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[ocelittle]

Weirdest blind buy ever.

I don't want to say it was bad because both the plot intrigued me, and I was captivated the whole way through, with a feeling a dread building as it moved on. But as a movie, it felt empty.

It was shot different than most movies (probably the least cuts in a movie since Hitchcock's "Rope"), and it was very slow moving, which were both fine. But the terrible acting (almost laugh out loud worthy) and the lack of an ending was kind of off-putting.

I bought it mainly because of the prestigious honor of winning the Palm D'or in 2003, and because simply, the idea of a movie about a "Columbine" type of ordeal was hard to let pass by.

I'm underwhelmed, though, and can't quite figure out how it won all these awards. It's by no means a 'bad' movie, but it's different, and not really in a good way.

Any one else's thoughts?

Also, I remember a few years back there was a trailer where it was just a crappy camcorder recording of these two kids talking to the camera detailing their plan to shoot up a school. I thought this might have been that movie, but I watched the trailer on the DVD and it wasn't it. That doesn't mean that they didn't release the other trailer, but if anyone remembers it, could you let me know what it was?

 

[BuG]

I had heard raving reviews from Australia's version of that Roger and Ebert or whoever the two people are (that may actually be one person, first name Roger last name Ebert, I don't know) a year or so ago and have wanted to check it out for a while. It'd have to be an blind buy for myself too, but I haven't seen it cheap enough to take the plunge.

 

[ocelittle]

BTW, the movie I was talking about was "Zero Day"...I just stumbled upon it!

 

[Deleted member 1235]

It was very very good I thought.

Also, for an example of a Gus van Sant (sp?) movie that sucks horribly, see "Last days" the movie that made me want to hate kurt cobain Really fucking shyte movie.

Elephant was great though.

I'm underwhelmed, though, and can't quite figure out how it won all these awards. It's by no means a 'bad' movie, but it's different, and not really in a good way.

It's the way he films things, lots of walking behind people with the camera, no talking and not a lot of explanation as to what they are feeling and why. It's interesting and I thought it worked well in elephant, but an example of his style completely trainwrecked see "last days". Really hated that piece of shit.

 

[Mupepe]

Elephant was really good. You have to be into it at the moment though. If you have something else going on, it's easy to get distracted considering the lack of conversation in some parts and just the way it's filmed. Very well done I thought.

 

[Timbuktu]

Given how it was made, which is in a school with average kids, I thought it was a pretty good approach to the material. I think the lack of a proper ending does what it is meant to; it is supposed to be discomforting and it's supposed to be mundance because these kind of things doesn't just end, packaged neatly with everything explained in 100 minutes. I didn't quite like the stereotypes of the school kids, which seemed a bit heavy handed compared with everything else. It is hard to like the film, but I don't think I would ever 'like' a film based on these kind of material.

I am disappointed in Gus van Sant though since he just lifted the style from this film and applied it to his next one 'Last Days', which is inspired by Kurt Cubain. It doesn't work at all and I think he fallen in love with his make-every-cut-as-long-as-possible style. Death is promised in both films and for most people I think it is only possible to watch them knowing that death is going to come, otherwise they would be unbearably boring.

 

[ocelittle]

*SPOILER*

What I want to know, is who killed Eric?

*SPOILER*

 

[Deleted member 1235]

I am disappointed in Gus van Sant though since he just lifted the style from this film and applied it to his next one 'Last Days', which is inspired by Kurt Cubain. It doesn't work at all and I think he fallen in love with his make-every-cut-as-long-as-possible style. Death is promised in both films and for most people I think it is only possible to watch them knowing that death is going to come, otherwise they would be unbearably boring.

Spoiler

and the payoff was almost as shit as the movie in last days

 

[KarishBHR]

yes, it was great.


I couldnt believe how real it felt

 

[aku:jiki]

I thought it was a piece of shit.

You know that guy in school that shaves off one of his eyebrows, or always shows up in a wizard's hat or some shit? The one that isn't really "different" mentally, but wants to stand out and be considered special? That's Gus van Sant. He so desperately wants to be "indie cool", but he doesn't have it in him. (Yes, I'm aware of his true indie roots, but people change and it's obvious he wants that back and can't quite pull it off.)

My point is: other movies cut the long-pointless-walk-down-the-hall-with-no-interaction-with-anything-whatsoever-scenes for a reason. They're not art and they don't serve a purpose.

I was really pissed off by how the movie does everything it can to show how "evil" the murderers were. They watched documentaries on Hitler, drooled over guns online, played a psychotic game that was nothing but shooting people in the back, etc... And what really drove me up the wall was the completely unnecessary and offensive shower scene. What the fuck was that? Being gay is evil, or what? Fuck that.

 

[Minotauro]

And what really drove me up the wall was the completely unnecessary and offensive shower scene. What the fuck was that? Being gay is evil, or what? Fuck that.

