Elephant (2003)

As promised, a review on Elephant.
Although it seems to have become rather a clich'e within the film world to like Van Sant's work, I have to admit that this film has shocked me and got me thinking everytime I've watched it.
The film brilliantly captures multiple , personal perspectives of the day. In typical Van Sant fashion, he uses his elongated shots of various backdrops - I really love the way he does this. The opening scenes where he films the clouds going past in the sky is beautiful.
The film progresses slowly towards the conclusion of the film, which a lot of people would find irritating, but I think it's a good thing, I believe it gives a much more realist view of the day.

The way Elephant captures the perspectives of people who were injured or even just there when the Columbine shootings happened is brutally real and shocking. Other films such as Zero Day (which is also an amazing film) concentrate solely on the actual perpatrators, this however gives us insight to the victims and onlookers.
In my opinion, the most chilling thing about this film is the long shots that follow the shooters through the school showing the calmness and collectedness of both of the whilst they were commiting he crime.
The ending is amazingly bleak, as the camera pans upward and we hear the final gunshot as music starts playing - It is beautiful and saddening.
This film - I must admit - was hard to talk about, there's so much to talk about. I think you have to watch it to really be able to feel the emotion portrayed. It probably won't appeal to Hollywood lovers, but anyone who reads this should definately watch it.