elephant

ok, time for another of my oh so appreciated reviews. notice the sarcasm. anyway, here goes:

title: elephant
starring: alex frost, eric deulen, john robinson etc.
director: gus van sant
producer: hbo films
length: 79 min
year: 2003
rated: r for "disturbing violent content, language, brief sexuality & drug use all involving teens"
copy of review: swedish ex-rental

plot

it all begins as an ordinary day at a high school in portland, oregon. john is late for school again due to his alcoholic father and is sent to the principal's office. little does he know that this incident may actually save his life when a school shooting breaks out.

acting

the teens do a brilliant job in all aspects and i was especially impressed with john robinson in the role of john mcfarland. he has some kind of eerie presence which really jumps out of the screen. also, he may have the coolest haircut in movie history...^^...well, i have nothing to complain about in the acting department whatsoever so let's move on.

direction

van sant uses long takes where he basically just establish the surroundings and where the different characters are at the time. this gives the movie a documentary feel with really adds to the terror that unravels in the last portion of the drama. i also like that van sant doesn't take a moral stand and condemn the shooters, but merely shows us what happens and gives some hints why it happens. i think this story needed an objective mind to become good and van sant delivers it without false sentiments.

script

van sant also wrote the script and he deserves credit for that as well. the story is presented in segments where he concentrates on the various people at the school. we get to know a little bit about them, but the main character has to be john, who we see in frame in almost every scene. the segments aren't necessarily in chronological order either so the movie invites for a second watch.

overall

i saw this at stockholm film festival in 2003 where it was in competition for best film. it didn't win that award but it got three awards (including best film & director) in cannes the same year, and i think we all know what festival is the important one of those two. anyway, this is an excellent movie which i highly recommend to everyone. it's raw, even brutal from time to time, but it feels genuine and real. the title "elephant" comes from the classic phrase that a problem is like an elephant in a room that no one talks about. anyone who sees this movie is forced to talk about the damn elephant, otherwise they wouldn't be human.