I was always attracted to the British actor Michael Elphick. He was rough, he seemed unsociable, with a compact physique and enormous sweaty masculinity. I especially loved him in Lars von Trier's The Element of Crime. Do you find him desirable?
I could do him.
5 notes
·
View notes
Michael Elphick in The Element of Crime by Lars von Trier.
5 notes
·
View notes
Michael Elphick as Private Gerhard Schulz and Ian Richardson as Major Neuheim
Private Schulz (1981)
8 notes
·
View notes
Top: Lesley-Anne Sharpe, David Daker, Michael Elphick and Neil Morrissey in "Boon"
Bottom: David Daker, Michael Elphick, Neil Morrissey and Saskia Wickham in "Boon"
2 notes
·
View notes
Michael Elphick, Me Me Lai, and Lars von Trier in The Element of Crime (Lars von Trier, 1984)
Cast: Michael Elphick, Esmond Knight, Me Me Lai, Jerold Wells, Ahmed El Shenawi, Astrid Henning-Jensen, János Herskó, Stig Larsson, Lars von Trier. Screenplay: Niels Vørsel, Lars von Trier. Cinematography: Tom Elling. Production design: Peter Hølmark. Music: Bo Holten.
Film noir becomes film jaune. The sulfurous hues of Lars von Trier's first feature-length film were apparently achieved with the use of sodium-vapor lamps not unlike the ones used in some cities as streetlamps and parking-lot illumination to cut down light pollution. The nightmarish monochrome so pervades the film that an occasional irruption of blue light comes as a welcome relief, especially since the determined grunge of the settings gives the eye no place to rest. The Element of Crime is, in short, an assault on our expectations that a film will involve us in either its characters or its story. It's a detective story, in which Fisher (Michael Elphick), a former police detective now living in Cairo, visits a therapist to help him in remembering his last case -- the one so disturbing that it caused him to go into exile from Europe. Under an induced trance, he returns to the scenes of the crimes committed by a serial killer who murdered and dismembered young girls who sold lottery tickets. But the Europe -- no specific country, but though everyone speaks English, the place names are German -- to which Fisher returns in the trance is not the one his conscious mind recalls: It's a trashed-out land where the sun never shines and it always seems to be raining. There is a conventional film noir plot at work throughout the movie, but von Trier is less interested in it than in crafting a sinister dreamworld. He succeeds at that exceptionally, but fails to create a film that lingers in the mind as more than a tour de force in giving you the creeps.
2 notes
·
View notes
'The Elephant Man' (1980) film
-watched 6/5/2024- 4 stars- on Pluto tv (free)
92% Rotten Tomatoes
I don't guess I've ever watched this movie before, but I do remember it was highly regarded whenever it first came out.
0 notes
I BOUGHT A VAMPIRE MOTORCYCLE Reviews of comedy horror
‘The bike that runs on blood not petrol’
I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle is a 1990 British comedy horror film directed by Dirk Campbell from a screenplay written by producer Mycal Miller and John Wolskel.
The movie stars Neil Morrissey, Amanda Noar, Michael Elphick (The Elephant Man), Anthony Daniels (C3PO)
Andrew Powell, George Rossi, Daniel Peacock, Midge Taylor, David Daker and Burt Kwouk (The…
View On WordPress
1 note
·
View note
W A T C H I N G
1 note
·
View note
The Element of Crime (1984)
Movie #1,142 • Ranking Lars von Trier #4
Let it be known that during this LVT filmography viewing I made the executive decision to only ever watch full director filmographies in chronological order. That had always been my preferred method, but I thought it would be best if, from time to time, I mixed up the order for [insert reasoning here]. This is the sixth or seventh Trier flick I've consumed (depending on how you want to count his two early shorter films and both the first two seasons of his Danish TV show) and it's essentially ground zero for the man's career. It's as weird and as bold of a debut feature that I've ever seen.
I feel like it's worth mentioning that I am now starting at the beginning and only going forward, because everything about this felt like a shock having digested some of his other work, most notably: his prime "Golden Heart Trilogy" of films (1996-2000) and his most recent work, 2018's The House That Jack Built. It felt like a different director and I say that in the most positive way. Some similarities arose, naturally. The sepia tones were visually similar to The Kingdom's (though more on this later). The conversational voice-over between main character Fisher and his Cairo hypnotist felt like a direct through-line to how the character of Virgil functions in Jack. And the general "frustrated search for something largely intangible that will ultimately disappoint if not fully horrify" evoked pretty much everything I've seen by the man in some way.
