let's talk about the heard of elephants in the room
The Oaks Monday Night Discussion this week was about the film Elephant. After watching the film it's a very understandable title, though Elephants might have been more accurate. The film had an ominous presence that felt like a heard of elephants.
If you are unfamiliar with the phrase or variations of "do not talk about the elephant in the room" it means people aren't talking about a large and very obvious topic.
As a film, subject matter aside, it was an experience. It certainly emphasized the mundane and ordinary activities of high schoolers. The looooooooooong truck shots of many of the characters made the 88 minute runtime feel like an eternity. The lack of deep focus (having the background and foreground in focus simultaneously) felt very simbolic of how things are in high school, focus on one thing at a time. Ambient noise instead of a constant underlying soundtrack. The interesting yet most confusing technique in the film was showing certain moments from multiple points of view. It totally messes with one's concept of time.
The film's core was a violent shooting at a high school. The film introduces you to a number of the students by following them around and showing how they interact (the same moment from multiple points of view thing). It was very obviously inspired by the Columbine shooting (Spree started in the library).
A majority of the students introduced over the course of the film met their end with a bullet or two. I knew it was comming but still it was sad to see this happen. These guys were shooting anyone who happened by. At a point one might start to wonder, what drove these two boys to do such a horrible thing?
A bit of humor poked it's head thru the gloom, a man with a thick british accent brought up the legal cop-out "All characters portraied in this film are fictitious and any similarity to those living or dead are purely coincidental." Sure it's coincidental. *feel the sarcasim*
There were many elephants in that film, and here is my list: High School Violence, Alcoholism, Bulimia, Ignorance, Where were the teachers?, Access to Firearms, Video Games, Bullying, Isolation, Sexual Curiosity...
Surprisingly enough the rock-music-drives-kids-to-shoot-their-classmates elephant was absent.
I was bothered by the location it was filmed. It was a real school in Portland, Oregon, but in the film I was in disbelif that students actually attended that place. This school was massive. The hallways were very wide and super long. There were a number of rooms that weren't even used. Students had spaces they could hide in to cry or something. There never seemed to be enough students. The halls were mostly barren. These kids were just roaming around or leaving the building and there was no one asking for hall passes or what not. It felt fake and not real. A few of the people in the discussion agreed with me, but a number of others stated that there were plenty of high schools that were just like that. *shrug*
There was a shower scene where the soon to be shooters were naked and ended up sharing a kiss. Soon after that, they were watching TV which had footage of Hitler. Now, there is a convention that if you want viewers to dislike a character you associate them with things that enmass are disliked such as Hitler/Nazis or homosexuality. But what I missed were a few lines. Prior, one had said "today's they day we will die" or something close to that. During the shower one said "Have you ever kissed anyone?" While watching TV as an image of hitler is shown, "How is that?" So the scenes now fit, but at the same time I feel were part of the convention to envoke dislike for the boys.
In short it was an experience. If you want to see it please check it out at The Oaks this week. I'm certain one could rent it or might watch this in a film class.
For most people high school is hell and the level of sufferying varies from person to person. As for me I never wanted anyone dead. I just wanted to beat a number of people to a bloody pulp. I wanted them to suffer a lot for what they had done to me. Death would be too nice.
If you are unfamiliar with the phrase or variations of "do not talk about the elephant in the room" it means people aren't talking about a large and very obvious topic.
As a film, subject matter aside, it was an experience. It certainly emphasized the mundane and ordinary activities of high schoolers. The looooooooooong truck shots of many of the characters made the 88 minute runtime feel like an eternity. The lack of deep focus (having the background and foreground in focus simultaneously) felt very simbolic of how things are in high school, focus on one thing at a time. Ambient noise instead of a constant underlying soundtrack. The interesting yet most confusing technique in the film was showing certain moments from multiple points of view. It totally messes with one's concept of time.
The film's core was a violent shooting at a high school. The film introduces you to a number of the students by following them around and showing how they interact (the same moment from multiple points of view thing). It was very obviously inspired by the Columbine shooting (Spree started in the library).
A majority of the students introduced over the course of the film met their end with a bullet or two. I knew it was comming but still it was sad to see this happen. These guys were shooting anyone who happened by. At a point one might start to wonder, what drove these two boys to do such a horrible thing?
A bit of humor poked it's head thru the gloom, a man with a thick british accent brought up the legal cop-out "All characters portraied in this film are fictitious and any similarity to those living or dead are purely coincidental." Sure it's coincidental. *feel the sarcasim*
There were many elephants in that film, and here is my list: High School Violence, Alcoholism, Bulimia, Ignorance, Where were the teachers?, Access to Firearms, Video Games, Bullying, Isolation, Sexual Curiosity...
Surprisingly enough the rock-music-drives-kids-to-shoot-their-classmates elephant was absent.
I was bothered by the location it was filmed. It was a real school in Portland, Oregon, but in the film I was in disbelif that students actually attended that place. This school was massive. The hallways were very wide and super long. There were a number of rooms that weren't even used. Students had spaces they could hide in to cry or something. There never seemed to be enough students. The halls were mostly barren. These kids were just roaming around or leaving the building and there was no one asking for hall passes or what not. It felt fake and not real. A few of the people in the discussion agreed with me, but a number of others stated that there were plenty of high schools that were just like that. *shrug*
There was a shower scene where the soon to be shooters were naked and ended up sharing a kiss. Soon after that, they were watching TV which had footage of Hitler. Now, there is a convention that if you want viewers to dislike a character you associate them with things that enmass are disliked such as Hitler/Nazis or homosexuality. But what I missed were a few lines. Prior, one had said "today's they day we will die" or something close to that. During the shower one said "Have you ever kissed anyone?" While watching TV as an image of hitler is shown, "How is that?" So the scenes now fit, but at the same time I feel were part of the convention to envoke dislike for the boys.
In short it was an experience. If you want to see it please check it out at The Oaks this week. I'm certain one could rent it or might watch this in a film class.
For most people high school is hell and the level of sufferying varies from person to person. As for me I never wanted anyone dead. I just wanted to beat a number of people to a bloody pulp. I wanted them to suffer a lot for what they had done to me. Death would be too nice.