Forbrydelsens element (1984)

104 min · Crime, Thriller, art film, crime film, drama film, thriller film

Popularity4/5

12-month trendExpand

12-month trend

Monthly article views

Sep2.2kOct2.6kNov2.7kDec2.3kJan2.8kFeb2.4kMar2.5kApr2.4kMay2.5kJun2.4kJul2.4kAug3.2k

2025-09 to 2026-08

Directors

Lars von Trier

Cast

Michael Elphick, Esmond Knight, Me Me Lai, Jerold Wells

The story

The film opens with Detective Fisher, a European expatriate in Cairo, undergoing hypnosis to process his most recent case, with the remainder of the film narrated by him in a dreamlike state. Expressionistic and surreal, the Europe of Fisher's hypnotized recollection is a psychosocial dystopia, dark, decaying, desolate, and rain drenched. Chief Inspector Kramer has asked Fisher to return to Europe to investigate a serial killer who has been strangling and mutilating young girls.

Catalogue themes and tags

Book, Cairo, Darkness, Dystopia, Emigranten, Erinnerung, Ermordung, Europe, Female Nudity, Hypnose, Identity, Jagd auf Mörder, Journey into the Past, Killing, Kind zu Tode trampeln, Lottery, Memory Loss, Methode, Murder of a Girl, Murderer, Mädchen mit langen schwarzen Haaren, Observer, Occult, Personality Disorder, Polizeibeamter, Prostituiertenmord, Prostitute, Psychoanalysis, Serienkillerfilm, Strangle, Subconsciousness, earth in future

Genres

Crime, Thriller, art film, crime film, drama film, thriller film

Find trailer on YouTube ↗ Plot source & revision Wikipedia Wikidata Open Media Database Permalink

Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.

Your lists

Loading your lists…

Movie themes