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Visually, Elephant offers quite a lot to those interested in cinematography. Unusual scenes, clever camera angles and arty shots. But for the average filmgoer, there is nothing of substance there. The final scenes with the shootings are good, but it's not worth sitting through the hour ... Read review
Elephant, the elegant and unsettling movie from Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho,Good ... more
Will Hunting), depicts students at a high school before and during a harrowing, Columbine-style shooting. The movie follows one young boy who takes over the wheel f...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Elephant, the elegant and unsettling movie from Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho,Good ... more
Will Hunting), depicts students at a high school before and during a harrowing, Columbine-style shooting. The movie follows one young boy who takes over the wheel f...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Inspired by the tragic events at Columbine High School, Elephant won both the Palme D'Or ... more
and Best Director prizes at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Shooting on location in an everyday American High school, with a cast primarily made up of students from...
For a baby elephant family life is everything and losing your mother is the worst ... more
possible start in life. Presenters Michaela Strachan and Jonathan Scott followed a year in the lives of a unique group of orphaned baby elephants rescued by The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
One man claimed the land. Two men claimed the woman who lived there... Ruth Wiley ... more
(Taylor) a young English bride whose wealthy husband John (Peter Finch) has spirited her off to his vast tea plantation in the jungles of Ceylon. Initially excited to be in this new environment Ruth soon discovers that her new husband considers her no more than an attractive possession who can't compete for his attention with activities like indoor polo with his cronies. Since this and similar games absorb much of John's time his friend Dick Carver (Dana Andrews) actually runs the plantation. No mere businessman the sensitive Carver likes to rattle off Chopin nocturnes and he and Ruth soon become involved. Now eager to leave a house that has become like a prison Ruth asks Dick to take her to Paris and he agrees. But an epidemic of cholera suddenly breaks out and everyone on the plantation is put under quarantine. To add to their problems Ruth has learned that her husband's father built their house directly in the path of an elephant walk--and the local elephants have suddenly become very restless!
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Ang Lee - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Hugh Laurie, Robert Hardy
Advantages: The last 15 minutes Disadvantages: The rest of the flim
...extras.
Visually, Elephant offers quite a lot to those interested in cinematography. Unusual scenes, clever camera angles and arty shots. But for the average filmgoer, there is nothing of substance there. The final scenes with the shootings are good, but it's not worth sitting through the hour of footage beforehand, as it adds no depth or emotion to the people we see being killed.
Overall I wouldn't buy this film. But if you ... more
One day whilst being very bored in work, I was hunting through the fab website Wikipedia, when I came across the tale of the Columbine High School shootings. Of course, I had heard of these shootings, and actually vividly remember the news pictures after Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a killing spree at their High School, armed with knives, guns and bombs. For anyone who hasn't read the wikipedia information on the killings, I can highly recommend it. It describes moment by moment how these two boys carried out their slaughter. It is highly moving and very, very scary. You can actually imagine what it would have been like to be pupils going about their normal, every day school life, to suddenly be faced with boys they knew armed with semi-automatic rifles and pump-action shotguns.
So this brings me to my review. I was chatting with a work colleague and happened to mention my morbid curiosity with regards to these shootings, and she mentioned a film loosely based on them. Well, my ears pricked up and before I knew it I had ordered a copy on Amazon for about six quid. Looking back, I rather wish I had kept my money, but you have to see something for yourself before you know if you will like it or not!
I had been told this film was quite arty, and if you like to see shots of the sky lasting two minutes, or watch someone walking down never-ending school corridors, doing not very much expect getting from A to B then this film is for you. If you find all that a bit boring, and camera angles and lighting don't interest you then give this a miss.
I half-enjoyed this film, if that makes any sense. There are some parts of it that are beautifully set, and watching and waiting for the part when the two boys actually carry out their sick plan heightens the viewing pleasure. But somehow it doesn't make it worth the wait. The scenes are shocking, and knowing this is based on true events makes it all the worse. But in my humble opinion, there was not enough happening in the first 65 or so minutes to justify the last 15.
The film is directed by Gus Van Sant and is based on an average school day that ends in unimaginable horror. Van Sant used unknowns as the actors in this film. We are introduced to them by first names, and they all used their real first names. The camera action follows several students going about their daily lives, and we see what happens to each of them as their paths cross. For example, we see Alex, who has an alcoholic father. He is walking round the school corridors as he is late for class again, and he may pass a couple of his travels. We later meet that couple and see where they were going when they passed Alex.
We meet other characters including a guy interested in photography, a group of three girls who make themselves sick after lunch, a nerdy girl, the fit jock with his beautiful girlfriend and of course, the shooters.
We learn very little about these characters, and so it is difficult to become emotionally aware, or even bothered about their survival.
