoking images, but also ideas, concepts, direction, and writing; each equally as fascinating as the other. And that, in my opinion, is true beauty. "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink."

• Dimitris S

  
  I want to break free could be the alternate title,and no,nothing to do with Queen.The sequences prepare even from a trailer that this is no ordinary detective story: it's more like how to execute the perfect story by cursing European authorities.The freedom of Von Trier allowed… More
  I want to break free could be the alternate title,and no,nothing to do with Queen.The sequences prepare even from a trailer that this is no ordinary detective story: it's more like how to execute the perfect story by cursing European authorities.The freedom of Von Trier allowed him to execute for himself a spectacular debut where many similarities of this e.g. color hews would appear in The Kingdom,his mini-series.

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