Elephant (DVD, 2004)

I first saw this movie way back on HBO one night and it really caught my attention. If I hadn't clicked info, I would have never known what it was about. But I ended up watching the whole thing and it really made me wonder, "Is this the wake-up call America needs?"

The whole movie leads up to the shooting at the end of it. It lets us look at a handfull of students that go to the school and look at their lives and what kind of people they are. It'll focus on 1 person *or group* for about 10 minutes and then switch to another. You even get to see one of the shooters in a classroom getting bullied by throwing clay stuff on him.

The movie's title, "Elephant" is a nod to the metaphor "An elephant in the room", which is a topic that people know that's there, but refuse to fix it. In this instance, school shootings. None of the young actors in this movie had any acting experience when they filmed this, they were all beginner actors, and they show no signs of it.

The movie spends most of the time behind the character's backs watching and following them from a safe distance. As the movie goes on, it begins to climax, it switches to the house of one of the killers. He plays the piano for a while, and the other killer comes in and plays on the laptop while the other plays the piano. Next morning, they get a package in the mail, it's an assault rifle... The movie spends about 15 minutes of the two boys shooting up their school, killing anybody they can.

Before you say, "This movie is horrible! It has kids shooting other students!" think about it...the director is trying to prove a point, very bluntly. Something further should be done to prevent things like Columbine and Virginia Tech. This movie is just telling the Government to hurry up. I would recommend this movie to anybody who ever wondered what happened in Columbine High School that fateful day...

I decided to buy this movie to get a better insight on the columbine school shooting. The way the movie was filmed was like nothing i had ever seen before.It left me sad for the victims and the felons. It made me cry and it made my heart jump like very little movies have ever done. Great acting,great directing,great view of the lives of everyone from start to finish. Edge of my seat. Like i said great movie. A must see for knowledge,excitement,and fear but fear in a good way. Wish i can change that day and the way i would change it is to help the boys stop doing what they did and get them help that they for sure needed terribly.

If your a fan of movies where the camera films the back of some kid walking down the hall for five minuts without any action or any speach what-so-ever then this film is for you! If you like movies about everyday boring life, with very little action (the last five minutes are a bloodbath ( except without the blood and with horrid acting) Then this film is for you!! If you like movies that were shot with a brilliant camera man, a camera man with an ammazing eye, BUT directed by my 5 year old niece Then This Film is for you!!!!! If all of these don't aply to you, I'd sugest you skip it...

THis movie really does a good job of conveying the emotions of the charactors. It is a little unique with the way it is filmed, but the movie is just stunning. I wish i could have seen it in theatres. the camera shots are just brilliant - not the being shot from behing the charactors but the visuals of the movie.

I liked the movie...but there were a few things I dislike also. I'll start with the good. Director does a wonderful job of putting you in a teenagers shoes. Views were excellent and the movie had a wonderful flow. But the 'violence' in the movie was very cheesy and unrealistic. A little disturbing but definitely makes you stop and think about life.