--- title: "The Element of Crime" year: 1984 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-element-of-crime" fi1m_score: 63 critics_score: 56 critics_reviews: 6 published: "2026-09-16T14:06:15.025239+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T14:06:15.431816+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Element of Crime (1984) Directed by Lars von Trier · 1h 44m · MPA NR · Crime, Drama, Science Fiction **Fi1m score: 63** · Critics 56 from 6 reviews *In a sentence:* A serial-killer investigation in which finding somewhere dry starts to seem the more urgent task > Lars von Trier’s detective film makes a rain-soaked Europe memorably oppressive, then struggles to make its murder investigation matter. The sepia photography warrants the effort for the visually curious, though the dialogue and sluggish pursuit test our patience. ## Synopsis Under hypnosis, detective Fisher (Michael Elphick) revisits his pursuit of a serial killer in a rain-soaked, dystopian Europe. The Therapist (Ahmed El Shenawi) guides the session, while Fisher’s account returns to the ‘lotto murders’ and the influence of his mentor, Osborne (Esmond Knight). Fisher wants to solve the killings using his mentor’s approach. His recollection gives the investigation the uncertain movement of a dream, taking him through a landscape held in rain and yellow-brown light as he attempts to retrace the killer’s actions. ## Review *The Element of Crime* is worth the trouble for its oppressive images, though the detective work gives us much less to hold on to. Lars von Trier sends Fisher (Michael Elphick) through a rain-soaked Europe in pursuit of a serial killer, with the investigation filtered through hypnosis. This allows the film to move with the uncertainty of a bad dream. It also provides rather too convenient an excuse for a story that struggles to make its next question interesting. Tom Elling’s cinematography gives the place a sickly yellow-brown cast, draining the usual reassurance from familiar spaces. The persistent rain makes it difficult to imagine anyone getting comfortable, let alone getting clean. We felt hemmed in by that light and weather. The colour leaves so little relief that even looking for a detail in the image becomes an uneasy business. The cinematographer earns the discomfort through sustained control, although the same palette eventually starts to wear us down. Peter Høimark’s production design makes the sodden European setting feel like somewhere ordinary life has become difficult. The surroundings hold our attention when the case does not. Tómas Gislason’s editing does little to give the search momentum once that first discomfort has taken hold. Scenes have room to establish their atmosphere, but the pauses do not consistently deepen the mystery or sharpen our interest in Fisher. The screenplay by Niels Vørsel and Lars von Trier has a useful starting point in Fisher’s pursuit of the ‘lotto murders’ under his mentor’s influence. A detective whose approach depends so heavily on somebody else need not be reassuring company. Yet the dialogue makes the case harder to enter without making the people more interesting. The obscurity begins to feel unnecessary because the film gives us too few clear reasons to care about what Fisher discovers. Michael Elphick is a useful centre for all this visual insistence, giving Fisher a battered, unglamorous presence. His weariness is credible, and the performance does not need to announce how unpleasant the surroundings are. Esmond Knight plays Osborne, the mentor whose influence shapes Fisher’s approach. The screenplay makes that connection important to the case without giving the relationship enough weight to make us care about it. Bo Holten’s music reinforces the unease, though it cannot make the faltering inquiry feel urgent. The mixture of crime and science fiction permits a Europe that need not obey the rules of an ordinary police drama. That freedom is worth having, and the film uses it well when it asks us simply to look. But a detective story, however strange, needs to make us curious about the next discovery. Too often we are waiting for the next striking image instead. There is enough control here to make the shortcomings frustrating rather than merely dull. The images stay with us, especially that exhausting yellow light, long after the details of the case have begun to blur. At 104 minutes, it still feels stretched, and anyone wanting a firmly plotted mystery has fair reason to pass. Go in prepared to be unsettled, and to do without the pleasure of a well-built mystery. *Fi1m score 63, published 16 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are evenly divided between positive, mixed and negative, but praise consistently centres on the film’s images. Critics find much to notice in von Trier’s sepia-soaked, rain-lashed setting, with its oppressive lighting and dreamlike atmosphere. Even less favourable accounts acknowledge the visual character of this dystopian detective story. The more enthusiastic reviews see an assured debut whose disturbing images remain memorable despite the murkiness of its plot. The disagreement is over how much those images compensate for weak storytelling and emotional distance. Reservations cluster around opaque plotting, sluggish pacing