Sunday, February 19, 2012

Elephant - 2003 - 4½ Stars, 2½ Stars

Actors: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen
Director: Gus Van Sant

I decided to give Elephant two ratings - its cinematography and direction is unbelievable. However, I do have to confess that I am a giant fan of Van Sant's aesthetic, even if I'm not sure he does all that much with it. A single tragic day at a high school is a perfect place for his Satantango-style examination of crossing paths and sad confluences.

The second rating is for shallowness in character - Elephant almost expects you to invest its characters with your own memories or perceptions of high school, because whatever work it does is largely image-based. This works in some instances, but falls terribly short in others.

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