Elephant, a Gus Van Sant movie 2003

What struck you most in the film ?

What struck me the most in the film is the fact that in the Unites States you can buy guns online and had them delivered. If in the states guns are prohibited, this violence would never happen and with more background checks.

Moreover;  Eric and Alex are only 16 or 17 years old when they purchased the guns. This fact makes it worse for the authorities because it means that the lack of background checks is so important that underage miners can be in possession of firearms. According to me; they are in part responsible for the death of the students.

What also impressed you ?

The quality of the filming is very interesting. For me it impresses me the most because we can actually see the psychology of the characters. For example in the scene when Alex is playing piano the filmmaker is filming Alex from behind and then from above in order to see the piano. With this information we can conclude that Alex is not only a murderer but he also as some artistic skills and sensibility. This scene can also be called the calm before the storm. So to me it makes this even more impressive because just after they have committed mass murderer. We as viewers we just want the piano moment to be forever.   

Did you find anything more particularly upsetting ?

Yes, the fact that upset me is that nobody could do something to stop the killings. Almost everybody  was killed. But someone tried to stop the killing. Is called Benny, a jock who almost save the headmaster. Unfortunatly for him he as been killed like everyone else. He could have done a heroic action and that for me would have made the film, a better movie.

What did you find very disturbing ?

I like a lot the filming but sometimes it was disturbing. For example when they made close filming on   the girl with glasses supposed to represent a nerd at the beginning of the movie when she crossed pass the football players in the field. It was a little bit strange because she seems that she was lost. 

Also when they filmed all the killings it was like if we were in a game everyone was getting killed and in this moment we just want to save all the people. 

What was the most shocking ?

                                           

                                    

What shocked me the most is the killings and also the moment when Alex and Eric were watching a documentary about Nazis and seemed to like what they were watching. They get inspired by massacres made by the nazis and they reserve this faith for some students. I reckon that in one hand it is interesting to watch documentaries to get informed on what happened, like the massacres made by the nazis but only if you know that it is bad to do massacres. On the other hand it can be dangerous to transmit documentaries like that on tv if people like Alex and Eric are watching. So I hive mixed feelings on that: it is the right thing to do ? transmit documentaries not only historical but very violent...

What does the film suggest about the two school shooters ? 
                                                          
                                          

The film suggest that they were bullied at school. And the hatred they had growing up in themselves made them kill some students. We don't really know much about Eric but in the scene where they were in Alex's bedroom, Eric was playing a video game a shoot'em'up game so he as maybe a problem with violence and perhaps as an unbalanced condition. Alex is cleary deranged as if he was out of his element. He seems unconfortable in the scene where he was at the school restaurant. However the movie shows some good main characters about them. For example Alex when he played piano and the moment where they were in the bathroom kissing each other.

What's more, what does the film director make clear about the two killers ?

                                                        

                                                  
                                

That they are deranged but they also have good behaviour. They were bullied and they developed a hatred. They have no mercy for the students and they kill everyone in cold blood. They were normal students. The director make clear that everyone could make the killings, because they were normal students but they had a hate against life. 

What kind of approach to the school shooting itself did Gus Van Sant opt for ?


                                                          

According to me it's a realistic approach. Firstly because nobody could save some people. Not like in the marvel's movies where superheroes save everyone. Then because Eric and Alex had planned the killings, they knew were to strick first. Finally the atmosphere, everyone was scared and they tried to escape from the murderers. To maintain this idea we can take the scene where Benny the jock afro American was in a classroom and he sees a girl in a state of shock, so this girl was very shocked and it gives a realistic sensation about the school shooting.

Moreover, what's the main consequence of the realistic treatment that he uses ?

What about the poetic touches he instills throughout the film ?

                                                           

   

For me the main consequence is that it impacts on the viewers. It makes him aware of the danger of gun violence and the bulling. For example if we imagine that Eric and Alex were never bullied, maybe they would never had committed those killings. And if gun were not allowed those shootings would never occurred. So the viewer is clearly touched by both the violence and the bulling and it makes them think about how they should behave at school and in life. So he instills the viewer to be careful with his behaviour on real life. 

As a conclusion, what must we admit about the way in which the killing and the killers are perceived by the film viewer ?

                                                         

It is a bloodshed, both the killing and the killers are horrible, according to me the viewer is shocked and he does not believe what he is seeing, we perceived them as mass murderers. Without feelings and without mercy.