Forbrydelsens element Reviews

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"... Read more

Beginning a trilogy of films dealing specifically with the decline of post-war Europe, this extraordinary, heavily referential, psychological thriller would be the first cinematic outing from acclaimed Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. Like all of the director's early works, the... Read more

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... Read more

This film does its job well. If you don't follow the reason for everything you see, don't worry about it. In the beginning, the story is set up so that we're (possibly) seeing the film as if we're under hypnosis... Read more

Hypnosis and criminology get the once over in this highly disturbing first entry from maverick film-maker Von Trier. A washed up profiler returns home to a post-apocalyptic Europe from Cairo to investigate "The Lotto Girl" murders and becomes determined to... Read more

It's taken me a long time but I've finally managed to see Lars von Trier's debut feature film. And boy, was it worth the wait! Those who are mainly familiar with his recent work might find this fascinating and visually... Read more

Opening a trilogy of films dealing with the effect and decline of post-war Europe, this extraordinary, heavily referential psychological thriller marked the first cinematic outing from Danish maverick (and dogma godfather) Lars von Trier. Unfolding in an undisclosed European country,... Read more

This is yet another film that easily conforms to my theory of Subjective Reality (see Kafka), to be honest it may not even be my theory, but whose ever it was, it has been distorted to my own way of... Read more

Though supposedly taking place somewhere in West Germany, I cannot imagine a world such as this, with the exceptions of perhaps a Mad Max movie, or maybe Waterworld. Water seems to be the dominant element in the film; the entire piece... Read more

The day after I saw this film for the first time, I had to sit down and watch it again. Not because I thought I'd missed something, but because the story and visuals are so compelling that it's the kind... Read more