But structurally and compositionally, this felt like a whole new world. In fact, in many ways, it is a complete invention of Trier's. This "Europe" consists of fictional cities and towns where it's always night and everything is drenched in liquid. Despite a few grounding allusions, there is no specific state or country, just this cold, wet dystopia broadcast under yellowy sodium lights. The sets used and built for this are fantastic, each a kind of micro-labyrinth, a small mystery onto themselves cutting against the larger noir framework of the movie's plot: a man is on the hunt for a serial killer of small girls before he strikes again. Detective Fisher (Michael Elphick) navigates this spaces in a literal daze, as the entirety of the action is presented as the memory of a man, now an expatriate in Egypt, spilling his guts to a guy with a monkey on his shoulder. This is the first of two primates to get screen-time. The second, notably of the lower order, Fisher finds in a gutter, scared to death and confused, perhaps a stand in for the audience….
I believe that guy is a loris. To start your film with monkey and end it with a loris speaks to some theme of reverse evolution. The fascist nightmares we see are a product of no less. In fact, this – coupled with the elements of his earlier student work and up through his unfortunate "I'm a Nazi" comments – provide much of the framework for understanding Trier's motives on a larger scale. I do believe it goes beyond simple provocation and is worth explorin. I think he's trying to make sense of a world still drying out from the tsunami that was WWII. But I'll put a pin in it that for now before I get to watch the rest of his films.
The Element of Crime is not a movie made for easily digestible 'understanding' or textbook mystery reveals. Even when you get the gist/uncover the trick, he throws a mysterious postscript that shrouds things further. I'm still trying to make sense of these manic bald men…
LVT created a world here. His stellar framing, innovative shots, and glorious use of light all cut against the frantic, obtuse and occasionally obscene script in such a delightful way. Sure, maybe it's all an amalgamation of influence (certainly Andrei Tarkovsky and Lynch's Eraserhead among others) but it's still wholly more than the sum of its parts.
I took a weird route to get to this beginning. In a way, I'm glad I did, but I'm even more excited to keep going forward.
SCORE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’ll be counting down all of Lars Von Trier’s movies right here at @cinemacentral666 every Thursday through September 2023
0 notes
0 notes
THE ELEMENT OF CRIME:
Yellow tinged Europe
Detective use hypnosis
To find a killer
1 note
·
View note
In Victorian England, a master criminal makes elaborate plans to steal a shipment of gold from a moving train.
Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
Edward Pierce: Sean Connery
Robert Agar: Donald Sutherland
Miriam: Lesley-Anne Down
Edgar Trent: Alan Webb
Fowler: Malcolm Terris
Sharp: Robert Lang
Clean Willy: Wayne Sleep
Burgess: Michael Elphick
Elizabeth Trent: Gabrielle Lloyd
Emily Trent: Pamela Salem
Barlow: George Downing
Harranby: James Cossins
McPherson: John Bett
Station Despatcher: Peter Benson
Maggie: Janine Duvitski
Trent’s Butler: Brian de Salvo
Judge: André Morell
Prosecutor: Donald Churchill
Captain Jimmy: Brian Glover
Connaught: Noel Johnson
Putnam: Peter Butterworth
Burke: Patrick Barr
Lewis: Hubert Rees
Woman on Platform: Agnes Bernelle
Rail Guard: Joe Cahill
Chaplain: Cecil Nash
Emma Barnes: Susan Hallinan
Ratting Assistant: Oliver Smith
First Pickpocket: John Altman
Second Pickpocket: Paul Kember
Third Pickpocket: Geoff Ferris
Woman on Strand: Jenny Till
Urchin on Strand: Craig Stokes
Policjant na stacji przy moście londyńskim: Frank McDonald
Film Crew:
Novel: Michael Crichton
Original Music Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
Editor: David Bretherton
Producer: John Foreman
In Memory Of: Geoffrey Unsworth
Camera Operator: Gordon Hayman
Production Design: Maurice Carter
Art Direction: Bert Davey
Costume Design: Anthony Mendleson
Makeup Artist: Basil Newall
Music Editor: Michael Clifford
Assistant Director: Anthony Waye
Casting: Mary Selway
Hairstylist: Elaine Bowerbank
Set Dresser: Hugh Scaife
Wardrobe Master: Rebecca Breed
Executive Producer: Dino De Laurentiis
Still Photographer: Laurie Ridley
Action Director: Dick Ziker
Draughtsman: Jim Morahan
Movie Reviews:
Wuchak: _**Robbing a train of a shipment of gold in Victorian England**_
Written/directed by Michael Crichton and released in 1978/79, “The Great Train Robbery” was loosely based on the real-life Great Gold Robbery of 1855 that took place in England. Sean Connery plays the mastermind, Lesley-Anne Down his girlfriend and Donald Sutherland a safecracker with whom they team-up.
