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Plot:
A tale about high school violence that unfolds on an ordinary school day, inside an American high school, filled with schoolwork, football, gossip and socializing. For each of the students we meet, hi...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:October 5, 2008
i liked this film, it was clever the way it did it but a bit of an art movie and a bit confusing and scary!!
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MCT:September 30, 2008A bit slow throughout but the ending has such an impact it makes up for the rest of the film. I recommend.
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MCT:September 28, 20082nd one in the USA by Gus Van Sant
A low angle shot, camera looking up at the blue sky as the clouds float by. A lamp post and electric wires create a perfect frame. Evening draws in and darkness envelops the beautiful sky however the camera remains steady, looking up to the summer sky as if the filmmaker is waiting for a cue from the heavens to tell his story. This is how Gus Van Sant?s Elephant opens. And this film is supposed to be on something as horrific as a high school shoot out.
Elephant is a work of an auteur. It?s so original in its style that people used to conventional storytelling could feel uneasy. One often felt as if the film is shot without a script and the filmmaker has simply spent a day in a high school and edited the footage. However the ease with which camera follows the characters and an un-underlined manner in which events unfold is not easy to achieve.
Gus Van Sant?s Elephant almost looks like a case study which doesn?t go out of its way to find a reason behind the things but in an impassionate way chronicles rather calm lives of students of a high school that?s destined to undergo a sea change. Although we know all along and the filmmaker gives us ample hints throughout about the shootout that?s about to happen, his style is such that we don?t anticipate and even if we know that shootouts are happening, we don?t feel the need to feel anything.
The filmmaker takes us through the high school life through a cross section of students whose lives criss-cross and we keep coming back to the same event from different perspectives. However none of these lives are more significant than the other. Their stories happen to be told only because they fall in the gaze of camera and since they fall in the gaze of the camera we follow their lives till the end.
The camera moves effortlessly in the film and there are many long takes where camera follows characters usually from behind. The most remarkable such sequence comes towards the end when amidst the firing one black student Benny casually and without any signs of shock or fear goes to the shooter, only to be shot. A heroic walk to an unglorified death.
Elephant is one of such films where treatment takes an upper seat than the story. Everyone know what the story is about so much so that the director doesn?t even care to hide it in the turns and bends of the plot. One of my favorite scenes is where Alex, the shooter plays Beethoven while the other shooter Eric is playing a gory video game. Gus van Sant uses Beethoven?s this composition as a refrain throughout the film.
Another startling sequence that kind of sets the motion is the opening scene where the son takes over the steering wheel from his drunken father. Is this a comment on the society?
Why the film is called Elephant remains a question for me. My guess was that it refers to the story of the ?Blind man and the elephant? where three (or four?) blind men interpret an elephant differently. However have found a better reason at IMDB that says that the title has been taken from a 1989 Television series ?Elephant? that ?comes from the writer Bernard MacLaverty, who said that the Troubles were like having an elephant in your living room?.
People could also find elephant little slow, wandering and not to the point. If you find it like that in the first fifteen minutes, my suggestion is don?t watch the movie at all. Elephant is an unconventional film that requires a different sensibility to savor it. If you don?t have it, you might find the film boring, arty and too intellectual. -
MCT:September 27, 2008This is a great independent film. Shot in a very dark and interseting setting. It's disturbing to sa the least. I really don't understand why people do ths kind of thing.
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MCT:September 25, 2008
"I came to realize since I had no need to make a lot of money, I should make films I find interesting, regardless of their outcome and audience."
This is a quote from director Gus Van Sant, who, after achieving success from directing Good Will Hunting, has mostly (especially after the horrible Psycho remake experiment) decided to remain in the indie scene, making different, experimental films. This is a film that leaves a bad taste in your mouth but is admirable for a few reasons.
Girl in Cafeteria: What are you writing?
Alex: Uh, this? It's my plan.
Girl in Cafeteria: For what?
Alex: Oh, you'll see.
The film is a fictitious retelling of the Columbine High School Murders, in which two male students walked into school on an ordinary day, armed with an assortment of weapons, and proceeded to kill a number of students. No conclusive motive was found, besides the fact that the students were considered "social outcasts."
John McFarland: Hey, what are you guys doing?
Alex: Get the fuck out and don't come back! Some heavy shit's going down!
In this film, we are shown the perspective through the eyes of a number of characters before the event occurs and during. These scenes are all done with long tracking shots, where mainly nothing happens besides watching students walk around the school with little dialog. The dialog that does transpire is mainly improvised and consists of random high school chatter.