Uhm, Gus Van Sant is gay.

Also, if you guys think this movie was slow, you should check out one of his other films, Gerry. Yeah, that one is basically two guys walking in the desert for two and a half hours. Strangely watchable though.

 

[BigGreenMat]

If you really want to see a out there Van Sant movie watch 'Gerry' with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. It is even more barebones and elementary than Elephant.

 

[olimario]

It seemed like it was being artsy for the sake of being artsy.
The lack of any real structure and the drawn out shots really ruined the movie for me.


Don't get me wrong, though, the movie was beautiful and some of the acting was very realistic, but the movie is just flat.

 

[BobbyRobby]

It seemed like it was being artsy for the sake of being artsy.
The lack of any real structure and the drawn out shots really ruined the movie for me.


Don't get me wrong, though, the movie was bueatiful and some of the acting was very realistic, but the movie is just flat.

I thought it was a piece of shit.

My thoughts. Very pretentious, bpring movie.

 

[ErasureAcer]

It had glowing reviews at rottentomatoes so I rented it and my gawd did it suck. Just absolutely horrible boring movie. I have no idea how that could be considered good.

 

[Minotauro]

If you really want to see a out there Van Sant movie watch 'Gerry' with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. It is even more barebones and elementary than Elephant.

Are my posts invisible?

 

[shuri]

Zero day is awesome, I reviewed it when it came out on dvd. The whole movie is shot like it was two kids documenting their 'mission' has they called it. They are not suposed to be the two guys from the columbine massacre. It's really fucked up because you see family videos cut with the scenes of themselves making pipe bombs, making plans, talking about their motivation. It's really, really fucked up, but interesting. Then they leave their camera on the dash of their car, and you see them walking toward the school, lock and loading their weapons. The last 10 minutes of the movie are footage from the 'shooting' in black and white, and it looks incredibly real.

Use the Search option to find my review. The pics are lone gone but the text is still there.

 

[argon]

I thought Elephant was great. The way it was filmed (documentary style with non-actors and mostly unscripted scenes) really makes you feel like you are a bystander witnessing the events unfold. The movie counts on the fact that you KNOW a Columbine type event is going to happen, but you don't know when.. This adds a palpable tension to what would otherwise be mundane, drawn out waiting scenes. And to top it all off, it upends more than a few traditional movie stereotypes. Lets just say the hero doesn't always save the day..

I was really pissed off by how the movie does everything it can to show how "evil" the murderers were. They watched documentaries on Hitler, drooled over guns online, played a psychotic game that was nothing but shooting people in the back, etc... And what really drove me up the wall was the completely unnecessary and offensive shower scene. What the fuck was that? Being gay is evil, or what? Fuck that.

Actually, I think the brief attention to all of those events made it evident that the director was actually mocking those supposed causes. Notice one of the most drawn out scenes is when the killer plays the piano before going on a rampage? Does that make piano playing a cause? The only real argument I saw in the movie was a gun-control angle, when it shows how apparently easy it was to purchase a rifle. Still, I think he was making the case that we may never know what causes such actions-- there are no simple explanations.

 

[Ronabo]

I thought it was a piece of shit.

It seemed like it was being artsy for the sake of being artsy.
The lack of any real structure and the drawn out shots really ruined the movie for me.


Don't get me wrong, though, the movie was beautiful and some of the acting was very realistic, but the movie is just flat.

My thoughts. Very pretentious, boring movie.

QFT. One of the worst movies I've ever Greencined'. And I've checked out some real pos ones.

 

[cicero]

It was shot different than most movies (probably the least cuts in a movie since Hitchcock's "Rope"), and it was very slow moving, which were both fine.

Apparently you haven't seen Russian Ark, "2000 Actors. 300 years of Russian History. 33 Rooms at the Hermitage Museum. 3 Live Orchestras. 1 Single Continuous Shot.".

 

[Batmonk]

I saw it long ago, but I know I hated it for the pretentious garbage that it is. Lets take a national tragedy, make the killers gay lovers (haha, ther gay!!1) and film the whole thing like a painfully single-minded series of events.

Hated it, I found a review that summed up how I felt, but I can't find it now.

The movie strips all reason, emotion and aftermath away from Columbine (the obvious alagory) and films only the horror. It a mockumentary of a tragedy.

 

[ocelittle]

Apparently you haven't seen Russian Ark, "2000 Actors. 300 years of Russian History. 33 Rooms at the Hermitage Museum. 3 Live Orchestras. 1 Single Continuous Shot.".

Oh snap! Totally forgot about this.
I haven't seen it, no, but I remember seeing the trailers a few years ago.

 

[cicero]

Oh snap! Totally forgot about this.
I haven't seen it, no, but I remember seeing the trailers a few years ago.

The trailer for it was fantastic, the actual movie, at least in my humble opinion, fell far short of what I was expecting. However, I found it an interesting experience technically.