With long takes, minimal dialogue, and a focus on composition, elephant does little to engage the audience, or make you feel invested in any character or event. A day in the lives of a group of average teenage high school students. I was wondering if there is any movie based on the columbine high school massacre. The film follows every character and shows their daily routines. I had high expectation going into the movie elephant and was extremely disappointed. But i have not posted any bloody photos of victims. Analysis the film elephant, by gus van sant is often compared to the events of the columbine massacre, however not directed connected, van sant has admitted it to be the topic behind it. Rachel joy scott august 5, 1981 april 20, 1999 was an american student and the first victim of the columbine high school massacre, in which 11 other students and a teacher were also murdered by eric harris and dylan klebold, who then committed suicide. Dont say elephant or we need to talk about kevin im talking about a legit movie based on columbine.
The film began as a television film that van sant had intended to make about the columbine high school massacre. Apr 14, 2009 i believe it is loosely based on the columbine shootings. Its an attempt to make sense of a senseless act, while at the same. Well, both gerry and elephant were originally just ordinary projects where we took an incident that wed read about in the papers and used it as an influence on a story that we decided could go in any direction. This film is loosely based on the events that took place on april 20, 1999 at columbine high school. As a school shooting survivor, films like elephant and polytechnique have a special resonance for me. In the columbine community, cullens book is widely regarded not as the definitive account of the massacre and its aftermath, but one version of it. Elephant is a 2003 american drama film written, directed, and edited by gus van sant. That fact alone makes gus van sants brilliant 2003 film elephant, which was loosely based on the columbine massacre, even more harrowing now than when it was first released. The columbine high school massacre was a school shooting and attempted bombing at columbine high school in columbine, colorado on april 20, 1999. The movie is a fairly standard commentary on school shootings, but if thats what youre looking for, just watch bowling for columbine. This movie is a fictional story, but it is essentially a retelling of the columbine high massacre.
Zero day is a 2003 american film directed by ben coccio and starring andre keuck and cal robertson. Movie about rachel joy scott of columbine shooting has. That fact alone makes gus van sants brilliant 2003 film elephant, which was loosely based on the columbine massacre, even more harrowing. More so a movie about the lives of eric and dylan leading up to the day. It takes place in the fictional watt high school, in the suburbs of portland, oregon, and chronicles the. A hazy, uneventful summers day seems in prospect, rather than a horrific columbinestyle highschool shooting that this movie summons up like a nightmare remembered with pitiless clarity. Sorry about the resolution thats what they provided. A movie that teaches the possibilities and the aftermaths of a school shooting. Aug 02, 2010 this film is loosely based on the events that took place on april 20, 1999 at columbine high school. Elephant fine line, directed by gus van sant, was inspired by the mass shootings at columbine high school in april 1999. On april 20th 1999, eric harris and dylan klebold shot and killed people and then turned the guns on themselves.
Movie about rachel joy scott of columbine shooting has georgia ties scott barkley columbine, evangelism, movies, rachel joy scott, rachel scott, school shootings, students, witness in one of the more heartwrenching scenes of im not ashamed rachel scotts red acura becomes a memorial site after the horrific 1999 shootings at. Brooks brown has used that handle on the internet for years. There is no pumpedup style, no lingering, no release, no climax. Scott, played by masey mclain, serves as the protagonist of the film. Elephant is a 2003 drama film edited, written, and directed by gus van sant. The movie s spare and unconventional style will divide viewers. However two of the students plan to do something that the. It takes the audience through the high school and some of its students, basically their day to day activities following up to the shootings. Its deliberately mysterious and opaque, following several characters throughout the day and observing that they are all dealing with personal troubles, with little or no adult help. Watching this as though it was a depiction of the event, i did not feel that it acted as a recount.
Crime scene photos columbine guide harris klebold sue. A cross with eric harris name sits on a hill with 14 other crosses above columbine high school in littleton, colo. Zero hour massacre at columbine high tv episode 2004. This movie isnt about a school shooting but if you watch it you can see clearly that that columbine shooters saw this movie probably a lot. Gus van sant got the title and the idea for his idiotic film about the 1999 columbine high school massacre from alan clarkes elephant, a 1989 halfhour tv movie that follows catholic and protestant gunmen around belfast. Official trailer for gus van sants excellent columbine movie elephant. Elephant is a 2003 film directed by gus van sant that depicts a day in the life of high school students, two of whom later go on a shooting rampage. Most popular columbine high school killings movies and tv.
Just implacable, pokerfaced, flat, uninflected death. Oct 24, 2003 elephant fine line, directed by gus van sant, was inspired by the mass shootings at columbine high school in april 1999. It takes place in the fictional watt high school, in the suburbs of portland, oregon, and chronicles the events surrounding a school shooting, based in part on the 1999 columbine high school massacre. This movie is a look in the day of a school shooting, much like columbine. Ten students were killed in the school library, where the pair subsequently committed suicide. Jul 05, 2018 how important was it for you to directly reference columbine in the way you told the story. Set in fictional watt high school, it is based in part on the columbine massacre. Reunion tells the story of the victims killed in the columbine massacre and what their lives might have been like had they not been cut short. A vast number said they felt they were watching a movie.
