MONDAY 17 NOV – H 21:00 – ROOM 5

FORBRYDELSENS ELEMENT – THE ELEMENT OF CRIME
DENMARK – 1984 – color – 104’

Direction: Lars von Trier
Screenplay: Lars von Trier
Cinematography: Tom Rilling
Editing: Tómas Gislason
Production design: Peter Høimark
Music: Bo Holten
Cast: Michael Elphick (Fisher), Esmond Knight (Osborne), Me Me Lei (Kim), Jerold Wells (Kramer), Ahmed El Shenawi (Therapist), Astrid Henning-Jensen (House Keeper), János Herskó (Coroner)
Production: Danish Film Institute, Holst Film
Italian Distribution: Movies Inspired

Synopsis
Fisher is back in Cairo, having just spent some time in Europe investigating a murder case…But what really happened there he does not care to remember. All that remains is an uncertain feeling of chaos of a Europe in decay. Fisher consults an arab doctor in order to rid himself of his headaches…and Europe.

critical note
“It’s always three o’clock in the morning—if you know what I mean,” says Kim, the prostitute who be friends Fisher in The Element of Crime, and von Trier and his cinematographer Tom Elling have devised an immaculate nocturnal mood for the film. Saturating the negative with yellow, they give each scene a lurid hue that in itself manifests tension and suggests the contours of a dream—or a nightmare. Every so often the prevailing saffron is punctuated with a startling blue—a lamp, or a TV screen. Characters trudge slowly across the screen, as though moving under water in a trance.”
(Peter Cowie, Sept 18, 2000,The Criterion Collection)

awards and festivals
1984 Festival di Cannes – Competition: Technical Grand Prize
1984 Chicago IFF: Silver Hugo
1984 Mannheim-Heidelberg IFF: Josef von Sternberg Award
1985 Bodil Awards: Best Film
1985 Danish Film Awards: Best Film, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Costume Design, Sound, Special Effects
1986 Fantasporto IFF: Best Director