The Element of Crime

LVT's first feature film is a bizarre neo-noir in which the detective must immerse himself in the killer's mind... you’ll never figure out how this will play out. The dystopian glimpses of a damp and rusty Europe are extremely evocative. However, despite the aesthetic beauty of certain shots and set pieces reminiscent of Tarkovsky's style, the film itself is too slow and messy, with a pretentious attitude typical of a fresh film school graduate. The director's typical sense of humor already emerges in a few instances, but the overall impression is that he took himself too seriously. Additionally, the criminal use of monochromatic lighting to tint everything orange certainly didn't help my attention span. I would recommend the short film "Nocturne" instead (screened today as an opening to “The Element of Crime”) as it manages to capture similar aesthetics in less than ten minutes.