MJ5K's Review

Summary - Really Great 4.5

I sense an elephant in the room…

With Elephhant, director Gus Van Sant creates a surreal, disturbing, and yet still very reallistic world revolving around one school, one day, and many kids. While not any sort of biopic nor factual account, the film explores what might have happened on the day of the massacre at Columbine High School. It follows many different kids as their stories intertwine and eventually lead up to an ending that will have you talking for days.

At the start of the movie we meet John, a young boy dealing with an alcoholic father. He takes over driving duties from his drunk father which symbolizes the transfer of control from the adults to the children. As he gets to school, we then see many other children over the course of this one day. Notables are Nathan, a popular kid who takes leave of absence with his girlfriend and comes back at the wrong time. Nerdy Michele, a girl uncomfortable with her weight. And Elias, a photographer and friend to John. The one story that holds the movie together, though, is the one of Alex and Eric, the two children behind the massacre. We see them as Alex plays Beethoven and Eric plays a shooting game. The two of them later watch a video of Hitler, fire their guns for practice, and even share a kiss.

One thing Elephant does well is that despite the fact we know the ending, the movie still holds our attention. Through excellent acting and reallistic portrayals of this one high school in Nowhereville, USA, we can relate to most of the students in the film. Watching the film, the viewer thinks to themself “This might just be my high school.”

I will say though, Elephant is NOT for everyone. Not so much because of the disturbing content (which we all see coming, anyways), but the pacing of the movie. There is minimal dialogue (most of which was improvised), the camera very slowly and lazily follows each student around, and some aspects of the film are just a bit too weird. However, the excellent aspects of the film outweigh these ones.

Overall, while Elephant may not be for everyone, it is still a spectacle just to see a compelling and reallistic portrayal of the torturous aspects of high school life and how one seemingly ordinary day could end up in tragedy.

Acting - Great 4.0

Film - Great 4.0

Edge - Sordid 3.5

Reality - Natural 1.0

2 Comments

• BigdaddyDave Mar 9, 2011 7:25AM

  Regarding MJ5K’s Review
  This looks good. Thanks for the informative review!

• BrianSez Feb 13, 2011 8:09PM

  Regarding MJ5K’s Review
  Great review. Think I’ll add this one to my list!

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