The Element of Crime is a complicated movie, that definitely has something of a surrealist painting in it, filled with darkness, mud and repetitionary references regarding Europe and the Europeanness (if there is such a word in English). After Nietzsche's assertion that God is dead and the outburst of postmodern relativism, the European individual finds himself in a dim search for his own identity, roaming to and fro not knowing who he is and which way is the right one. The same happens with Fisher, the detective that returns from Cairo to Europe (where in Europe, that is of no importance, since Von Trier depicts a common unassumed Weltanschauung, valid for the entire continent) in order to discover a serial killer. But this quest mustn't necessarily be regarded as a sequence of events, culminating in a meaningful end. On the contrary, it is probably more indicated to consider it a radiography of Europe of the 20th century, confused and bewildered, not knowing who to blame for its disasters, seeking salvation outside its axiological system (as Fisher does, "screwing a Volkswagen 2000 in the middle of Europe"), and finally finding out that only her and her offspring are to blame.
Review of The Element of Crime
