The Element of Crime Film Still

The Element of Crime

Lars von Trier

 
The Element of Crime Criterion DVD

DVD

1 Disc

SRP: $39.95

Criterion Store price:$31.96

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  • Denmark
  • 1984
  • 104 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • Danish

SYNOPSIS: Lars von Trier’s stunning debut film is the story of Fisher, an exiled ex-cop who returns to his old beat to catch a serial killer with a taste for young girls. Influenced equally by Hitchcock and science fiction, von Trier (Europa, Breaking the Waves, The Idiots) boldly reinvents expressionist style for his own cinematic vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Shot in shades of sepia, with occasional, startling flashes of bright blue, The Element of Crime (Forbrydelsens Element) combines dark mystery and operatic sweep to yield a pure celluloid nightmare.

Cast & CreditsOpen

Cast

FisherMichael Elphick
OsborneEsmond Knight
KimMeme Lai
KramerJerold Wells
TherapistAhmed El Shenawi
HousekeeperAstrid Henning-Jensen
CoronerJános Herskó
GrandfatherPreben Leerdorff-Rye
JudgeGotha Andersen
Schmuck of agesLars von Trier

Credits

DirectorLars von Trier
ScreenplayLars von Trier and Niels Vørsel
CinematographyTom Elling
Production designPeter Hølmark
Special effectsPeter Hølmark
EditingTómas Gislason
Sound effectsTómas Gislason
MusicBo Holten
Performed byArs Nova and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Executive producerPer Holst

Disc Features

  • New widescreen digital transfer, enhanced for 16×9 televisions
  • Stig Björkman’s critically acclaimed 52-minute documentary Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier (1997), with optional English subtitles
  • Trailer
  • In English, with optional subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
  • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

From the CurrentView the Current »

Film Essays

The Element of Crime

By Peter CowieSeptember 18, 2000

The very first sequence in The Element of Crime sets the tone not just for this haunting film but for the entire career of Danish wunderkind Lars von Trier. An Egyptian psychiatrist Read more »