Sorry everyone - not managed to do anything for a few months. Will try and catch up and get a new re...
Sorry everyone - not managed to do anything for a few months. Will try and catch up and get a new review on soon. Hope all is well x
Member since:07.11.2006
Reviews:20
Members who trust:14
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.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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
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
i confess to a weakness for arty films but I'm not sure about this one from your description. Great review anyway. David
Ailran 06.06.2007 20:26
I really liked this film, your last paragrpagh catches it completey what I liked. The cleverness of the shots, the charcters back stories interacting with each other. Very clever and enjoyable.. though I would have said 3 stars as well :o)
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...
![Elephant [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78512281.jpg "Elephant [DVD] [2004]")
Apr 11th, 2007
exceptional by (2%):
very helpful by (98%):
