---
title: 'The Element of Crime (1984)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Lars von Trier'
released: '1984-05-14'
runtime_minutes: 104
genres:
  - 'Drama'
  - 'Crime'
  - 'Thriller'
countries:
  - 'Denmark'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/the-element-of-crime-1984'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087280/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# The Element of Crime (1984)

1984 · 104 min · Drama, Crime, Thriller · Denmark

Original title: Forbrydelsens element
Part of: Europa trilogy

## Synopsis

The Element of Crime is a 1984 Danish experimental neo-noir crime film co-written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is the first feature film directed by von Trier and the first installment of the director's Europa trilogy — succeeded by Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991).

## Credits

- **Director:** [Lars von Trier](https://cinepixo.com/people/lars-von-trier)
- **Screenplay:** [Lars von Trier](https://cinepixo.com/people/lars-von-trier), [Niels Vørsel](https://cinepixo.com/people/niels-v-rsel), [Stephen Wakelam](https://cinepixo.com/people/stephen-wakelam)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Bo Holten](https://cinepixo.com/people/bo-holten)
- **Producer:** [Per Holst](https://cinepixo.com/people/per-holst)
- **Director of Photography:** [Tom Elling](https://cinepixo.com/people/tom-elling)
- **Editor:** [Tómas Gislason](https://cinepixo.com/people/tomas-gislason)

## Cast

- [Leif Magnusson](https://cinepixo.com/people/leif-magnusson)
- [Camilla Overbye Roos](https://cinepixo.com/people/camilla-overbye-roos)
- [Me Me Lai](https://cinepixo.com/people/me-me-lai)
- [Esmond Knight](https://cinepixo.com/people/esmond-knight)
- [Lars von Trier](https://cinepixo.com/people/lars-von-trier)
- [Jerold Wells](https://cinepixo.com/people/jerold-wells)
- [Astrid Henning-Jensen](https://cinepixo.com/people/astrid-henning-jensen)
- [Mogens Rukov](https://cinepixo.com/people/mogens-rukov)
- [Jon Bang Carlsen](https://cinepixo.com/people/jon-bang-carlsen)
- [János Herskó](https://cinepixo.com/people/janos-hersko)
- [Stig Larsson](https://cinepixo.com/people/stig-larsson)
- [Michael Elphick](https://cinepixo.com/people/michael-elphick)
- [Preben Lerdorff Rye](https://cinepixo.com/people/preben-lerdorff-rye)

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/the-element-of-crime-1984
Film facts: Wikidata (Q464440); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.