copied and pasted from home theater forum, I plan on seeing it this weekend....
I happen to subscribe to the ?less is more? philosophy. I?m not a big on reading a fifty page report that can be summed up in six paragraphs, nor am I a fan of watching a three hour film where I felt that an hour of it should have been lopped off. And by the same token, I do appreciate a film or a book that causes me to think and doesn?t needlessly spell out every detail to a point where nothing is left for the imagination. If ever a film was created and subscribed to the ?less is more? philosophy, Elephant would be the epitome of such an example.
Rarely do I complete reviews where the actors aren?t listed, such is the case here. Virtually all of the actors are teens who attend one of the local high schools (the film was shot in Portland, Oregon), most of whom actually went by their first names in the film. Elephant was written and directed by Gus Van Sant (who was responsible for directing Finding Forrester and Good Will Hunting). For those not familiar with the film, this is similar to a day-in-the-life of many of those who attended Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999. The story takes place at any school in any town in American suburbia. The film is simple in that there are only brief sequences following a dozen or so kids who attend the school and the brief interactions they have with other students throughout the day as they go about their daily routines.
It?s interesting to see many of the kids and how their stories cascade eventually causing them to intersect right back to where we see them in first place. It?s a great technique that allows us to follow each and every student throughout the course of the day showing a different perspective. Ironically, some of them interact with the killers, while others do not. You?ll see many Kubrick-esque looking shots as well as several stationary camera shots, a technique which simply allows us to watch the innocence of the kids as they throw around a football or stare up into the sky, forcing us to think about the inevitable doom they?re all about to endure.
Other than the usual torments of school and post pubescent situations all of our kids must face, you?ll find no explanation for what happened nor will there be any plausible reasons for certain individuals losing their lives or others being spared. What you will see are two boys unable to cope with life?s daily struggles forcing you think about what it was that caused them to do such unspeakable things. Unfortunately, due to many of the various news agencies looking for quick ratings, we?ve been conditioned to focus on the negative in terms of catastrophic events such as Columbine. Case in point; I suspect many of us here could name Harris and Klebold as the monsters who perpetrated this heinous act. How many of us could name any of the victims as easily? Something to think about?
I happen to subscribe to the ?less is more? philosophy. I?m not a big on reading a fifty page report that can be summed up in six paragraphs, nor am I a fan of watching a three hour film where I felt that an hour of it should have been lopped off. And by the same token, I do appreciate a film or a book that causes me to think and doesn?t needlessly spell out every detail to a point where nothing is left for the imagination. If ever a film was created and subscribed to the ?less is more? philosophy, Elephant would be the epitome of such an example.
Rarely do I complete reviews where the actors aren?t listed, such is the case here. Virtually all of the actors are teens who attend one of the local high schools (the film was shot in Portland, Oregon), most of whom actually went by their first names in the film. Elephant was written and directed by Gus Van Sant (who was responsible for directing Finding Forrester and Good Will Hunting). For those not familiar with the film, this is similar to a day-in-the-life of many of those who attended Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999. The story takes place at any school in any town in American suburbia. The film is simple in that there are only brief sequences following a dozen or so kids who attend the school and the brief interactions they have with other students throughout the day as they go about their daily routines.
It?s interesting to see many of the kids and how their stories cascade eventually causing them to intersect right back to where we see them in first place. It?s a great technique that allows us to follow each and every student throughout the course of the day showing a different perspective. Ironically, some of them interact with the killers, while others do not. You?ll see many Kubrick-esque looking shots as well as several stationary camera shots, a technique which simply allows us to watch the innocence of the kids as they throw around a football or stare up into the sky, forcing us to think about the inevitable doom they?re all about to endure.
Other than the usual torments of school and post pubescent situations all of our kids must face, you?ll find no explanation for what happened nor will there be any plausible reasons for certain individuals losing their lives or others being spared. What you will see are two boys unable to cope with life?s daily struggles forcing you think about what it was that caused them to do such unspeakable things. Unfortunately, due to many of the various news agencies looking for quick ratings, we?ve been conditioned to focus on the negative in terms of catastrophic events such as Columbine. Case in point; I suspect many of us here could name Harris and Klebold as the monsters who perpetrated this heinous act. How many of us could name any of the victims as easily? Something to think about?
