The detective film, a variation of the mystery or suspense film, has been a cinema staple since an unknown actor played Sherlock Holmes in 1900. The ordinary fabric of reality has been disrupted, and things are out of balance. Justice is defined here as the restoration and balancing of normal order.
Closure is established, and the case is closed.
Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the best-known example of the Classical Detective. But the detective character takes other forms as well. Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 classic Vertigo , recently restored in a wonderful edition from Universal. Well, hold that thought, because we'll come back to it shortly. In other words, to investigate a disruption in Elster's orderly domestic life .