Elephant (2003)
Making sense of a school shooter.
Presentation:
Heavily based off the Columbine shootings, this film was negatively received as it was released too soon to the tragic events. Considering how many school shootings there are today and how much time has passed, this film can finally be reviewed fairly as not the opportunistic film it was labeled to be. The film uses a tall 4:3 aspect ratio to convey the confined feeling of the narrow high school hallways, often towering over the students. What’s truly terrifying about this film is nothing feels exaggerated in the slightest. There are no actors in this film, whom are all basically real students. They go about their normal lives and even the shooters feel believably ordinary. It’s shocking to see how the events unfold so effortlessly, which at the same time feel uncomfortably tense.
Conclusion:
This film almost feels like a close to real life documentary. It’s genuinely upsetting and the fact that the director did not try to dramatize the events at all elevate even more realism. There’s no spin or agenda really, it just presents the events with no real narrative or commentary, just two students committing unspeakable violence. However the lack of story and acting may make it feel less than what you bargained for. If you like the tragic school realism of this film, you may also like the film Detachment.
Recommendations
If there was ever the case for why classic films are more cinematic.