Elephant
A Gus Van Sant Film
1) What struck you most in the film?
I must say that what struck me the most in the film is the fact that Alex and Eric got hold of the guns in the easiest way possible, ordering them on the internet and getting them delivered home as if it was nothing without being asked for a license or getting asked to hand them to an adult instead of two teenagers. What is more this happened in the pre-digital era which makes this scene even more frightening as not many people had computers in 1999.
2) What also impressed you?
It goes without questioning that Gus Van Sant is a very artistic director and therefore what impressed me the most was how he decided to illustrate the Columbine shootings in a universal, non-judgemental way. This makes us as spectators go further than just accusing the shooters of being cold-blooded murderers and puts up front one obvious question everyone is too afraid to answer, which is: How did this get to such a tragic point? We may well answer that the shootings are sadly just the tip of the iceberg as they probably wouldn't have happened with a zero tolerance bullying policy in schools and a prohibition of arms in the U.S. legislation.
3) Did you find anything more particularly upsetting?
I would say that what upset me the most is the scene where the Afro-American jock, which is depicted as a guardian angel in the film, is found vulnerable and dies. The director shows him, in the sequence before, saving a girl who is dead-frozen as she is too shocked to move which amplifies the divine aspect of the character . He then tries to find the shooters to possibly calm them down in a non-violent way but is instead shot as even a person his size and with such a heart can not be speared when it comes to deadly weapons especially being unarmed.
4) What did you find very disturbing?
As a musician, soundtracks form a very important aspect of a film and can me quite moving when they are original. However, Gus Van Sant decided to use very well known piano pieces, such as Fur Elise by Beethoven, which we normally associate to our childhood as they are quite simple which means they are normally played within the first years of learning the piano. Therefore, associating these pieces to a massacre and making one of the shooters play the piano is gut-wrenching. It also makes the shooting more real and closer to us as we can recognize the sober piano of these spellbinding works of art. I personally won't be able to listen to Fur Elise ever again without immediately thinking of the atrocities that happened at Columbine High School on April the 20th of 1999 and the rest of the affected schools by shootings till our day.
5) What was most shocking?
Something that I found most shocking was the psychological construction of the shooters built by the director. All of their mindset is focused on killing as many people as possible like in the game Eric was playing. They do not feel anything except for their anger towards the people that humiliated them which we can clearly see in the dialogue between Eric and the principle where the character explains how badly harmed they were inside by the bullying and how it can measure up to what they are doing. It's like the school drained everything they had inside of them and they are careless for human life and even feel disgusted by it as it has let them down.
6) What does the film suggest about the two school shooters?
7) What's more, what does the film director make clear about the two killers?
What the film director makes extremely clear about the shooters is the fact that they are victims and aurochs at the same time. He also shows that they could be any teenager as they are left to their own means as their parents are barely present. They live in a constant bubble of loneliness and haven't even started living yet as they haven't even kissed anyone in their lives before. They know that by what they are doing they are going to die but really we can say that they are already dead inside.
8) What kind of approach to the school shooting itself did Gus Van Sant opt for?
We can affirm that Gus Van Sant has opted for an artistic approach of the events as a lot of the elements inside the film are for esthetic and metaphorical purposes and did not exactly happen in real life. Moreover, even if he did keep the main traits of the shooters some elements differ. For example, in real life one of them was suicidal and the other was obsessed by murder whereas in the film one of them decides to shoot the other. Also the mother of one of the real shooters is now an active speaker and says she wasn't a bad mother and was always there for her son but he was sadly living a double life although the film shows the shooters like strangers in their own home. What is more the myth of them being part of a fascist group called the Trench Coat Mafia was actually a computer nerds group and not a real sect. Finally, Gus Van Sant chose to censor these elements as he wanted to make this a universal message that can be reported to any school in the world.
9) Moreover, what's the main consequence of the realistic treatment he uses? What about the 'poetic' touches he instills throughout the film?
The realistic treatment of the film is made to impact the viewer allowing him to realize it is the reality of gun violence which is probably the worst form of violence as it is an image of a war between kids started by adults, especially by men of high power. The more poetic touches are made to meddle with our feelings and our humanity facing such an inhuman violence.
10) As a conclusion, what must we admit about the way in which the killing and the killers are perceived by the film viewers?
I must say that what struck me the most in the film is the fact that Alex and Eric got hold of the guns in the easiest way possible, ordering them on the internet and getting them delivered home as if it was nothing without being asked for a license or getting asked to hand them to an adult instead of two teenagers. What is more this happened in the pre-digital era which makes this scene even more frightening as not many people had computers in 1999.
2) What also impressed you?
