Elephant

Rating:
Summary: Haunting look at modern tragedy
Review: This is not an action thriller. It is not a self-agrandizing Michael Moore film. It is not a Hollywood highschool of goofy students and stupid teachers. Van Sant weaves crisscrossing time lines to show us one tragic day. Remarkably, the cast is made up of real highschool students, and their fine performances show off real directing talent.

Rating:
Summary: They say it can happen anywhere
Review: When a movie has guns in it, the shots are made, people scream all at once, music blares, explosions sound.

When real life has guns, people experience disturbing silence. Shock. The film gets this point across.

In the film there are feathery sounds of a pleasant school day. Birds outside chirping. People talking quietly. Breeze from an open door.

But what you see is a school boy who has just shot someone in the stomach. Could be Jimmy from your math class. He thinks it's fun. There are other dead bodies around.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting, Chilling, Unforgettable & Boring
Review: Of all the adjectives you're likely to hear in discussions of the 2003 Palme d'Or winner, the one most likely to pop up is... Boring? The surprise of this is, though, that this label is not entirely undeserved. In fact, I challenge anyone to still through this relatively short film (coming in at just under 80 minutes), without checking your watch at least once. It's practically impossible. That being said, this isn't a bad film, and could even be one of the best of the year. Not only that, it's actually because of the fact that the first hour is so dull that the payoff feels so satisfying. And that's exactly what makes this movie so chilling, by the time it reaches it's climax, we're are so glad that something is finally happening that we're actually rooting for the young mass murderers.

Of course, this was just my take on it, and I'm sure that opinions will vary, but the simple fact that when the movie ended, I was forced into doing some introspection, makes this one of the most important films to come out of 2003.

But, getting around to the question that white, upper-middle-class Americans have been asking themselves in the years since Columbine, "Who's to blame?" Well, while there certainly aren't any pat answers offered here, you might be surprised to know that violent films and video games aren't let off the hook. Not entirely anyway. Now, don't get me wrong, this is a notion in which I've been extremely adverse to (and still am for that matter), but this movie actually made me acknowledge that they probably did play some small factor in desensitizing the young perpetrators of the rash of school shootings which plagued our country in the late 1990's.

Let me explain. This movie intends to push your buttons, and it does so by making you feel exhilarated when one would expect you're supposed to feel sad or horrified. Which brings me to a confession. On the morning of September 11, 2001, I felt more excited than anything else. We've become such adrenalin junkies that instead of being terrified, I actually got high on the notion that anything could happen at any moment. It felt like being in a movie to me. Is this normal? Probably not, but I'm not ashamed, and I actually suspect that more people probably felt the same.

What does this have to do with the film? The only way I can answer that is to say, I sensed that the characters in were as bored with their everyday routines as I was with watching them. So, what do they do? They go on a shooting spree. Now certainly boredom this isn't a justifiable defense for these actions, but we're not talking about the "real world" here, we're talking about a world in which anything, and I mean anything, justifies our entertainment. Whether it's watching the planet explode in "Independence Day," or seeing Jim Cavizel tortured to death in "The Passion of the Christ," this is the stated purpose of this medium in which I love.

It reminds me of a quote from Sean Penn who, when he was on "Inside the Actor's Studio" said (and I'm paraphrasing here), "If all you want is to be entertained, get a couple of hookers and a magic eight ball, because film is just too important to be wasted on that (popcorn entertainment) alone."

Is he right? Well, while I tend to agree with him, who am I to pass judgment on all of Hollywood? After all, the first two-thirds of this movie, the parts which deal with the mundane reality of "normal" life, I found to be slightly tedious, while I actually enjoyed (that's right, enjoyed!) the final twenty minutes, as the young killers opened fire on their classmates. I guess, that's what makes this the very definition of a guilty pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Kinda slow, but interesting
Review: I'm not going any further with my "kinda slow" comment, because it's been pointed out countless times in other reviews. Despite it's speed, this film was rather captivating, at least to me. I thought the cinematography was beautiful as well. Sure, there were some pointless drawn-out sequences of very little substance, but it added to the effect, kind of. I don't think I would've given it the Palme D'Or, but then again, I'm not the one who gives that out, so my opinion is really nothing.

