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Elephant (1989) (TV) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   406 votes
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Director:
Alan Clarke
Writer:
Bernard MacLaverty (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Elephant on IMDbPro.
Genre:
Short more
Plot:
A depiction of a series of violent killings in Northern Ireland with no clue as to exactly who is responsible. | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
NewsDesk:
SFIFF52 Review: Bullet in the Head
 (From JustPressPlay. 26 April 2009, 3:56 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Interesting, but ultimately desensitising. more

Cast

  (in credits order)

Directed by
Alan Clarke 
 
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Bernard MacLaverty  writer

Produced by
Danny Boyle .... producer
 
Cinematography by
Philip Dawson 
John Ward 
 
Film Editing by
Don O'Donovan 
 
Costume Design by
Maggie Donnelly 
 
Makeup Department
Kathy Carruth .... makeup artist
 
Production Management
Jennifer McAufield .... production manager
 
Art Department
John Jenkins .... scenic supervisor
John McCready .... properties buyer
 
Sound Department
Bryan Elliott .... boom operator
Ken Hains .... dubbing mixer
Peter Lindsay .... sound
 
Visual Effects by
Peter Wragg .... visual effects
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Allister Maxwell .... gaffer
 
Other crew
Ken Bond .... armorer
Paul Clarke .... design
Mark Huffam .... assistant floor manager
Kevin Jackson .... location manager
Stephen Killen .... assistant floor manager
Christine Sufferin .... production assistant
 

Production CompaniesDistributors

Additional Details

Runtime:
39 min
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Certification:
West Germany:18

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Alan Clarke's final film. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Memories of: Elephant (2004) (V) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful:-
Interesting, but ultimately desensitising., 24 June 2006
Author: el-mno-p from Newcastle, England

Alan Clark's ugly, austere short film follows a series of murders in Northern Ireland. Silent assassins are tracked through ordinary streets, with minimal cuts, in an attempt to show sectarian violence realistically.

Watching this years after the apparent media circus that surrounded the initial screening of the film in 1989, without any contextualising information, was like being thrown into the midst of chaos. There is absolutely nothing to establish setting or motivation - the film never alters its pattern, and we are only given blink-and-you'll-miss-'em indicators that we are watching a film about the IRA. The inference here seems to be that, as well as establishing the brutal, faceless, emotionless threat, these murders could happen anywhere at anytime, that murder and gang violence isn't specific to Northern Ireland.

But I have problems with the film. Time after time, we see the execution-style murder, with the camera lingering for a few seconds on the victim. By the end of the film, this seems so routine that the power of the shock is entirely diminished. Was this Clark's intention? Perhaps he wanted his audience to react to the problem rationally, and he saw this film as a way of achieving that, by visualising the violence for us.

This pragmatic political stance makes for uninvolving cinema, but it shouldn't be overlooked.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
good film. does van sant have any ideas of his own? teejay6682
Danny Boyle JonnyTanna
where can i find this? jmargethe
Ending?!? Angry-James
The greatest film about Northern Ireland ever made stulau
Barry Brent lwalshedit-1
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