and dialogue, with some critics finding the atmosphere numbing. Time Out regards the film’s assurance as sufficient compensation, while The AV Club values its visual invention despite its unpleasantness. The New York Times finds little mystery or narrative drive, and Slant Magazine sees the pacing and psychology as barriers to involvement. The spread is wide: stylistic confidence persuades some critics and leaves others unconvinced. ### Reviews we read (6) - **Time Out**, SJo (80/100, inferred): Von Trier's debut is an operatic horror-thriller with a battered detective pursuing 'lotto murders' under his mentor's influence in a rain-lashed, sulphurous world. It is a cinephile's film full of allusions whose visual brilliance can numb as much as stun, yet its assurance makes it as startling as Eraserhead. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-element-of-crime) - **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (70/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a stunning debut that showcases von Trier as a remarkable stylist of grand visual invention. Its dreamlike tone and unforgettable images make it impossible to forget despite a murky storyline and general unpleasantness. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-element-of-crime-dvd-1798195633) - **The New York Times**, Vincent Canby (40/100, inferred): The film is a murky film noir set in a dystopian, rain-soaked Europe without much mystery or narrative drive. The critic singles out the unusual sepia-toned camerawork for attention while faulting the dialogue and overall storytelling. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/01/movies/the-film-element-of-crime.html) - **Slant Magazine**, Bill Weber (30/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as a duly atmospheric neo-noir phantasmagoria with oppressive sodium-lit visuals that pull stylistic punches but keep viewers at arm's length through pacing and psychology. It notes the work as part of early efforts by a director yet to find his voice, bested later by Michael Mann's Manhunter. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/europe-trilogy-blu-ray-review-lars-von-trier/) - **The Playlist** (65/100, inferred): The film is a beautiful but opaque debut that keeps the viewer at a remove with its dreamlike narrative about a hypnotized detective. The critic singles out the sepia-soaked visuals and moody dystopic atmosphere as its most memorable qualities. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/the-films-of-lars-von-trier-a-retrospective-20111112/) - **Collider**, Jeremy Urquhart (55/100, inferred): The critic views the film as an ambitious early work that shows von Trier developing his signature style in a disturbing serial-killer mystery blending crime and science-fiction elements. It has a solid core and promising moments but feels scattershot and overstays its welcome. [Read](https://collider.com/lars-von-trier-movies-ranked/) ## Details - **Director:** Lars von Trier - **Director:** Lars von Trier - **Screenplay:** Lars von Trier, Niels Vørsel - **Cinematography:** Tom Elling - **Editor:** Tómas Gislason - **Music:** Bo Holten - **Production design:** Peter Høimark - **Costume design:** Manon Rasmussen - **Cast:** Michael Elphick as Fisher; Esmond Knight as Osborne; Me Me Lai as Kim; Jerold Wells as Kramer; Ahmed El Shenawi as Therapist; Astrid Henning-Jensen as House Keeper; Janos Hersko as Coroner; Stig Larsson as Coroner's Assistant - **Runtime:** 1h 44m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 1 May 1987 - **Genres:** Crime, Drama, Science Fiction ## Where to watch in the US - MUBI: streaming, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AR, BR, CA, CL, CO, IN, MX, PA, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Bodil Award for Best Danish Film 1985: Bodil Award for Best Danish Film (won) - Robert Award for Best Cinematography 1985: Robert Award for Best Cinematography (won) - Robert Award for Best Costume Design 1985: Robert Award for Best Costume Design (won) - Robert Award for Best Danish Film 1985: Robert Award for Best Danish Film (won) - Robert Award for Best Editing 1985: Robert Award for Best Editing (won) - Robert Award for Best Production Design 1985: Robert Award for Best Production Design (won) - Robert Award for Best Sound Design 1985: Robert Award for Best Sound Design (won) - Robert Award for Best Visual Effects 1985: Robert Award for Best Visual Effects (won) ## If you liked this - *The Third Man* (1949), Fi1m 92: Wet streets, damaged loyalties and a mystery with considerably firmer footing. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-third-man.md) - *Alphaville* (1965): A detective enters a hostile city where science fiction requires remarkably few gadgets. - *Stalker* (1979), Fi1m 86: For another slow journey through a damaged landscape, with more room for human feeling. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/stalker.md) - *Manhunter* (1986), Fi1m 84: Meticulous colour and a detective whose methods make the pursuit dangerously personal. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/manhunter.md) - *Cure* (1997): Another detective finds that pursuing a killer makes his own thinking less secure. --- © Fi1m Ltd. 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