Expert: 7devonapes - 10/7/2010

Question
I remember a film, British or Australian (most likely the former) that was set in a flooded world, and the lead character is a detective of some sort.  This would be late 80s, or 90s, and it is memorable because the film was sepia-toned.  Any ideas?

Answer
Hi Chris,

It sounds like the movie you are looking for is a 1984 Danish film by Lars von Trier called "Forbrydelsens element" , aka "The Element of Crime".

A plot summary for this film courtesy of imdb.com follows:

"Fisher, an ex-cop, returns to his old beat somewhere in northern Europe after a thirteen-year hiatus in Cairo. His former mentor and role model, author of a treatise called "The Element of Crime", asks him to solve a series of murders involving lottery ticket sellers. Guided by the theories put forth in the book, Fischer retraces the steps of a suspect, Harry Grey, as recorded in a three-year-old police surveillance report."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087280/


You can watch the entire film at Dailymotion, here (Part 1 of 6):
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6fv5n_the-element-of-crime-16_shortfilms


DVD copies are also readily available from Amazon.com, ebay.com, etc.


All the best!
Ryan