Elephant

Title: Elephant
Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Drama
Starring: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson
Director: Gus Van Sant

While high school shootings isn't new in film, and a film inspired by the "Columbine Massacre" might not seem to add anything new to the list, I believe that "Gus Van Sant" brought us the best film on such a subject. As writer and director, he didn't try to psychologically analyze the characters, especially those of the two killers, nor did he try providing explanations while theorizing about what might have cause such a massacre. He didn't present us with a glamorous display of violence nor did he fall to the Hollywood clichés regarding such subject. He didn't try to pick apart the tragedy, nor did he to improvise while presenting it. What he did was present us with a day in a high school, showing glimpses of the characters lives as the day pass.

No over-killing was made. We see the handsome jock with his girlfriend, the nerd lacking self-confidence, the one others seem to ignore, and the one bullied, the "hot and cool" girls and others that we'd expect to find in a regular high school. All of a sudden, one day two students come and start killing everyone they see… What makes this film effective is the way we see the events. Sometimes "Gus" just leaves the camera there to role. That shot showing some people playing American Football as "Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata" was an emotional shot in its simplicity. We even see a student pass and looks happily to the sky. Then it follows when of the players as he goes to meet his girlfriend. "Gus" shows us what goes on in life, he showed us joy, yet we can't help but think something wicked is to come near the end. This is one of the key elements in the aesthetics of "Elephant."

Some will argue that the film is pointless because it didn't explain all; in fact, the film won't explain any motive. Even the killers remain "un-analyzed". I think he did this to attract the audience even more. It's not just to show off or be an intellectual, but being presented everything to your lap can be a bit silly. He didn't present us of what we might expect, of a violence influenced couple of friends who listen to "metal" all the time. On the contrary, "Alex" (Frost), the smarter of the two killers, is good piano player as we see him playing for "Beethoven". The second killer, Eric (Deulen) the lesser intelligent of the two, we see him "normally" laughing and joking around. At the breakfast scene as they are eating in Alex's home, and "Eric" is making jokes, we won't expect such brutality will come out of the two. Even the representation of the massacre wasn't that bloody as "Gus" intended it to be. This isn't a glamorization of a massacre nor is it presenting them as "martyrs" or "victims". The utter reality in the massacre is what truly makes it frightening and a message against violence without showing much. At one point we'll think that a hero will come to save the day, I did think so to be honest, but I'll leave you to discover what will happen.

The film almost reached the perfection point, but they were some small details that made me hesitate. For instance we see the couple trying their newly acquired weapon in the garage; they fire many shots during the afternoon. It just seems strange to me that no one in the neighborhood would notice the loud voice of shots being fired. Something that bothered me also is what "Eric" said to the principle before killing him. It's either the actor wasn't good enough to deliver it well or it just seemed to be what "Gus" had in mind to be the cause. To me, it seemed out of place, but I'll leave you to find out.

I'll repeat again, this isn't a study of human psyche as much as a truthful representation of a school day going awfully wrong. It's by not presenting a solution to this equation that "Gus Van Sant" makes a powerful and moving film. Even at the end we don't know exactly what happened. Not only that, but also the students who did make it don't show anything special, the students and teachers who died don't represent anything special. Those of you interested in such topics should watch this film. "Gus" took the "Columbine High School Massacre" as a mold, and then shaped something far wider. With less than one hour and twenty minutes, it will easily pass and leave us to think.