The Element of Crime

The Element of Crime is a 1984 Danish neonoir crime art film cowritten and directed by Lars von Trier. It is the first feature film directed by Trier and the first installment of the directors Europa trilogy. The other two films in the trilogy are Epidemic 1987 and Europa 1991.

The film employs the film noir conventions of monochrome footage, apparently constant night, and the frequent presence of water, such as rain and rivers. The film is shot almost entirely in sodium light resulting in images reminiscent of sepia tone, though with a more intense yellow. Because sodium lamps produce light in only a few narrow emission peaks, rather than over a wide spectrum, the film has an almost monochrome appearance. The sepia is occasionally contrasted with piercing blues or reds.The world depicted in the film is semiderelict. Disordered collections of similar or identical objects are found in many of the scenes, reinforcing the sense of a crumbling society. Examples include white paper, light bulbs, heaps of keys, surgical scissors, glass bottles, rubber stamps and CocaCola cans. ........

Source: Wikipedia