[PaulD]

Originally Posted by Phurious

Also got round to watching Lars Von Trier's debut The Element Of Crime.
Christ on the cross! Why haven't I got round to seeing this earlier? It's absolutely and utterly everything I could want in a film.
Visually it has to be one of the most audacious debuts that I've ever seen, and I'm told that Europa is even more so!
Recalling Tarkovsky, Greenaway, Welles, Huston, but somehow managing to be fresh and unique too. The monochrome and sodium lighting works magnificently and if I had to describe it, it would be something between Jeunet and Caro's Delicatessen and John Huston's Reflections In A Golden Eye.
The framing, camera movement and editing is utterly mind boggling and left me with my jaw on the ground. The use of superimpositions is absolutely spectacular at some points and I can't recall another film where it has been used with such skill and acuity - layers upon layers sometimes creating a majestic trompe l'oeil that really made me scratch my head.
The seemingly simple, yet infuriatingly complex plot is akin to a Greenaway film, nothing makes complete sense and the oneiric visual quality and delivery of dialogue only help to compound this detachment of the story and how the viewer should interpret it.
Michael Elphick is absolutely solid in the lead and his character recalls the hapless pro/antagonists of countless gialli (in fact this film is so yellow it could be considered a Danish giallo).
The editor, DoP and Von Trier commentary is an absolute hoot and whilst they hilariously wind each other up about the film, I can't help but feel that there is an undercurrent of pride as they watch their feature film debut.

It really is a spectacular film and one I must eatch again shortly along with the other 2 in the Europe trilogy.