All in all, this film didn't disturb me, shock me, or invoke any feelings in me, really. However, it was very watchable and I'm not at all bitter about the 80 minutes I spent watching it.

Rating:
Summary: Judge for yourself.
Review: I really don't know how to explain my feelings about this movie. The box from the rental place says 'What began as an ordinary day in the lives of ordinary teenagers became a day no one would ever forget.' And that's exactly what it was. Ordinary. It was an ordinary day for an hour. Kids walked around their school. Except it wasn't ordinary. Not one of the characters seemed real at all. They all floated in a strange place between reality and stereotype, as if they knew they were in a movie, so they were scared of being realistic, but they knew it was supposed to be realistic, so they were scared of being too stereotypical. It tried so hard to impress upon you the idea of normality, but, in the end, all it did was lose the audience's interest before it even had it. It just seemed to self serious for anyone else to possibly take it seriously. It wants desperately to be some great piece of art, and it's finally convinced itself that it is, and now it's just hanging on the wall for the clueless masses to fawn over, never thinking that maybe formlessness doesn't automatically assume greatness. It's like a knockoff of a truly great piece of art. You can see where the aspirations were, and you can see precisely where they weren't reached.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, you can be an intellectual and dislike this film...
Review: Why do critics seem to need to proclaim any film which portrays life realistically as "brave"? This film is different and original--but it is still dull, and hardly brave. If filming life as it actually may look has become the pinnacle of film-making, then critics have low expectations indeed.

Van Sant chooses no sides in this film. His lens is impartial and distant. Most of the film consists of following his characters down empty hallways. The message of isolation is accute, but do we really need it drummed into our head with such dull repetition? Anyone who has been in an American high school knows this--must we really relive it over and over again?

Many reviewers have praised Van Sant for his use of non-actors (actual teenagers) and objective scope. True, he shows the gritty reality of life for the American teenager from many angles, and he never chooses sides, or romanticizes. He examines the many motivations the killers may have been influenced by, but never draws conclusions. By the end of the film, however, I felt as narcoticized and detached as his killers--which I'm sure was the point. But, if a movie is going to leave me commpletely unmoved emotionally, then it should at least be thought provoking.

This is where the movie completely fell through for me. Some critics and reviewers claim Van Sant is being original and brave by delving into the motivations behind Columbine-type situations. Some say he is pointing to the "elephant" in the room that no one wants to talk about. However, anyone who went to school since the nineties (or even watched the news) heard all of Van Sant's themes explored in vast detail. We questioned the media, parenting, bulleying, and violent video games in much the same way Van Sant does in his movie. The fact that Van Sant draws no conclusions, as if to say that there are no simple explanations for teen violence, is not original. My friends and I (and probably most rational individuals) came to the same conclusions around the time of the Columbine killings.

Gus Van Sant has some great potential here. He does a good job of placing his viewers in the same mindset of his young characters. However, this is only thought-provoking if you are someone who hasn't given the subject of teen violence much thought, or weren't aware of life for the average American teenager. Otherwise, this film is just a dull rehash of themes that have been previously explored.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed Feelings
Review: Ok
Elephant is a great unforgettable film. When I watched this movie I felt something I never felt before by watching a movie. I felt changed but like most movies you can't helped to have critism. Gus Van Sant has worked with actors such as Matt Damon ,Ben affleck, and sean connery, all great actors but he couldn't have better actors for this. The Acting is very important especially for a movie with so much emotion. He made it seem like school shootings happen everyday at this school but Gus Van Sant's brillant directing makes up for all that. It also seemed like half the kids in this school never went to class and they didn't seem to surpised that there friend were getting shot but the directing makes up for that as well. I was really impressed at the directing mainly because of the way it was shot. How they made it in each kids point of view its builds to a really cool different kind of ending which is the best part in my opinion. I can't tell you everyone will like this movie but its one everyone must see. That's why I have mixed feelings about this movie because the acting is terrible but the directing is brilliant.

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Classic
Review: Elephant is an amazing movie that draws you in and allows you to observe a tragedy unfold slowly before your eyes.

