[Crime] is based on a true story, an actual cops-and-robbers incident. A tramp steals a bag of chips, runs off into the tube and is shot dead by the police during their pursuit. It is the kind of news item that briefly hits the morning papers - where the authorities regret the incident. Regret the fact that because of a misunderstanding the man has become a victim of the unequal struggle against crime in the big city by an underpaid, overworked police force.
Using this anonymous and shocking event, Antonie Frank has made a very short film of an individual caught up in the throes of fate. The video was shot in black-and-white and is shown in short, flowing sequences. The story itself is not actually told, only suggested by using close-ups and standard, symbolic images. Faces of indignant women, a man with flying coattails running down some stairs, a pigeon flapping its wings at take off, a clock ticking against time, a tube (just missed) pulling out, the death spasms of the man who falls, a bag of chips rolling away. The coarse-grained black-and-white images refer to 16mm films; it seems as though we are dealing here with historical film material (Hitchcock, suspense films). This, in combination with the monumental composition and the abstract imagery, gives the video a sense of timelessness. A social indictment becomes an ode on human dignity. Antonie Frank teaches at the film academy in Stockholm and is a Board member for SKFF (Swedish Women's Film Association), a forum for women who work with art in the framework of new media.
– Marianne Brouwer
2 0 0 1 
