The First Film | Lars Von Trier started with a dark trilogy

Today in our series of articles about great contemporary film directors and their early works, we have Lars Von Trier.

The Danish director showed great ambition since his first feature film. After a dozen short films, he filmed The Element of Crime (1984), the story of detective Fisher (Michael Elphick), who goes in search of a serial killer. The criminal is notorious for strangling and mutilating little girls. Fisher is forced into the mind of his adversary to discover his next steps.

Set in post-World War II Germany, Element of a Crime begins the "Europe" trilogy, famous for its bleak portrayal of the old continent. The other films are Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991).