"Elephant", Gus Van Sant's film that is based on the actions that occurred at Columbine High School in 1999 is definitely a powerful film. The film is set at a high school in Portland, Oregon on what is generally a typical day for the students, except that come midday, two of their fellow students are going to go on a shooting rampage and kill several students and teachers. One of the most interesting aspects of the film is that for the most part, the events that we see over the course of the 81 minute film are actually what is occurring in the five or so minutes before the shooting begins, something that wasn't ascertained (at least by me) until about the middle of the film when the actions of each of the various students profiled begin to intersect. Before that, we are seeing short profiles of a smattering of students a photographer, a jock, a regular well-liked kid, a nerd, a trio of shallow girls, and of course, the two shooters. It isn't until their paths begin to cross that the story begins to come together. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, this is about halfway into the film. By briefly being introduced to these kids, I found that, counter to what Van Sant may have perhaps intended, I didn't have any more or less sympathy for any of them when the shootings occur. This didn't limit the impact, but it didn't add to it for me either.
Van Sant is heavy on atmosphere and artistic expressions in "Elephant". In one scene, a kid will be walking down a hallway, and the scene will last for about three minutes, with the intent being that we soak in everything that is going on around him, knowing what we know and what they obviously don't. Or during gym class outside, the nerd stops and looks in slow motion around her and up at the sky. The scene seems questionable and even superfluous until it dawns on the viewer that this is probably the last time she's going to do that. There are long shots of the sky, (which I can't really explain) and long dialogues between teens in the halls, lunchroom and classrooms that make the viewer feel like a fly on the wall, or an invisible outside observer this technique certainly lends an intimacy and reality to the film. Also worth noting is that most of the dialogue was improvised, and the actors weren't really actors at all, just kids who auditioned for Van Sant who mostly used their real first names as their character names.
I liked "Elephant", but it's a hard sell. While it is powerful, it could be construed as pretentious. I would probably recommend it mostly to anyone who enjoys art house-style films, because it is a film that is certainly original and more thought-provoking and evocative than "entertaining". 6/10 --Shelly
Van Sant is heavy on atmosphere and artistic expressions in "Elephant". In one scene, a kid will be walking down a hallway, and the scene will last for about three minutes, with the intent being that we soak in everything that is going on around him, knowing what we know and what they obviously don't. Or during gym class outside, the nerd stops and looks in slow motion around her and up at the sky. The scene seems questionable and even superfluous until it dawns on the viewer that this is probably the last time she's going to do that. There are long shots of the sky, (which I can't really explain) and long dialogues between teens in the halls, lunchroom and classrooms that make the viewer feel like a fly on the wall, or an invisible outside observer this technique certainly lends an intimacy and reality to the film. Also worth noting is that most of the dialogue was improvised, and the actors weren't really actors at all, just kids who auditioned for Van Sant who mostly used their real first names as their character names.
I liked "Elephant", but it's a hard sell. While it is powerful, it could be construed as pretentious. I would probably recommend it mostly to anyone who enjoys art house-style films, because it is a film that is certainly original and more thought-provoking and evocative than "entertaining". 6/10 --Shelly