There's no moral message here...Van Sant trusts his audience to make up their own minds about why it happened, by simply following ordinary students on an ordinary day, completely oblivious to the fate that's about to befall them.

This is brilliant filmmaking. Van Sant skillfully interweves each of the characters with different perspectives on each interaction and time-shifting to build the tension. When the inevitable violence comes at the end of the movie, it's quietly intense, making it feel more honest and real than your standard stupid Hollywood shoot-'em-up. In other words, your subwoofer won't shake, but your hands will.

I rented the DVD, so I haven't seen the extra features. However, the sound & video of this DVD is strong, even in the 4:3 original aspect ratio. I believe the film was shot on DV, so obviously the video quality is superb. The sountrack is offered in DTS 5.1, DD 5.1, and Stereo, along with French & Spanish mono tracks. The DTS is very expressive with nice background touches (listen for the birds), even though the rears & sub don't see a lot of action. All in all, a great presentation.

I'm going buy this DVD and I encourage you to as well. If you want your intelligence to be engaged, give this movie a chance. You'll be pleased, and a little uneasy, at the end.

Rating:
Summary: a sad, poetic masterpiece
Review: "Elephant" is a return to older forms by Gus Van Sant, a director who through the commercial success of "Good Will Hunting" now has the financial freedom to make films the way he wants them, without consideration for mass-market appeal. This is not a mass-market film, but it *is* a mass-market subject, hence the title "Elephant;" like the elephant in the room, this is a topic everyone knows about, but no one wants to really talk about. By depicting a very Columbine-like school shooting without explanations for what we are seeing, I think Van Sant's message is that we *should* be talking about this and doing everything we can to prevent another one from happening. Oddly enough, only yesterday a planned school massacre only miles from my hometown was foiled by police just days before it was supposed to happen.

The most common complaint I have read in the other reviews on this site are about the "boring, pointless tracking shots that go on forever." Yes, they do go on forever, and I found them to be absolutely hypnotic. Ten minutes into the film, a five-minute unbroken shot depcits football practice, a young girl stopping in front of the camera to look at the sky, finally focusing on a young man ("Nathan"), as he dons a sweatshirt and walks into the school building, all while Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata plays on the soundtrack. Absolutely nothing to further any expected drama happens, and yet I found this shot to be extremely sad and powerful. These are little moments in which nothing is really happening, somehow sweetened by the knowledge of what's to come later. As Paul Bowles once observed, how many times will you remember such a tiny moment of your childhood, that while apparently insignificant is such a major part of your being? I think that's what Van Sant is going for here.

The camera tracks through hallways, following students in their daily goings on. Things move at the speed of life; no rapid-fire editing, no setups. This is life as it unfolds on a seemingly normal day. Then we eventually begin to focus on the killers.
Van Sant provides no explanations as to their behaviors, although there are moments of hinted homoeroticism, and such "mixed signals" as one of the boys playing Beethoven on the piano while the other plays a violent video game. We see them sleeping; we see them on the morning of the massacre, calmly eating breakfast, engaging in casual conversation.
"Well, this is it; we're going to die today" one observes, stepping into the shower to share the only moment of physical affection they will ever know.

Then there are the killings, presented in a manner that does not glorify the violence; it just happens, again with no explanations, no action-flick editing, and nothing set up to pull the heartstrings. It ends before the deluge subsides, with another inexplicable shooting (was it agreed upon beforehand?) bereft of any emotion from the killer. I won't give away the final shot, but notice how the camera slowly backs away from this moment as if it can't bear to watch anymore.

The photography is top-shelf, the editing, by Van Sant himself, is masterful. Van Sant obviously has feelings about the subject here, but he is very responsible in not trying to give the viewer any answers. I think all he wants is for people to talk about it, and just accept this sad poem for what it is.

Rating:
Summary: check it out now
Review: i just finished watching this film and can only say that if you view the trailer you should know what to expect. i am a fan of kubrick and tarkovsky and long tracking shots so watching this movie was a joy. the acting is fair but flawed and there is at least one off note (triple vomit session anyone?) but i was sucked back into my school days in a surreal dreamscape of visual bliss and emotional interest by this movie. watch this only if you can appreciate time and space beyond the second mark. this is (bad or good) a piece of art.