Elizajoey

shrrshrr
I saw it as "gay" because Gus Van Sant is known for placing things like that into his plotlines. I didnt see it out of place because it was a gay kiss but I saw it out of place because it felt like the scene was just shoved in there. Everything else had a flow to it of some sort - if felt connected in some way but I found the kiss to be disjointed like the director just added it in there for his comfort.

Yes, the blonde guy warned ppl but it was like a "Hey Mate, dont go in there" to a few ppl and then just move on and worry about himself.
Yes, you could say that we cant possible be sure what people are going to do but you could say that for everything - human nature would tell me personally that you would tell ppl to get away and more than four or five ppl.
I dont mean that the guy should run in there and save everyone and turn the movie into Superman. What I mean is how could he just tell a few ppl and move on and not really worry about. Yes, he wanted to find his father but in that scene when he had found him, there was no real care for the ppl who were still back in the school.

JediBlastoise
Thats exactly what I liked about the movie. I think it's very much moden culture to try and find someone or something to blame. The beauty of the film is that its not answering the 'Why" but the "How". How does this happen. It's a wake-up call - this type of thing can happen in a 'normal' school in a 'normal' town.

Sara

pacifierrocks

Hmmm, i seem to be in the minority. I didn't like this film at all. I got what the directer was trying to do, but i was just bored throughout the whole movie. It seemed to me that he was trying really hard to make it artsy, so it seemed a bit forced to me. Also the acting was pretty horrible. So then i brought some friends to watch it and see what they thought. They also didn't like it.

Home Room on the other hand is a good movie. Busy Philips did a great job in my opinion. Such a difference from her character in Dawson's Creek. I think they showed the after effects of such an event really well.

lizparker1984

I liked this movie but i wont let my sister watch it.. it was a little more realistic then she needs to see... i guess maybe i shelter her to much but id rather her not be exposed to stuff liek that...

Crystal Clear

ELEPHANT reminded me of UNITED 93, in terms of how raw and direct it was in portraying the horrors of that day.


It cleverly captured that mundane feeling of a normal school day, Gus Van Sant deliberately cast actors to do their own thing in the movie (not following a script, they used their individual talents to make their characters unique so that you'd empathize with them in the event of the shooting).


Camera angles were used to pinpoint everyday typical moments where a person can walk down the hall, observing their crush, not realizing what's about to happen that will change their lives forever.


I thought it did a superb job of building up the suspense to the movie's recreation of the COLUMBINE tragedy.

Crystal Clear

Van Sant did a great job of reinterpreting the events of the Columbine tragedy without explicitly titling it after the tragedy, Same with the two boys who are clearly portraying Eric and Dylan without being referred to as them; just little moments in characterization where their personalities are reminiscent of what we knew of them in reality.

It's not an easy thing to get right. I think the Zero Hour TV documentary was the best telling and re-enactment of the tragedy, but Van Sant did a clever thing by having these inexperienced actors improvise in ways that allowed the emotional weight of the piece and the loss of these innocents to be truly felt by the end of the film. I really liked the photographer guy, he seemed very into the role and realistic of a student who would go around asking strangers to pose for his piece.

There are such great tracking shots where the camera follows an actor all the way down the hall for a typical class schedule, it just captures the mundane feeling of being at school and going through the motions... All in all, very well done.