Film: Elephant

[Perpetual Indulgence]

I thought it was slow and boring as well. The shower scene was the only thing that interested me. I wished I had ignored this movie.

 

[pillsnapa]

I thought it was brilliant. I imagine there are many 'Armaghedon' fans here.

 

[*Venus*]

An elephant never forgets either I suppose.

I thought it was unbelievably superior while being unbelievably slow at the same time.

 

[wanderlust]

so slow, yes... but it is successfully shows an average day not in real time progressive-time but in real time of how events would unfold and move at a real life pace
it sets it up so the viewer is put into the lull of every day repetition and mundane acts so they too can feel the shock the children in the film/true life columbine scenarios survivors would feel

 

[Julkaa]

Great and powerfull movie..the haunting piano song....creppy
as for why it is called elephant:The title is a tribute to the Alan Clarke, 1989 film for BBC, also called Elephant, which reflected on sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Van Sant similarly portrays school violence as something unfathomable, not unlike many other disturbing things in the lives of teenagers, which invite convenient explanations but ultimately frustrate analysis.

Van Sant has explained the "elephant" idea in several ways, besides the direct reference to Clarke's earlier work. It is an allusion to the proverbial "elephant in the living room", a large problem that no one talks about but everyone must find their way around as they go about their daily lives. It also invokes the Indian parable about the blind wise men who, unable to grasp the whole, interpret the elephant only in terms of the part they can comprehend: "An elephant is a tree", said the blind man who grasped the leg; "An elephant is a snake", said the one who touched the trunk; etc. Finally, during the press conference at Cannes, Van Sant mentioned that the creative staff had also experimented with allusions to certain policies and attitudes represented by the Republican Party, whose party symbol is an elephant.

 

[jpgrdnr]

its actually one of my fav films of all time. i'd argue that its not slow at all but almost "too full" with the amount of issues it tries to tackle.

I think it covers the whole Colombine ordeal in, or tries to deal with it in the best manner possible...this is what really happened in a sense.

And it doesn't try to force its own opinion on you, the film doesn't have some overt morality that Bowling tried to portray, Van Sant presents the material honestly and lets you come to your own conclusions.

This is like the most complete answer/antithesis to the CNN/Fox News BS expose
that was going on at the time. And for that I appreciate it.

Its films like these that should be standard viewing in school.