I think the movie Elephant is terrible

"Elephant" is my favorite movie. I have watched it many times. I hope it can answer your questions. :)

"I think the film "Elephant" uses the simplest, most unpretentious, and at the same time the smoothest and most natural way to demonstrate the director's greatest genius."

When the American director Garth Van Sant won the Palme d'Or, the judges unanimously commented on him. This award caused an unquenchable shock in a long time and a wide range of people. France's "France Soir" He bluntly expressed his surprise and indignation: "Frustrated, angry and helpless, this Cannes Film Festival is a paradise for failed directors and an unlucky place for talented directors and the general audience."

Isn't this Fan? Santer first caused an uproar. As early as 2002, this talented and maverick director made critics debate with a unique style of "Gary". In 2003, he won the first prize with "Elephant". Won the Palme d'Or and Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

As one of the "Death Trilogy" (the other two are "Gary" and "The Last Days"), "Elephant" uses an extremely calm perspective to describe a story that shocked the United States. It adopts a minimalist style in terms of plot, structure, music and color. It is different from most mainstream movies that criticize current ills. The film is preachy, has no moral criticism, and does not even have a thrilling story. It only focuses on bystanders. The event itself is presented from a different perspective. It is this calmness that makes "Elephant", shot with only one camera, more like a documentary with a unique style.

The film opens with a hazy sky, setting a gloomy tone for the film. Then a name appears, and the first protagonist of the film, John, appears. He and the girl saved by the black man were shot at each other. Some people say that this is the power brought by love, because she gave John a kiss when he was crying, so they survived. The director here emphasizes the consequences of the lack of love. If Eric and If Alex could get normal care, maybe the tragedy wouldn't happen.

The black Denny is the only "hero" in the film. He did not run away, but saved a girl who was shocked and at a loss. Then, he walked step by step towards the center of the shooting incident, and finally fell to the ground. Under the gun, this unusual behavior was deliberately arranged by the director. In the United States, where racism is rampant, black people are discriminated against. They are representatives of filth, depravity, and sin. However, it was the black people who were responsible for this incident. Maintaining a compassionate heart, Denny and another black teacher (the one who organized students to discuss homosexual topics in class) either helped the students after the incident or persuaded them to leave, but even such a plot was also directed It was handled in a very low-key manner. He did not use the sensational techniques commonly used in mainstream movies, but used a calm, even indifferent way to show the tenderness in a cruel predicament.

As soon as Alex and Eric appeared on the scene, they walked to the classroom carrying weapons and equipment. The sequence of this main plot line is: Alex was bullied by his classmates in class: dirty things were thrown at him, and he went to the cafeteria to "step in" for the shooting plan. ", went home to practice the piano, and Eric played a killing game on the side. The two bought guns online together, and watched a documentary about Hitler the next day. The two were excited to get the gun and practiced shooting in the storage room, and then in the bathroom They took a shower and kissed, and Alex told Eric the steps for shooting, saying that he did it for fun because the school was unhappy. Finally, the two calmly walked into the classroom and started killing.

This main line consists of plots at different points in time, explaining the motives and reasons for Alex and Eric's murder. The director interspersed it with another main story line: on the day of the incident, several protagonists were killed at the same time. In the story lines doing different things, the two main lines finally converge to one point: the arrival of the killing moment.

Because the logic of story development is time rather than plot, many people find this movie "ugly", but this is where the film is unique, because time is another symbol of life. In terms of shooting techniques, the director used long shots to show time and long focal length shots to express psychology. The music and tones were handled very warmly, forming a strong contrast with the cold events themselves.

Many people are deeply impressed by Alex giving the middle finger after playing the piano. This is a foreshadowing of the tragedy. The most surprising thing is that after Eric said "You will get hepatitis B if you drink other people's drinks", he suddenly Falling under Alex's gun, Alex's disregard for life led Alex to kill people without any scruples. Perhaps for him, it was all more like a game. In the movie, Alex pointed his gun at a couple and chanted catchy lines. Ending in the proverb, the last shot is of a dark blue sky, the dark clouds have dispersed, and nature is still alive.