I am not really gonna explain what I believe the point that I got out of this is, but the film certainly does not try to explain any of the characters actions, in favor of letting audiences feel out to what they believe happened.
Now with that being said, knowing that the film will not offer any sort of opinion and knowing what actually happened in real life, what is the point of this movie in the first place? It is of course very slow placed, since nothing really goes on until the violence starts, and knowing that this violence is going to happen does and doesn't help the film in terms of feeling the building dread that will occur.
Still, this film is well made in terms of what its doing. It goes against most conventions besides the convention of being different because its an art house film. And it is effectively creepy at certain points.
John McFarland: Excuse me sir, don't go in there! -
MCT:September 25, 2008I thought it was a dramatized of the Columbine High shooting. But loosely which is lame and kind of strange.
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MCT:September 17, 2008
Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh -
MCT:September 11, 2008A movie thats seems shockingly realistic. It remainds me of Oliver Stones' "Natural Born Killers", with its ultraviolence and satire. I can't help but feel that the acting is dull (but this is probably because of Van Sant's decision to cast actual high school students rather than actors). Some scenes feel unnessary and dragged out. The film is screaming Controversy! It could be compared to "Battle Royale" or "Thirteen" with its media warped youths. This movie is definetely unforgettable and it will surely make you think about it long after its viewing. Everyone must see this movie but it's understandable if you don't enjoy it.
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MCT:August 26, 2008
Inquadrature eccezionali, narrazione lenta e significati dissolti, in questo film che merita più di un'attenzione.
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MCT:August 22, 2008The movie is based on the shooting at Columbine, it is hard to make a movie based on that and still remain objective but this was just boring, maybe if this was a short movie could have worked to some extend. I know that we can't even begin to understand their reasons for the shooting but this movie seemed pointless (maybe I didn't get it). The idea of using unexperienced actors was stupid and didn't work in this case, the acting was so embarrassing at some points.
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MCT:August 22, 2008
I was interested in reading what other people had to say about this movie until I started reading all of the negative comments about how the students stories weren't 'interesting' enough and it was boring... The whole fucking point of it is that it's an ordinary school with ordinary students, that's what makes it so interesting and the finale more disturbing! For those that don't know this movie was inspired by the Columbine school massacre, so we know exactly how it's gonna turn out. Part of me was hoping that the actual massacre would be more suggested than depicted but the violence made it even more shocking and tragic. The style of the movie was brilliant, with only about 20 or so minutes of actual school time shown from different students view points. I'm still not quite sure why this movie is called Elephant... I did spot a picture of an Elephant in the movie but I guess there must be a deeper meaning? Not an easy watch at times but a must see...
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MCT:August 18, 2008Very bad !!
Total time is 1h:18m , 1h:10m of them is people walking without any meaning.
I HATE IT SO MUCH, 0/5 -
MCT:August 13, 2008
Original,strange and disturbing,it felt like a documentary,an ordinary day in an ordinary High School with ordinary teens going about their daily routine.Until it ends in tragedy.It offers no reasons,no explanations,it doesn't judge,it doesn't blame society,parents,guns,violent video games,doesn't propose hypotheses and theories or remedies and solutions and more important,it doesn't glorify violence.People are killed but it isn't glamorous Hollywood bloodshed.I guess many were disappointed because of that....In the end,it's up to the audience to form their own opinions,to interpret it and draw conclusions.You can keep pretending there's no elephant in the room until it squashes you...
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MCT:August 12, 2008
That was?odd. Elephant is not a conventional movie in any sense of the word. Most of the story is made up of long tracking shots and in the end, we get to the action. And when I say long tracking shots, I mean looooooong tracking shots. I do not mind when directors try to be artistic, but a seven minute shot of someone walking? It seems a little unnecessary. One of the main problems with Elephant was that for the first hour, absolutely nothing was going on. I know that Van Sant was trying to show that it was just a normal, boring day, but this probably could have been accomplished without boring the audience as well.
Another problem with the movie was the characters. Many of them were the stereotypical, clichéd high schoolers. We have the nerd in the library, the catty girls with bulimia who love boys and shopping, and the jock with a cute girlfriend. They are not very realistic, and when the shooting starts, it seems unrealistic as well. Fellow students walk calmly while gunshots are fired and classmates are shot dead. The only one who knows it is going to happen just warns people not to go into the school. And the gunshots don?t look real, either, even though how the shots look is beside the point. When the shooting starts, we finally get to the meat of the movie. Van Sant portrays it coldly and without sympathy; there is no music in the background or choreographed fights. Because of this, the shootings resonate with us and haunt us even after the movie is over. If Elephant had more of this instead of long scenes that go nowhere, it would have been so much better.