I generally don’t like caper films because the protagonists are criminals, but Crichton wisely makes the characters played by Connery and Sutherland likable rapscallions; meanwhile Down is babelicious, in particular in her jaw-dropping first scene. Crichton intentionally made the movie more farcical compared to his novel and I appreciated the wit and low-key humor. I didn’t expect to like this movie, but it won me over.
The film runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and was shot primarily in Ireland (Dublin, Bray, Cork & Moate), but also Pinewood Studios, England.
GRADE: B-/B
JPV852: Seen this once before many years ago but decided to check out the new Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. A solid heist-thriller though what struck me was these thieves were stealing gold meant for British soldiers, so not exactly stealing from some corporation, and our lead played by Sean Connery had no issue murdering a guy. Even so, still found it entertaining and some suspense-filled scenes, among them a great sequence with Connery on top of a moving train. **3.75/5**
1 note
·
View note
#ProyeccionDeVida
📣 Kino Cat / Cine Tulipán, presenta:
🎬 “EL HOMBRE ELEFANTE” [Elephant Man]
🔎 Género: Drama / Biográfico / Discapacidad / Siglo XIX / Película de culto
⌛️ Duración: 125 minutos
✍️ Guion: David Lynch, Eric Bergren y Christopher De Vore
📕 Biografía: John Merrick
🎼 Música: John Morris
📷 Fotografía: Freddie Francis (B&W)
💥 Argumento: A finales del siglo XIX, el doctor Frederick Treves descubre en un circo a un hombre llamado John Merrick. Se trata de un ciudadano británico con la cabeza monstruosamente deformada, que vive en una situación de constante humillación y sufrimiento al ser exhibido diariamente como una atracción de feria. A medida que Merrick le cuenta todo por lo que ha pasado, el Dr. Treves descubre que tras la monstruosa fachada de Merrick yace un hombre apacible y amable
👥 Reparto: John Hurt (John Merrick), Anthony Hopkins (Dr. Frederick Treves), Anne Bancroft (Sra. Kendal), Frederick Treves (Concejal), Freddie Jones (Bytes), John Gielgud (Carr Gomm), Wendy Hiller (Señora Mothershead), Lesley Dunlop (Nora), Dexter Fletcher (Chico de Bytes), Phoebe Nicholls (Madre de Merrick) y Michael Elphick (Portero de noche)
📢 Dirección: David Lynch
© Productora: Paramount Pictures
👤 Productor: Mel Brooks
🌎 País: Estados Unidos
📅 Año: 1980
📽 Proyección:
📆 Martes 04 de Junio
🕘 9:00pm.
🐈 El Gato Tulipán (Bajada de Baños 350 – Barranco)
🚶♀️🚶♂️ Ingreso libre
0 notes
The Element of Crime (1984) dir. Lars von Trier
199 notes
·
View notes
Boon - ITV - January 14, 1986 - May 1, 1995
Drama (93 episodes)
Running Time: 60 minutes
Stars:
Michael Elphick as Ken Boon
David Daker as Harry Crawford
Neil Morrissey as Rocky Cassidy
Rachel Davies as Doreen Evans
Lesley-Anne Sharpe as Debbie Yates
Amanda Burton as Margaret Daly
Elizabeth Carling as Laura Marsh
Brigit Forsyth as Helen Yeldham
Saskia Wickham as Alex Wilton
Joan Scott as Ethel Ellard
Gordon Warnecke as Hanif Kurtha
Christopher Eccleston as Mark
2 notes
·
View notes