Juan pablo rothie is a venezuelanamerican director and producer best known for creating shooting an elephant, a short film starring barry sloane and written by. Its impossible to hear news like that and not be immediately reminded of the columbine high school massacre in april 1999, which resulted in. Here, with elephant van sant returns to the same pretty north western scenery just an in drugstore cowboy the movie was filmed on location in portland, oregon and populates it with even prettier young men and women sleepwalking through an interpretation of the events of the columbine massacre. Please note that while this film may be base on actual. It offers no explanation for the tragedy, no insights into the psyches of the killers, no theories about teenagers or society or guns or psychopathic behavior.
It simply looks at the day as it unfolds, and that is a brave and radical act. Why has there never been a legit movie based on columbine. The columbine high school massacre occurred on tuesday, april 20, 1999, at columbine high school in columbine, an unincorporated area of jefferson county, colorado, united states, near denver and littleton. I believe it is loosely based on the columbine shootings. There is no explanation for the shootings that take place in the film. By clicking on continue you confirm that you are 18 years and over. Resolution is worse on the screen captures i took from several videos. Doesnt that have a scene of a boy walking into a school with a machine gun.
The film began as a documentary that van sant initially intended to make about columbine. Unlike michael moores film bowling for columbine which used the columbine massacre as the starting point for an expose of americas laughable attitude towards firearms, elephant makes little call for tighter gun control, elephant has no agenda, no real message beyond the truth itself, it merely hopes to say this happens. Comparing the film elephant, and the columbine massacre essay. The movie didnt purport to be about that particular colorado high school, but rather the culture of high school violence. Andre kriegman based on eric harris and calvin gabriel based on dylan klebold announce their intention to attack their school. I thought it showed the senselessness of it all and how in the end, no one in that situation comes out on top.
It was inspired by the 1999 columbine high school massacre. Parents need to know that elephant is gus van sants palme dorwinning drama, which is loosely based on the infamous 1999 columbine high school shootings. I dont remember being super impressed with the movie but i dont think it was bad. Elephant internet movie firearms database guns in movies. Elephant trailer gus van sant 2003 cannes palme dor. Warning thread columbine massacre, with sound graphic might contain content that is not suitable for all ages. At the time, it was the deadliest school shooting in united states history, eliciting a national reckoning.
The columbine high school massacre was a school shooting and attempted bombing that occurred on april 20, 1999, at columbine high school in columbine, colorado, united states. Elephant is a movie about a teenage killing spree mostly based on the 1999 massacre at columbine high school in colorado that left 15. Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent. I have seen people describe this film as pointless, though, which is something that i definitely do not agree with. Elephant is a film where it shows the story of two male students who attended the colombine high school and on july 20th, 1999, everything changed, when they go. I thought he shot his partner in the end because in reality they werent a team, they were just carrying out the shooting for their own agendas. Zero day film zero day is a 2003 american film directed by ben coccio and starring andre keuck and cal robertson. Some parts of the film were done quite well since it was supposed to be a fairly realistic movie. Comparing the film elephant, and the columbine massacre. I can definitely understand why some people would consider this film boring because, at times, it is. The following weapons were used in the film elephant. Of course i dont mean a movie showing horrible details about the shooting. The movies spare and unconventional style will divide viewers. Yes, this film is slow paced and oddly edited, but i think it is all done for a reason.
Jul 24, 2011 elephant trailer gus van sant 2003 cannes palme dor. Zero hour massacre at columbine high tv episode 2004 imdb. But it isnt violent in the way it presents those deaths. Andre kriegman based on eric harris and calvin gabriel based on dylan klebold announce their intention to attack their school, iroquois high. Gus van sants elephant is still cinemas best tribeca film. In film school, screenings were preceded by warnings.
Columbine high school massacre in popular culture wikipedia. Not really about harris and klebold, the columbine shooters. With david morrissey, eric harris, dylan klebold, brooks brown. The film is based in part on the tragic events surrounding the 1999 columbine shooting. Van sants elephant is a violent movie in the sense that many innocent people are shot dead. Another fictionalized movie depicting a school massacre inspired by columbine is elephant, which contains this shooting scene. Dec 24, 2019 elephant is a 2003 american drama film written, directed, and edited by gus van sant. The columbine massacre still echoes through cinema. Rewatching gus van sants elephant 20 years after columbine. Gus van sants elephant is a record of a day at a high school like columbine, on the day of a massacre much like the one that left dead. Is there a movie based on the columbine high school massacre. Most of these crime scene photos were released by the jeffco sheriffs department. I dont know if gus van sant has admitted it but it seems clear that this movie has been inspired by the shooting in columbine high school. The perpetrators, twelfth grade students eric harris and dylan klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher.
1423 868 145 1493 1290 570 1359 710 637 786 1364 942 1052 1080 710 90 212 936 1343 63 965 151 858 1212 847 1043 919 727 1190 858 1317 1043 826 1520 80 1408 1285 223 567 1114 1095 258 543 655 841 1328