The Element of Crime
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Element of Crime Traces of the Crime |
| Original title | Forbrydelsen's element |
| Country of production | Denmark |
| original language |
English Arabic |
| Publishing year | 1984 |
| length | 104 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Lars from Trier |
| script |
Niels Vørsel Lars von Trier William Quarshie Stephen Wakelam |
| music | Bo Holten |
| camera | Tom Elling |
| cut | Tomas Gislason |
| occupation | |
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| chronology | |
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Successor → |
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The Element of Crime (alternative: traces of crime , original title: Forbrydelsens element ) is the first feature film by the Danish director Lars von Trier . The film, released in 1984, is also the first part of the so-called Europe Trilogy, followed by Epidemic (1987) and Europe (1991).
action
The policeman Fisher, who is believed to have lost his memory, goes to a psychiatrist in Cairo for hypnosis treatment . This hypnosis session forms the framework for the film, from the off you hear the memories of Fisher who appeared under hypnosis and the psychiatrist's questions about them.
In his memory, Fisher returns to the gloomy, decaying and submerged Europe of post-war Germany in impoverished small German towns. The scenery is surreal , it's permanently dark, it's raining non-stop and water is dripping from the ceiling everywhere. Fisher was charged with the conviction of the "lottery killer," a serial offender who abused and killed young girls who were selling lottery tickets. To find the perpetrator, he used the method of his former mentor Osborne, which he described in his book "The Element of Crime". According to this method, the police officer should put himself in the killer’s shoes and identify with him as much as possible. Osborne himself worked on the lottery killer case. He has followed the suspect Harry Gray minutely, and says that he was killed in an accident while trying to escape him. Fisher doubted Gray was dead. He toured the crime scenes in the same order and using the same means of transportation as the suspect, staying in the same hotels under Harry's name. He took the sex worker Kim with him on his search. As the trip progressed, Fisher became more and more immersed in the serial killer and adopted many of his idiosyncrasies from Osborne's surveillance log. He seemed to get closer and closer to the murderer and understand his coercive system. Fisher suspected that Kim knew Harry Gray. She confessed that this is the father of her child. Following the pattern of murders Fisher found out, another murder should be imminent. A child is intended to be used as a decoy and as such is placed under Fisher's protection. He suddenly kills it along the lines of the lottery murders. The police recognize Fisher's mentor Osborne as the perpetrator of the previous murders, who has internalized his search method so much that he assumed the identity of the murderer Harry Gray and completed his "work".
background
For Lars von Trier, the films by Andrej Tarkowsky were exemplary for The Element of Crime .
Lars von Trier plays in the film himself, as a manic, shaven hotel receptionist.
The Element of Crime was created between September and November 1983 in Copenhagen and Kronborg Castle , Helsingør, among others . The film was shot in English. In order to achieve the desired yellow-orange basic tone, von Trier used sodium vapor lamps for lighting .
The Element of Crime opened in German cinemas on May 24, 1985 and was first broadcast on German television on May 26, 1987. From March 10, 2005 the film was shown as a re-screening in German cinemas.
criticism
“A surreal crime film with a high aesthetic appeal that is less interested in the crime story, but asks questions about the social state of mind. Worth discussing for an audience capable of recording and criticizing. "
Web links
- The Element of Crime in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Information about the re-performance of The Element of Crime on the website of the new distributor "Real Fiction"
- The Element of Crime in the online film database
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for The Element of Crime . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , June 2005 (PDF; test number: 102 845 DVD).
- ↑ a b c The Element of Crime in the Lexicon of International Films .
- ↑ a b TV program in Der Spiegel No. 22/1987 from May 25, 1987, accessed on October 19, 2012.
- ^ A b c Peter Cowie: The Element of Crime. In: The Criterion Collection, September 18, 2000
- ↑ Jack Stevenson: Dogme Uncut: Lars Von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, and the Gang That Took on Hollywood, Santa Monica Press 2003, ISBN 978-1891661358 , pp. 53 ff.
- ^ Alfred Holighaus (Red.): Tip Film Yearbook Number 1. Dates, reports, reviews. August 1984 - July 1985 , Eichborn, Frankfurt 1985.