The Element of Crime
Lars von Trier’s stunning debut feature is a grungily expressionistic hallucination—a trancelike trawl through fractured memories, a murder mystery, and the psychic limbo of cultural displacement. From his exile in Cairo, a former police investigator (Michael Elphick) undergoes hypnosis in order to relive his memories of Europe and his last case, for which he went to dangerous lengths to enter into the mind of and catch a serial killer targeting children. Bathed in a sulfurous yellow glow pierced only by startling flashes of electric blue and red, The Element of Crime combines hard-boiled noir, dystopian science fiction, and dazzling operatic flourishes to yield a celluloid nightmare of terrifying beauty.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 3K digital restoration, approved by director Lars von Trier, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentaries featuring von Trier, director of photography Tom Elling, editor Tómas Gislason, filmmaker and critic Stig Björkman, and film scholar Peter Schepelern
- Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier, a 1997 documentary by Björkman
- Making-of documentary from 1984
- Programs featuring interviews with Elling, Gislason, Schepelern, assistant director Åke Sandgren, executive producer Per Holst, production manager Per Årman, and crew members Peter Grant, Birger Larsen, and Henrik Fleischer
- Two short student films by von Trier: Nocturne (1980) and Images of Liberation (1982)
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Available In
Collector's Set
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 3K digital restoration, approved by director Lars von Trier, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentaries featuring von Trier, director of photography Tom Elling, editor Tómas Gislason, filmmaker and critic Stig Björkman, and film scholar Peter Schepelern
- Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier, a 1997 documentary by Björkman
- Making-of documentary from 1984
- Programs featuring interviews with Elling, Gislason, Schepelern, assistant director Åke Sandgren, executive producer Per Holst, production manager Per Årman, and crew members Peter Grant, Birger Larsen, and Henrik Fleischer
- Two short student films by von Trier: Nocturne (1980) and Images of Liberation (1982)
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Cast
- Michael Elphick
- Fisher
- Esmond Knight
- Osborne
- MeMe Lai
- Kim
- Jerold Wells
- Kramer
- Ahmed El Shenawi
- Therapist
- Astrid Henning-Jensen
- Housekeeper
- János Herskó
- Coroner
- Stig Larsson
- Coroner’s assistant
- Harry Harper
- Porter 1
- Roman Moszkowicz
- Porter 2
- Lars von Trier
- Schmuck of Ages
- Frederik Casby
- White policeman
- Duke Addabayo
- Black policeman
- Jon Bang Carlsen
- Angry policeman
- Leif Magnusson
- Hotel guest
- Preben Lerdorff Rye
- Grandfather
- Camilla Overbye
- Lotto girl 1
- Maria Behrendt
- Lotto girl 2
- Mogens Rukov
- Librarian
- Gotha Andersen
- Judge
Credits
- Director
- Lars von Trier
- Screenplay by
- Lars von Trier
- Screenplay by
- Niels Vørsel
- Executive producer
- Per Holst
- Production manager
- Per Årman
- Production manager
- Sanne Arnt Torp
- Director of photography
- Tom Elling
- Shooting script
- Lars von Trier
- Shooting script
- Tom Elling
- Shooting script
- Tómas Gislason
- Scenario consultant
- Mogens Rukov
- Translation
- Steven Wakelam
- Translation
- William Quarshie
- Camera operator
- Søren Berthelin
- Camera operator
- Steen Møller Rasmussen
- Assistant director
- Åke Sandgren
- Production designer
- Peter Høimark
- Special effects
- Peter Høimark
- Property master
- Tove Robert Rasmussen
- Props
- Peter Grant
- Props
- John Johansen
- Props
- Lars Nielsen
- Props
- William Knutter
- Lighting engineer
- Eg Norre
- Gaffer
- Jens Gielow
- Gaffer
- Flemming Bruhn Pedersen
- Gaffer
- Preben Seltoft
- Gaffer
- Birger Larsen
- Sound recordist
- Henrik Fleischer
- Film and sound editor
- Tómas Gislason
- Wardrobe
- Manon Rasmussen
- Music composed by
- Bo Holten
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Trailer for The Element of Crime
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