Elephant (2003)
On April 20, 1999, two teenage boys wearing trenchcoats carried a disheartening arsenal of military weapons to Columbine High School located in Littleton /Colorado, and systematically murdered thirteen students.
Although this singular incident was horrible, it was just one of the eight deadly school shootings in the United States between 1997 and 1999, a number which would continue to grow over the years. These traumatizing events started a debate about what was wrong with the nation’s youth, and the topic came to interest one of my favorite film directors, Gus Van Sant, who made a masterful film about this fascinating subject.
“Elephant” is a deeply moving film that makes a great attempt to capture the discomfort of today’s youth culture. Van Sant does not try to explain Columbine or discover its underlying causes, and there is no specific revelation. His film is a poem of stylized and dreamlike tone, which defies linear conventions and is almost surreal in its approach.
Using flashbacks and images from different points of view of the characters, the film captures the mood and tone of their adolescent world: their perceptions, their self-absorption and, ultimately, their darker instincts.
The camera is an independent observer, and the strength of the film lies in its sharp power of observation and detail. Each character is presented separately and we see them doing their business on a seemingly normal school day. The tracking camera follows them as they walk through the sterile corridors that seem endless, always interspersing beautiful pieces of classical music. Van Sant manages to project the school as a place without life, a place where we feel a desperate sense of loss.
Instead of giving us easy and digestible answers, Van Sant bases his focus on the elusiveness of truth and our insatiable desire to know more. The images and the camera work are painfully beautiful, the rhythm is excellent; slowly building tension and culminating with an equally chilling and unforgettable outcome.
by Octavio Carbajal González