Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Get 2 for 1 cinema tickets with Orange Click Here

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

Elephant (2003)

Director: Gus Van Sant

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

The surprise recipient of the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2003, Van Sant's movie began life as a conventional Hollywood psychological drama inspired by the massacre of 12 students and a teacher by two teenagers at Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado, on 20 April 1999. It mutated into something more abstract and more personal. Filmed in long, languorous travelling shots (like Van Sant's Gerry, it's influenced by Béla Tarr, as well as the Alan Clarke film about sectarian murders from which the director took his title), sometimes slowing almost imperceptibly to savour a fleeting emotion, Elephant sucks us into the lives of some half dozen students. It slips easily between them over the course of what seems an uneventful schoolday (Van Sant allowed his cast of unknowns to improvise within the overlapping chronological structure he'd mapped out) until some 30 minutes in we get a premonition of the atrocity in store. Weakest when it comes to 'motivation' (whatever that is), the film doesn't try to explain, but to put us in a subjective time and space, a place where it's impossible not to feel the abject horror of random violence. In that sense, it's as much about experiencing 9/11 as it is about Columbine. (Produced by HBO and shot in a ratio of 1:33.) TCh.

Author: TCh 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend
Get 2 for 1 cinema tickets with Orange Click Here

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Has Michael Mann lost it?

Has Michael Mann lost it?

Adam Lee Davies mourns the passing of a major Hollywood talent as Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' sees the great director running on empty

Why 'Ice Age 3' is really for adults

Why 'Ice Age 3' is really for adults

Tom Huddleston takes a look at a selection of films which bring adult problems to a pre-teen audience

Is this Summer 2009's best film?

Is this Summer 2009's best film?

The French filmmaker Claire Denis speaks to Dave Calhoun about her new film, '35 Shots of Rum', a tender portrait of a father-daughter relationship in Paris

The Informant: trailer preview

The Informant: trailer preview

Steven Soderbergh is at it again, this time with a screwball corporate caper starring Matt Damon called 'The Informant'. View the trailer here...

Rudo y Cursi: interview

Rudo y Cursi: interview

Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna talk to Time Out about their highly entertaining new comedy, 'Rudo y Cursi'

An open letter to Peter Morgan

An open letter to Peter Morgan

Tom Huddleston penned an open letter to Peter Morgan offering some friendly dos and don'ts for the new Bond movie

Outdoor film screenings in London 2009

Outdoor film screenings in London 2009

Derek Adams offers a guide to the best places to see films outside in London this summer

50 essential sci-fi films

50 essential sci-fi films

With 'Star Trek' making serious waves, we thought it would be a perfect time to select 50 must-see sci-fi films






The City made easy in association with Sony Ericsson W715