ELEPHANT Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Gus Van Sant Producer: Dany Wolf Writer: Gus Van Sant Director of Photography: Harris Savides, ASC Cast: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson, Elias McConnell, Nathan Tyson, Carrie Finklea, Kristen Hicks Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew

Click on the photo to buy merchandise from Elephant.

(Read the interview with Gus Van Sant)

Review by: Warren Curry
10/19/03

Getting a complete grasp on Gus Van Sant's Palm d'Or winner, Elephant, has been a difficult task for me. About a massacre in a suburban high school (the third movie released in the past two months that deals with the issue), the film is content to simply present the violent events in a hands-off, slice-of-life manner. Van Sant isn't interested in sharing his personal philosophies regarding the possible cause of such a horrific act, which is sort of admirable, but it's difficult to discern why anyone would tackle such volatile material from this neutral of a vantage point. Is there a purpose to all of this? Or is the lack of overt commentary meant to be a statement in itself?

Set in a quiet high school in anytown U.S.A., Van Sant introduces us to the group of familiar character archetypes that comprise the student body of public suburban high schools. We meet bleach blonde John (John Robinson), who seems to be the kind of kid that is liked by all the various social groups, as his drunk father drives him to school. Nathan (Nathan Tyson) and Carrie (Carrie Finklea) are the popular couple who will probably wind up being prom king and queen. Elias (Elias McConnell) walks around the campus with a camera constantly in hand, looking to snap photos of anyone who will pose for him, while nerdy Michelle (Kristen Hicks) is so body conscious that she's fearful of wearing shorts in gym class. Brittany (Brittany Mountain), Jordan (Jordan Taylor) and Nicole (Nicole George) are a gossipy, inseparable clique, and then there's Alex (Alex Frost) and Eric (Eric Deulen), two ostracized kids who order weapons through the mail and make plans to blow their hated classmates to kingdom come.

Much like in his previous work Gerry, Van Sant constructs the film with a series of LONG takes. However, in Gerry, the director was happy to let the camera rest in a static position, while this time around he uses a steadicam to capture physically elaborate moving shots. As a visual tapestry, Elephant works quite well, and the lengthy, uninterrupted shots convey a contemplative mood. There's clearly a documentary influence, which logically ties into the film's quest to remain objective.

The narrative doubles back on itself, showing the same events play out from different perspectives, which doesn't reveal any hidden truths, but instead simply fleshes out the multiple points-of-view. The teenage actors are all non-professionals who are working without a script, and Van Sant is able to catch them in a natural flow. The director appears to be well aware of his cast's limitations and doesn't extend anyone too far.

In his unobtrusive approach, Van Sant may be saying that any media drawn answers to these grim, drastic societal problems can't help but be condescending. By merely depicting the problems, perhaps the filmmaker is encouraging all those who encounter this film to leave aware that a tragedy like Columbine shouldn't be viewed as a recent historical relic. If it were to arrive at conclusions, perhaps Elephant would actually carry a less proactive message.

But what Van Sant is trying to do with this film is vague, and while offering pat solutions would be doing this material a huge disservice, the director's intentions should at least be clear. Tossing in a brief scene of intimacy between Alex and Eric seems to be less an exploration of the characters and more a way for Van Sant to satisfy a fascination of his -- romance between wayward teenage males. The way this element is handled here just feels like a cheap ploy to trigger audience surprise (although anyone familiar with Van Sant's work shouldn't be surprised).

Elephant may provoke polarized reactions, but the opinions will probably be divided into camps of care and don't care, instead of love and hate. I can see arguments for both sides, but there definitely is something going on here, although what that is may take some extra effort to put your finger on. And just maybe that's the point of this whole exercise.

(A Fine Line Features release. Opens in New York and Los Angeles on October 24, 2003. Expands to more cities at later dates.)

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