We learn the gunmen are average students. We meet them both at one of their homes, both tucking into breakfast. We see them play computer games, and then we see them watching Hitler and we find out about their fascination with guns. We watch one of them play the piano for what seems like an age (another long-winded rather dull scene), and we see a quite needless gay scene, where the two gunmen share a shower. To me, that offered very little to the film. But we are not shown what drives these two boys to plan and commit these acts, which means when we do see them, we are shocked, but to me it was more because of my imagination and what I already knew about these killings rather than anything the film had shown me. It was almost like watching news coverage, where you feel shocked, but not always an emotional attachment.
The movie is filmed in a realistic, documentary-type way and a lot of the script was improvised on the spot. But there is very little in actual conversation, which is good really as it often feels stilted and unnatural.
The actual point when the shootings take place happens about 15 minutes from the end of the film. I won't go into a lot of detail, but the scenes are quite shocking. However, there is no real ending as such, and it almost leaves you wanting more. Van Sant does not try to explain why these boys did this thing, but you want to know the answer, or at least want someone to try and explain it to you.
This film is disturbing to a point, and there is tension throughout the film, but I think this is tension in the mind of the watcher, as they already know something is going to happen. We see the gunmen approach the school, armed and dressed in black, warning one of the boys who we met earlier to stay away from the building (This apparently actually happened). There are chilling parts, such as when the teens talk through their plan, one of them says :more importantly, have fun.
The way they go around the school, killing their schoolmates with no emotion, is beautifully shot (no pun intended!) The emptiness of the boys conveys some of the hopelessness of the situation. But it just wasn't quite enough.
The extras on the DVD are pretty poor. There is an interview with Van Sant which offers very little, and a few behind the scene extras.
Visually, Elephant offers quite a lot to those interested in cinematography. Unusual scenes, clever camera angles and arty shots. But for the average filmgoer, there is nothing of substance there. The final scenes with the shootings are good, but it's not worth sitting through the hour of footage beforehand, as it adds no depth or emotion to the people we see being killed. Overall I wouldn't buy this film. But if you know someone who has it then maybe it's worth watching on a rainy afternoon.
Advantages: thought provoking ending, hopeless reality of events Disadvantages: poor acting, too many clichés and stereotypes, fragmented structure
I rented Elephant on the strength of a friend's recommendation to me, my appreciation of Gus Van Sant's work and my desire to watch something different. This was certainly what I got with Elephant, a film whose story is loosely based on the Columbine High School shootings. Elephant is not an ordinary film, and indeed the tagline suggests the same - "An ordinary high school day. Except that it's not."
The film begins slowly, like the gathering calm ... ...as they go about the first half of their day. Throughout this first half of the film we are introduced to typical teen stereotypes. We have the over-snappy photographer, the geeky girl who works as a library assistant, the tall black basketball player, the popular guy and the popular girls. Then there are the two killers who, not surprisingly, like guns and violence. This is conveyed to us by shots of them playing violent video games, looking at ...
sphirst 24.03.2006 (02.04.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Elephant (DVD)
Advantages: distinctive film making, thoughtful approach to the subject Disadvantages: a few stereotypical explanations for 'why kids go bad'
"Elephant" is a film loosely based on the Columbine American school shootings. As soon as you know this, plot wise you know the whole film. For this reason I can see why people might be disappointed in this Palm d'Or winner but I loved it. For me it's not about the story but the way a film's style can affect and move the audience.
One of the critisms I've heard against this film is the lack of characterisation. How can you sympathise with characters ... ...this is exactly where the film stands out for me. In a voyeristic style we are introduced to several students as they go about an ordinary day of high school. 'Introduced' is the key word here as our snapshots into their day only ever leave us with clues as to who they are as characters. There's John whose father's a drunk, Eli studying photography, a bookish girl, a couple facing a pregnancy scare and three gossiping girlfriends. All are seemingly ...
kellinsk 22.06.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Elephant (DVD)
Advantages: Though provoking, artsy, good cast Disadvantages: short, empty, peculiar
I cannot remember where I first heard about this film, or what attracted me to it, but I remember thinking that I really wanted to see it. When I did get around to buying the DVD and watching it, I was not disappointed. The film starts with a long credit sequence, with the view just showing some telephone wires and fast moving clouds behind. I'm not sure if this has an imagery significance, but it means straight away you know it's going to be a fairly ... ...bad thing I will leave up to you to decide.
This film shows very different pupils at an american high school going about a normal day, and shows how they bump into each other and their lives collide throughout that day (until you realise you are seeing the same section of time over and over from different people's perspectives you can be mistaken thinking that the same thing is happening over and over). I'm sure you know that this film is about ...
Pyrokeet 13.01.2006 (25.01.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Elephant (DVD)
Advantages: Mesmerising camera work and visuals Disadvantages: There is one scene which is a terrible cliche.
This film really engages you. Most of the film is shot on steadycam which follows various carismatic students around a generic highschool. This shows a highschool masaccre without dramatising it at all and shows how emotionless the killers are about the whole thing, which makes it very realistic and relatable. The whole film is absolutely visually beautiful. There is a gay scene that is completely unnecessary which is dissapointing because other ... ...Some people i know found it slow, there are some long shots just of people walking through corridors. However i think this is a wonderful aspect of the film, you are put in the shoes of the students so when they are killed it means something to you.
