After viewing the film Elephant, please answer the following
questions and illustrate each of your answers by inserting a suitable
picture from the film (= ten answers + ten pictures in all):
1) What struck you most in the film?
What struck me the most about this movie is its slowness. However, in my view, I see this as a perfect way to illustrate our everyday life. Also, I found the shots of the clouds in the sky interesting, as it reminded me that in Norse mythology, the clouds are in reality the thoughts of a giant. In that way, those camera shots could represent the school shooter's mind.
2) What also impressed you?
What impressed me is how the director focused on the students' normal daily lives. I find it really interesting how he depicted this by having a camera follow the characters all the time and by showing long scenes where for example Elias reveals his photographs in the dark room.
3) Did you find anything more particularly upsetting?
What I found upsetting is the scene where Eric and Alex seem to get interested by fascism and Nazism, watching a documentary on Hitler's life.
4) What did you find very disturbing?
What I found the most disturbing is the scene near the ending of the movie, where Alex sings a nursery rhyme before killing Nathan and his girlfriend in a slaughterhouse. As I watched this moment, I couldn't imagine the terror the victims felt.
5) What was most shocking?
A scene that shocked me was the proffessor getting humilliated by Eric as he runs away from his shootings.
6) What does the film suggest about the two school shooters?
This film shows us how the school shooters have no mercy on anyone. Even on their own allies (for instance when Alex shoots his friend Eric).
7) What's more, what does the film director make clear about the two killers?
To make the last statement clear (question 6), it can be noticed that Michelle is the first one to be killed, when we could imagine that Nathan would have been the first. We would have understood immediately his choice if Alex shot Nathan first, because he's the one who bullied him and everyone looks up to him. However, he shot Michelle, the very last person who would be involved in bullying if she had to. This way, we conclude that the shooters just want to murder whoever crosses their path.
8) What kind of approach to the school shooting itself did Gus Van Sant opt for?
Gus Van Saint chose to focus on the daily lives of high school students, and understand them psychologically, from the nerd, to the jock, to the school shooter. This is the reason why we feel like we are following the characters.
9) Moreover, what's the main consequence of the realistic treatment he uses? What about the 'poetic' touches he instills throughout the film?m
Gus Van Saint uses different camera techniques and plays with colors to add poetic touches to his movie. For example, there's a scene where Benny is walking through the corridors and his yellow tshirt starts to blend with strong colors. It is as if Benny is entering through the gates of Hell.
10) As a conclusion, what must we admit about the way in which the killing and the killers are perceived by the film viewers?
It is worth noting that the killings are shown very quickly, in contrast with the rest of the movie. This demonstrates how easy and fast it is to kill someone with a gun. The killers here are normal students. This emphasizes how anyone could start a violent shooting.
1) What struck you most in the film?
What struck me the most about this movie is its slowness. However, in my view, I see this as a perfect way to illustrate our everyday life. Also, I found the shots of the clouds in the sky interesting, as it reminded me that in Norse mythology, the clouds are in reality the thoughts of a giant. In that way, those camera shots could represent the school shooter's mind.
2) What also impressed you?
What impressed me is how the director focused on the students' normal daily lives. I find it really interesting how he depicted this by having a camera follow the characters all the time and by showing long scenes where for example Elias reveals his photographs in the dark room.
3) Did you find anything more particularly upsetting?
What I found upsetting is the scene where Eric and Alex seem to get interested by fascism and Nazism, watching a documentary on Hitler's life.
4) What did you find very disturbing?
What I found the most disturbing is the scene near the ending of the movie, where Alex sings a nursery rhyme before killing Nathan and his girlfriend in a slaughterhouse. As I watched this moment, I couldn't imagine the terror the victims felt.
5) What was most shocking?
A scene that shocked me was the proffessor getting humilliated by Eric as he runs away from his shootings.
6) What does the film suggest about the two school shooters?
This film shows us how the school shooters have no mercy on anyone. Even on their own allies (for instance when Alex shoots his friend Eric).
7) What's more, what does the film director make clear about the two killers?
To make the last statement clear (question 6), it can be noticed that Michelle is the first one to be killed, when we could imagine that Nathan would have been the first. We would have understood immediately his choice if Alex shot Nathan first, because he's the one who bullied him and everyone looks up to him. However, he shot Michelle, the very last person who would be involved in bullying if she had to. This way, we conclude that the shooters just want to murder whoever crosses their path.
8) What kind of approach to the school shooting itself did Gus Van Sant opt for?
Gus Van Saint chose to focus on the daily lives of high school students, and understand them psychologically, from the nerd, to the jock, to the school shooter. This is the reason why we feel like we are following the characters.
9) Moreover, what's the main consequence of the realistic treatment he uses? What about the 'poetic' touches he instills throughout the film?m
Gus Van Saint uses different camera techniques and plays with colors to add poetic touches to his movie. For example, there's a scene where Benny is walking through the corridors and his yellow tshirt starts to blend with strong colors. It is as if Benny is entering through the gates of Hell.
10) As a conclusion, what must we admit about the way in which the killing and the killers are perceived by the film viewers?
It is worth noting that the killings are shown very quickly, in contrast with the rest of the movie. This demonstrates how easy and fast it is to kill someone with a gun. The killers here are normal students. This emphasizes how anyone could start a violent shooting.
Very well done, Elena.
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