The movie?s rating is brought down because of these seemingly meaningless scenes in the first hour, but gets three stars because it is so chilling and resonating at the end. This one feels like it needs a rewatch. -
MCT:August 9, 2008
this was a disturbing film not the story but the useless technique used to tell the story. I mean the camera never stopped moving. and despite the fact that the entire film is following these 'key' characters, their stories aren't that interesting or even understandable.
there is no point in commenting on the actors except to say that they are very athletic and can walk around for hours.
It is very drawn out for a film that would nt even last 30 minutes if it wasn't for the constant backwards and forwards of the story. -
MCT:July 31, 2008
The movie that could have been so much more.
Despite the theme, it seemed like the story had no goals, like it was leading to a conclusion without meaning.
I knew what the movie was about, what sick and disturbing scenes it would show me, but I was horribly disappointed. Yes, we know in almost every scene that something terrible will happen and this is great. But the scenes still had no meaning.
The directing was so prententious.
It was the longest 80 minutes I've experienced in a movie. -
MCT:July 31, 2008
the direction and cinematography is kinda cool, but otherwise it's just boring in general. plus it's too short for you to get interested in the characters, so really there's not much here at all except some interesting shots.
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MCT:July 25, 2008
Gus Van Sant's absolute masterpiece. It makes you doubt, wonder and hate. The direction is unconventional and the picture so still, making "Elephant" a total must-see.This movie explodes so silently, like a firework in the night time sky.
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MCT:July 23, 2008
I love this film. It's so clever and chilling, even though all you really feel like your doing is walking behind people, but that's the beauty of it - we watch as though we are CCTV and it is beyond our control to try and prevent what is going to happen. I also love the fact that we're presented with a range of options as to why these boys acted the way they did but its never answered. The fact that they used normal teengaers in the role rather than actors was also a very brave move which, in my humble opinion, paid off as it added a more realistic feel and made the ending that little bit more tragic. I studied this film in media and now I love it, its just so flipping good, but a hard one to watch especially the end.
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MCT:July 19, 2008
I found myself almost rooting for the bad guys in the end because I just hated how phony most of them were. Decent film, very (and sometimes annoyingly) deliberate but it sends a good message... cherish every moment.
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Watching movies like this, in my oppinion, make you see that you haven't the right of criticize things, because there is always some detail that people don't see but it make a big difference.
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MCT:July 15, 2008
For most if it, quite possibly the slowest movie ever made. If you like watching people doing nothing but walk for ten minute stretches, then you'll enjoy this one.
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MCT:July 3, 2008
With his controversial film of 2003, Elephant, director Gus Van Sant tries to dissect the unholy events that happened in the sacred halls of learning that horrible day. Van Sant wants to uncover the reason for such desperate, disgusting acts. Elephant is a sensational and absorbing drama, hyper-realistic and loaded with natural performances. This is probably the first time, forced sequence of group hurling aside, that high school students have been moved out of the crass and cliché and into a truthful representation. Using mostly non-professionals and allowing for lots of improvisation, Van Sant allows his characters to speak in the language of lockers and relate to each other in the pick-quick clique order of classroom status, as unpredictable expressions of inner turmoil abound. Using his inventive structure to solidify the suspense, there is a true feeling of threat and unease throughout most of Van Sant's film.
My Friends Said...
Elephant Recent Reviews
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Comments
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Alyyetaposted 77 days ago -
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i think that is a very nice film from gus van sant...you know...that minimal style from van sant's camera(36mm i think!don't shoot me!).it's a trilogy elephant-gerry-last days. and i thought that gus van sant was a "queer"director but...he did his best work on that films...which (he named them) the circle of death.
posted 276 days ago -
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It was really great and it portrayed something that could really happen and that was great. The thing that bugged me was that when the shooting was going on everyone seemed so calm "oh no! He's been shot. Lets all smile and not try and find the quickest was out of the school" Other than that it was a flippin good movie!
posted 561 days ago -
This movie gave me the creeps! It scared the holy heeby jeebies out of me..... I would never let my children watch such a movie! I can't believe so many people like this movie. I gave it 2.5 stars for the effect that it left me with but, not the story line. This movie is probably very painful to a lot of people! Crazy movie, that's for sure.
posted 589 days ago -
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Achingly dull garbage that ploddingly meanders through 80 mins of sheer boredom with no character insight or anything of interest. It raises no new issues but instead chooses to ape tired stereotypes about these kind of shootings. It gets lost up it's own arse.
Plus, everyone in the school is a grade A moron.posted 862 days ago
