Product description

This film tells the story of a very special German band, the story of ELEMENT OF CRIME: it's about music, friendship, an attitude towards the world and the secret of making music together for 40 years. ELEMENT OF CRIME was founded in 1985 and has been an integral part of the German music landscape ever since. They are considered the best-known unknown or the most unknown known band in the German-speaking world. What kind of artists are they? How did they become what they are? Director Charly Hübner pursues these questions with great sensitivity. He follows the band on a tour through Berlin, which was organized especially for this film, and takes us to places that are representative of the band's development. We see the walled city of Berlin, experienced by the most important companions, New York, John Cale, London, Düsseldorf, Ata Tak, the end of the New German Wave and the beginning of ELEMENT OF CRIME. Never nostalgic, never sounds like the "good old days". The band is far too alive for that – basically at the peak of their creativity.

German Record Critics' Award 2/2025 – Statement by the Jury: "Where the air is at its worst/Breathing is more intense/And coughing more attractive/Than anywhere else in the world". Melancholy songs full of laconic comedy like the title song of this documentary are a trademark of the band »Element Of Crime«. In 2024, Charly Hübner accompanied the group on a mini-tour to five Berlin venues: from the small "Privatclub" to the "Zitadelle Spandau" in front of 9,000 spectators. He collages impressions and interviews with archive material from the 1980s and 1990s to create an unpretentious, atmospherically dense portrait of the band and the Berlin music scene. (For the jury: Andreas Kunz)

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