neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Elephant
	Gus Van Sant Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson, Elias McConnell, Jordan Taylor, Carrie Finklea, Nicole George, Brittany Mountain, Alicia Miles, Kristen Hicks, Bennie Dixon, Nathan Tyson, Timothy Bottoms, Matt Malloy 2003		Using the deadly shooting spree at Columbine High in Colorado as a spur and template, filmmaker Gus Van Sant made the potent, quasi-cinema verité drama "Elephant." The film is an artful, disturbing, multi-angle examination of an unexpected, stupefying massacre. While not psychoanalyzing the malefactors or delving into the causes of their aberrant behavior, it indicts clueless parents, callous teens, high-school pecking orders and a pervasive strain of violence in American society. Van Sant, who wrote and directed "Elephant," plays tricks with time and perspective as the senseless slaughter slowly unfolds. He found a bunch of impressive unknowns to play the students caught up in tragedy at an Oregon high school. As the day begins, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Dropped off at school, a mellow slacker type takes the car keys away from his drunken father, played by the best-known pro in the cast, Timothy Bottoms. Cliques convene. Young lovers greet one another. Jocks, art-geeks and misfits head to class, unaware that two of their number are planning something horrific. There's a sickening inevitability to the situation and a realness to the kids that inspires an investment in their well-being and a sense of loss at their demise.