Elephant (2003)

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writer (WGA):

Gus Van Sant (written by)

Release Date:

3 October 2003 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

An ordinary high school day. Except that it's not.

Plot:

Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.

Plot Keywords:

Student | High School | Death | Laptop | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

5 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

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
Ellis Williams	...	GSA Teacher (as Ellis E. Williams)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing violent content, language, brief sexuality and drug use - all involving teens.

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 | Hungary:16 | France:-12 | Japan:R-15 | Brazil:16 | Netherlands:16 | South Africa:16LV | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #40167)

Filming Locations:

John Adams High School, 5135 NE Columbia Boulevard, Portland, Oregon, USA

Company:

HBO Films

Trivia:

When we see Alex and Eric sleeping, we can see the cover of the book Eric has been reading: US Army Technical Manual #31-201-1, which covers the making and use of Incendiary devices.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: As Michelle is show pushing a trolley of books in the library over to a shelf just after the photographer walks in, you can see the yellow and white tape markings on the floor that indicate where she is supposed to stop the trolley and were she is to stand to stack the shelf.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mr. McFarland: What? Hey! Where are you going? Come here.
John McFarland: Oh, my God, Dad.
Mr. McFarland: Get in the car. You're gonna be late for school. Come on.
John McFarland: Mom's gonna kill you.

Movie Connections:

References Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Soundtrack:

Walk Through Resonant Landscape #2

Making a vacuum out of a tragedy

Imagine it: A horrific tragedy has taken place in a local school, the violence and inexplicability of which has stunned everyone who has heard of it. A meeting is announced that will address the issues that such an event has raised. At the meeting, the main speaker takes the floor, stares at his audience for a few long seconds, then shrugs his shoulders and mumbles "S**t happens". What? You ask. That's it? "Well," he says, "you can't expect me to provide YOU with the answers. But I did take some nice photos".

That's "Elephant".

It would be hard to tackle such a topic without sinking into "Movie of the Week" territory, so Van Sant avoids this by sitting down and not doing much of anything. But artfully.

Why was this film made? What does it tell us about the events? That they happened. What does he tell us about the victims? Nothing, absolutely nothing. We follow them around, interminably (I feel I knew the backs of their heads intimately, if nothing else) and it's a lot like reality tv -- dull: uninvolving, unrevealing and uneventful. What does it tell us about the perpetrators? Nothing we don't already know, haven't already read. Insights? None. It exists in its own universe, blank and unfeeling, a perfect circle, Art for Art's sake.

As far as it goes, there are some beautiful touches, here -- the overlapping time frames, the slowing down of the action to signify a small, private, joyful moment -- but Van Sant bottles out on taking them anywhere, afraid as he seems to be of taking a stand, making a statement or engaging, emotionally, in any way with anything here.

All in all, an Artsy and pointless exercise in navel-gazing, one that masquerades as something much deeper, and hopes its own silence and blankness will be taken for wisdom.