|
|
| School violence, such as was seen in the tragedy of Columbine, raises many questions, most of which start with "Why?" In Gus Van Sant's Elephant, none of those questions are answered. Rather he gives us a look at the events without being judgmental. It doesn't try to justify anything. It doesn't try to explain anything. We just see what happens. We are left to ask all the "why?" questions
for ourselves. |
(2003) Film Review |
| This page was created on November 14, 2003
This page was last updated on
January 4, 2005
—Review
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Forum
Dial up modems will take a few moments |
| CREDITS |
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Screenplay by Gus Van Sant
Cast (in credits order)
Alex Frost .... Alex
Eric Deulen .... Eric
John Robinson .... John McFarland
Elias McConnell .... Elias
Jordan Taylor .... Jordan
Carrie Finklea .... Carrie
Nicole George .... Nicole
Brittany Mountain .... Brittany
Alicia Miles .... Acadia
Kristen Hicks .... Michelle
Bennie Dixon .... Benny
Nathan Tyson .... Nathan
Timothy Bottoms .... Mr. McFarland
Matt Malloy .... Mr. Luce
Elisa E. Williams .... GSA Teacher
Vana O'Brien .... P.E. Instructor
Larry Laverty .... Teacher #3
Jason Seitz .... Nate
rest of cast listed alphabetically
Sarah Bing .... GSA Student
Elisa De La Motte .... Student
Produced by
Jay Hernandez .... associate producer
Diane Keaton .... executive producer
J.T. LeRoy .... associate producer
Bill Robinson .... executive producer
Dany Wolf .... producer
Cinematography by Harris Savides
Film Editing by Gus Van Sant
MPAA: Rated R for disturbing violent content, language, brief sexuality and drug use - all involving teens.
Runtime: 81 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG |
| TRAILERS AND CLIPS |
| |
| Trailers
QuickTime small
QuickTime Medium
QuickTime Large |
|
|
|
| POSTER |
|
| AVAILABILITY ON VIDEO AND DVD |
CHECK AVAILABILITY AND PRICING OF THIS MOVIE ON VIDEO OR DVD.
Just type in movie title and click go.
Also, check out 100 Hot Videos
and the 100 Hot DVDs
|
|
| SYNOPSIS |
 Winner of the Palme d’Or and Best Director prizes at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, Gus Van Sant’s Elephant takes us inside an American high school on what appears to be an ordinary day.
Throughout his career, from Mala Noche and My Own Private Idaho through Good Will Hunting and Finding Forrester, Van Sant has explored what it is to be young and searching for a place in the world, an identity that feels true. With Elephant, Van Sant takes these inquiries into new terrain, working with actual high school students to create a portrait of teenagers in today’s volatile world. Elephant unfolds on an ordinary
day, filled with class work, football, gossip and socializing. The film observes the comings and goings of its characters from a gentle remove, allowing us to see them as they are. For each of the students we meet, high school is a different experience: stimulating, friendly, traumatic, lonely, hard. Beautiful and poetic – yet deeply disturbing - Elephant shows high school life as a complex landscape where the vitality and incandescent beauty of young lives can shift from light
to darkness with surreal speed.
It’s a beautiful fall day, and golden leaves skitter ahead of the wind across green lawns. Walking through the park on his way to class, Eli persuades a punk-rock couple to pose for some photographs. Nate finishes football practice and goes to meet his girlfriend Carrie for lunch. John leaves his dad’s car keys in the school office for his brother to pick up. In the cafeteria, Brittany, Jordan and Nicole gossip
and complain about their mothers’ snooping. Michelle dashes to the library, while Eli snaps some photos of John in the hallway. John walks out onto the lawn, crossing paths with Alex and Eric.
An ordinary high school day. Except that it’s not.
|
Review by
DARREL MANSON BLOG
Pastor, Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts. His reviews usually include independent and significantly important film. |
 School violence, such as was seen in the tragedy of Columbine, raises many questions, most of which start with "Why?" In Gus Van Sant's Elephant, none of those questions are answered.
Rather he gives us a look at the events without being judgmental. It doesn't try to justify anything. It doesn't try to explain anything. We just see what happens. We are left to ask all the "why?" questions for ourselves.
The name of the film is taken from a Irish TV film that looked at the violence in Northern Ireland without trying to place blame. The title is a reference to an elephant that is in the living room that no one wants to acknowledge as being there. That elephant could be violence or guns or alienation or teen angst or many other things. They are there all the time, but often just ignored.
 Although inspired by the events at Columbine, the film isn't actually about that day. Rather, it is set in Portland, Oregon, on a typical day at a typical high school. We meet a few of the students and follow them for a
time, learning a little bit about them. They are very stereotypical. The film doesn't really do any character study; you can pretty easily note the nerds, social butterflies, and jocks. But we never get a look below the surface to challenge our assumptions about them.
When I say we follow them, I mean it quite literally. A good portion of the film is looking at someone's back as they walk through the halls. It was very like a play that was around back in the 90's, Tamara, in which instead of sitting and watching actors come on and off stage, you followed various actors to different rooms, being voyeurs to part of what is happening. Elephant is a voyeuristic film. We are intimately present.
 The film certainly has a feeling of reality to it. In part because of the camera work, but also because nearly all the characters are non-professionals -- they are high school students who in many ways are just acting out what goes
on in their lives each day.
The story is told in a rather non-linear fashion. We see some scenes three or four times as we are following different people to points where their stories intersect. It is that idea of intersecting stories that makes Elephant work. It is the intersecting of stories that brings the tragedy. Who gets shot or doesn't is in many ways a matter of chance. They happened to be at a given point at a given time, and that either doomed them or saved them.
This film has the feel of a European production more than an American film. That may help explain why it won the Palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival, but may not be as well received by American audiences.
Because the events of Columbine are so central to the creation of this film, one might be tempted to compare it to Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. The key difference is that Moore wanted to make points about his perception of where the blame fell for Columbine (such as gun availability, the NRA, and a violent and fearful culture.) Moore seeks to be a prophetic voice pronouncing judgment on our society. Van Sant spends more time letting us see
the humanity of the people involved -- victims, survivors and perpetrators. He lets us see that they are each more than just a victim, survivor or perpetrator; they each have their own story that has been affected by their intersection with one another.
In the end, the "why?" questions, as loud as they may scream in our lives, are unanswerable. And yet the elephant still is in our living room. |
| Continue: |
|
| COMMENT ON THIS FILM |
| BULLETIN BOARD (Rules)
Post your thoughts in the forum
View or post comments -click here.
Your Private Comments.
I will not post these comments. What are your personal thoughts? I also welcome your spiritual concerns and prayer needs. I will correspond with you, usually within two weeks. Click here |
OFFICIAL SITE
Publicity information and images © 2003 Fine Line Features. All Rights Reserved.
No other uses are permitted without the prior written consent of owner. Use of the material in violation of the foregoing may result in civil and/or criminal penalties. Credits and dates are subject to change. For more information, please visit their official site.
Hollywood Jesus News Letter
Receive the Hollywood Jesus Newsletter FREE.
Sign up here
|
| | |
|
|
