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March 07, 2005
The Element of the Crime
The Element of the Crime (1984), Lars von Trier:
Dogville was easily one of my favorite movies from last year. I'm still not sure completely how I feel about Lars, but it's nice to have a director who takes risks but a) knows what to do with them and b) knows enough not to go overboard.
This is his first, and it's at its heart a play on Reed and Welles' Third Man: a detective trying to hunt down a mysterious criminal, Harry Grey (Ok, subtlety isn't his strong point).
What makes it worthwhile, though, is the horribly dystopic version of Europe he paints. Like Alphaville and Blade Runner, it's a universe of familiar elements taken to a logical extreme. Instead of the technology of the 20th century, though, it's more akin to a dark and earthy middle-ages.
So the rest of the movie isn't actually that good. Lars skews precious a lot (giving himself the role "Schmuck of Ages" e.g.) and it starts unravelling from the start, but there's some great great stuff in here. It finishes well, at least.
9/15
Posted by bing at March 7, 2005 07:57 PM