Also all the actors are real highschool kids and there was no script for the film, which could have been a disaster, but it actually adds a lot to the realism and they are all completely believeable.
...
oscarphoto 05.09.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Elephant (DVD)
Advantages: Hypnotic soundtrack Disadvantages: Slow and pointless
Gus Van Sant chose not to use any actors in this film, instead casting high school students. He also made the disclaimer that it was not based on real events, but a hypothetical school shooting. Well don't whisper it too loudly, but it draws spooky paralells to the Columbine school massacre. Comlumbine prompted hours of dicsussion and debate as to what could lead a teenager to do such a thing. This film offered nothing in terms of motive and made ... ...This film is nothing more than the operatic comings and goings of students during a normal school day, with a brutal shooting tacked onto the end. To give it it's due, the shootings and ensuing melee was very well filmed and really captured the terror of this kind of scenario.
This could have been so much more, but I was not sure what I was meant to feel about the whole event. Should we have sympathy for the two boys? Well we don't know, because ...
hotspur_blue 05.03.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Elephant (DVD)
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Advantages: Moving, well acted and directed . Disadvantages: Better for an edit, slightly too long. Unavoidably sombre.
good film and apart from the time as a youngster, the biggest impact on me was when I bought this last year on dvd and saw itwith fresh eyes. Having watched it again I still think it is a very good film but my attention was not held as on the previous occasion. As such 'The Elephant Man' is not a dvd that you will want to view repeatedly, as it is hard to envisage many people saying 'I've got an hour to kill..I know I'll watch 'The Elephant Man'.
I would therefore recommend borrowing or renting this, as this film deserves to be seen at least once, I just question the shelf life if purchased.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Language selection English (stereo), Italian and Spanish (both mono)
Scene selection
Photo Gallery
This is one of those dvd's where it is a crying shame that there is no documentary regarding Merrick's life or the making ...
Advantages: Stark Realism of a True Event Disadvantages: Slow Build and Violent Images
and frequency, and that it could happen anywhere and at any time.
Elephant (2003) 18 Cert
121 Minutes
Cast : Eric Deulen, John Robinson, Elias McConnell, Alex Frost.
Available on imminent UK Video/DVD release.
To highlight the everyday nature of this movie 'Van Sant' decided to cast real students in the lead roles and even allow them to retain their real names throughout the production. This provides the movie with an erie and unsettling reality and must have been similarly unusual for the actors especially as the story turned darker.
We are introduced to each of the characters in a series of long tracking shots following them from room to corridor to room as they interact with their fellow students on what is an otherwise normal day.
We see each of these tracking shots from different angles and perspectives as they cross ...
A depiction of what at first seems to be a typical day at an American High School. Eli asks a punk couple to pose for photos. Nate meets with Carrie after football practice. John drops off car keys for his brother. Brittany, Nicole and Jordan gossip. But when John crosses paths with Eric and Alex the ordinary day changes...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT; SONY DADC
Release date
26/07/2004
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
OPTD 0082
Barcode
5060034571162
Languages
Main Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Gus Van Saint Interview, On The Set Featurette, Trailers
Professional reviews
Review
"...One of the best and most disturbing films of the year..." (The Guardian, )
"...An extraordinary, sublime piece of filmmaking that unsettles as it enthrals..." (The Independent, )
DVD Description
Gus Van Sant's drifty, eloquent, and effortlessly poignant ELEPHANT is loosely based on the massacre at Columbine High School. (On April 20, 1999 in Littleton, Colorado two 17-year-old boys fired semi-automatic weapons on their high school classmates, killing 13, injuring 25, and then taking their own lives.) Van Sant's film is set in Portland, Oregon and uses non-actors chosen from an open casting call of high school students. On a crisp, sunny Autumn day, with colourful leaves on the trees and puffy clouds drifting across blue skies, students arrive at school as usual. Eli takes photographs for his portfolio, John manages problems with his alcoholic father, Acadia attends a gay-lesbian meeting, Nate plays a game of tag football, and Michelle works in the library. Meanwhile, two outsiders, Eric and Alex, harbour hatred for their peers. Each of ELEPHANT's students have unique interests and personalities, and the film respectfully emphasises their individuality. It also demonstrates how school is an unpredictable blender where students' differences are constantly agitated. Harris Savides' excellent photography--shot in 1:33 aspect ratio, making the movie a cube in the centre of the screen--follows and floats, sometimes blurring and juxtaposing the light to achieve an ethereal mood; while Leslie Shatz's ambient sound design and a soundtrack of soft Beethoven piano music completes that feeling. The film is structured in brief overlapping chapters all taking place on the morning of the 11:35 A.M. attack. ELEPHANT won the Palme D'Or and Best Director at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.
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