It goes without questioning that Gus Van Sant is a very artistic director and therefore what impressed me the most was how he decided to illustrate the Columbine shootings in a universal, non-judgemental way. This makes us as spectators go further than just accusing the shooters of being cold-blooded murderers and puts up front one obvious question everyone is too afraid to answer, which is: How did this get to such a tragic point? We may well answer that the shootings are sadly just the tip of the iceberg as they probably wouldn't have happened with a zero tolerance bullying policy in schools and a prohibition of arms in the U.S. legislation.
I would say that what upset me the most is the scene where the Afro-American jock, which is depicted as a guardian angel in the film, is found vulnerable and dies. The director shows him, in the sequence before, saving a girl who is dead-frozen as she is too shocked to move which amplifies the divine aspect of the character . He then tries to find the shooters to possibly calm them down in a non-violent way but is instead shot as even a person his size and with such a heart can not be speared when it comes to deadly weapons especially being unarmed.
4) What did you find very disturbing?
As a musician, soundtracks form a very important aspect of a film and can me quite moving when they are original. However, Gus Van Sant decided to use very well known piano pieces, such as Fur Elise by Beethoven, which we normally associate to our childhood as they are quite simple which means they are normally played within the first years of learning the piano. Therefore, associating these pieces to a massacre and making one of the shooters play the piano is gut-wrenching. It also makes the shooting more real and closer to us as we can recognize the sober piano of these spellbinding works of art. I personally won't be able to listen to Fur Elise ever again without immediately thinking of the atrocities that happened at Columbine High School on April the 20th of 1999 and the rest of the affected schools by shootings till our day.
5) What was most shocking?
Something that I found most shocking was the psychological construction of the shooters built by the director. All of their mindset is focused on killing as many people as possible like in the game Eric was playing. They do not feel anything except for their anger towards the people that humiliated them which we can clearly see in the dialogue between Eric and the principle where the character explains how badly harmed they were inside by the bullying and how it can measure up to what they are doing. It's like the school drained everything they had inside of them and they are careless for human life and even feel disgusted by it as it has let them down.
6) What does the film suggest about the two school shooters?
We can say that the film suggests that the two shooters are not in the black or in the white but more of in a grey zone which is visually shown by the stormy clouds. They have been betrayed by society as they are victims of a system that provides them with fire arms faster than it can provide them with proper psychological care and that doesn't give them a voice which means they have to turn to violence to be heard.
7) What's more, what does the film director make clear about the two killers?
What the film director makes extremely clear about the shooters is the fact that they are victims and aurochs at the same time. He also shows that they could be any teenager as they are left to their own means as their parents are barely present. They live in a constant bubble of loneliness and haven't even started living yet as they haven't even kissed anyone in their lives before. They know that by what they are doing they are going to die but really we can say that they are already dead inside.
We can affirm that Gus Van Sant has opted for an artistic approach of the events as a lot of the elements inside the film are for esthetic and metaphorical purposes and did not exactly happen in real life. Moreover, even if he did keep the main traits of the shooters some elements differ. For example, in real life one of them was suicidal and the other was obsessed by murder whereas in the film one of them decides to shoot the other. Also the mother of one of the real shooters is now an active speaker and says she wasn't a bad mother and was always there for her son but he was sadly living a double life although the film shows the shooters like strangers in their own home. What is more the myth of them being part of a fascist group called the Trench Coat Mafia was actually a computer nerds group and not a real sect. Finally, Gus Van Sant chose to censor these elements as he wanted to make this a universal message that can be reported to any school in the world.
9) Moreover, what's the main consequence of the realistic treatment he uses? What about the 'poetic' touches he instills throughout the film?
The realistic treatment of the film is made to impact the viewer allowing him to realize it is the reality of gun violence which is probably the worst form of violence as it is an image of a war between kids started by adults, especially by men of high power. The more poetic touches are made to meddle with our feelings and our humanity facing such an inhuman violence.
We must admit that the film viewer feels divided as the shooters are monsters but are still normal teenagers that took their sensitive feelings to another level. They are neither bad or good they are confused and make the viewer as confused as them. On a more personal note, I do not directly blame these teenagers as I feel like the shooting is the symptom of a broken-down system as they wouldn't have even thought of this shooting if guns weren't allowed or if the school staff had given them some sort of assistance.
A very interesting read, Kenza. Besides, your web post is well designed.
ReplyDeleteKENZA PURDIE / ENGLISH GEEK
ReplyDelete10 Questions 15 /15
1- 1,5
2- 1,5
3- 1,5
4- 1,5
5- 1,5
6- 1,5
7- 1,5
8-1,5
9- 1,5
10-1,5
Choice & Layout of Pictures: 5/5
Overall Mark: 20 /20