Today, I watched a film, named 'Elephant' directed by Gus Van Sant, the current generation US film maker. The film has been loosely based on an event of massacre happened in a school, somewhere. Anyhow, the film is really a different directorial work.
The cinema tells nothing with special emphasis and just watches the ordinary events taking place in an ordinary school day. The students play in the ground, some guys visit library, a photographer-student takes snaps of his friends etc..The camera just follows each of these characters steady for a time and just watches what is happening. Beautiful steadycam shots. ..The film maker has definitely a clear vision about the theme and his ideas; but he just keep mum about his perspective and engage the viewers to see and judge the images and the sequences, by their own. This really seemed to me as a new attitude regarding cinema. Because, we are just caught by the dark corridors, chats between guys, some silent sorrows and we become so familiar with each character in the film. Finally, the two 'bad guys' appear and shoot many of their fellow beings without any emotion or empathy in their face. This was a stunning experience, really. We are just forced to recognize the facts which are underlying the event. A great work..!!
The film actually make many statements, indirectly through images, without saying any comment from director's point of view. But we understand many things regarding the youth, their way of life, their backgrounds and the way violence grows in their minds and a lot of psychological aspects of the teenage, today. A remarkable attempt.! And the film got the best director's award also in cannes film festival, three years back.
