I was a little confused about the film's title "Elephant", I thought it was translated, according to the Chinese people. Understanding deepens it. Later, when I saw that its original name was "elephant", I was a little "disappointed". But when I watched the movie, I felt that the name was quite appropriate. Elephants are large but docile animals, but when tempers and dissatisfaction have been held in their hearts for a long time, they can explode, and in surprising ways and with destructive power. For example, Alex, who was bullied and swallowed up in class, was shot and killed frantically at the end.
At the beginning of the film, the ten-second-long shot is facing the hazy sky, the constantly changing and flowing trivial clouds, if not for the isolated telephone pole, it would be difficult to distinguish whether the camera is moving or the clouds are moving. The sky gradually darkened, and then a warm color suddenly appeared. Various colored leaves, yellow hair, John in a yellow shirt, green lawn, golden sunshine. Like the beginning of youth. What follows is a long "transition period". There seems to be no protagonist, no story, no ups and downs before the shot. All are common things in life. If it weren't for the focus of the lens, it seems like everyone inside could be a protagonist. Because of this, it's kind of maddening. Looking at it, many people couldn't help but leave. But the second time Elias's shot of John is seen from a different perspective, it lifts people up. Because this at least proves that this is not a simple documentary. After that, the time and space are repeated alternately, and the perspective is constantly switching. A way of taking three-dimensional photos captures the upcoming story and the scene in an all-round way, giving people a real three-dimensional feeling. To the episode that impressed me the most: Alex playing "To Alice" at home. The 360-degree-rotating camera swept past a small cartoon of an elephant on Alex's wall. That image of the elephant seems to be ignored like that, but it's there. The piano music begins to change from soothing to restless. Finally Alex lost patience and made a "Fuck" gesture to the piano. Perhaps a far-fetched understanding that Alice is a symbol of youth. "To Alice" represents a youthful love and desire for life. But in the end he lost hope and patience for youth and society. Fuck you guys, fuck the school, fuck life! And Eric plays the killing game that heralds the end of the movie, before the gun stops in front of the remaining two. That night, the camera once again close-up the sky and clouds. Unlike the small flowing clouds at the beginning, this time it was a large cloud of black clouds. Dark clouds gradually engulfed the sky, followed by lightning, wind and rain, and thunder. When they came to campus with their gun bags, they bumped into John. All the shots so far have converged at this point. All connected together.
Go back and look at these "protagonists" in their adolescence. They all face their own problems and confusion. Just like John's teacher was helpless to John. In front of the yellow shirt, there is a bull but fragile John, facing the helplessness of the other side of life that his intellectually disabled father hears. The girl who was wearing this gray and white top and red pants when she appeared on the stage, with a very earthy curly hair and a withdrawn personality, stopped and looked at the sky and took a deep breath while running on the playground. Who would have known that she would be the first innocently in a red top and gray and white pants. One died at gunpoint? Maybe it's the injustice of fate, maybe it's reversed cause and effect. The three girls who like to gossip are counting down to college, but the bathroom has become their grave. There is also the boy waiting to die in the cold room. Perhaps the most impressive thing is the long shot about him at the beginning, with a cross on the back of his red shirt and "Lifeguard" written on it. Can't help but think of Jesus. Carry the sins and repentance of this world. Trying to redeem the lost lamb. Amen, life in these lost Mood for Love! Which one is not sympathetic to tears? Even Eric, who was gay but simply trusted Alex, ended up being shot, even the "heinous" Alex.
Fortunately, the final film was not cruel enough to leave a single one, and John escaped the ordeal. Perhaps, there is always a little hope in despair, including youth. I remembered the previously unattractive picture captured on the promotional poster of the French version of "The Elephant". After John came out of the teacher's office crying alone in the classroom, one of his female classmates came in and asked him what was wrong. Then give him a comforting kiss. The screen selected is that moment. Let this calm and real, cruel movie give more or less warmth.
The camera transitions to a third long shot of the sky and clouds as Alex plays a game of "click the mouse" to decide who to kill first. I would have thought it was chosen to render the environment to avoid looking directly, and wondered what would happen next. But there is no next. Just like that, "To Alice" came to an abrupt and merciless end amid the faint flowing music. Youth fades away in pain. Only the sky and clouds remain. The difference from the previous two times is that the backing of the tumbling clouds can no longer be said to be dark or bright. Unexplainable reasons, unexplainable endings, unexplainable youth. Can't tell, can't tell. The whole film tells the violence in a calm and objective way of watching, so that it does not force people to suggest the reasons for the violence, does not give too much drama to any "protagonist", and does not condemn or praise anyone. But it also leaves more room for thought while leaving the void. Is it violent games, the rush of adolescence, the proliferation of guns, the lack of attention to mental health in school society, or? Director Gus VanSant said in an interview that as the blind man touches the elephant, most people's evaluations are only grasping one point. But I thought maybe every answer should provoke a kind of reflection. Coincidentally (preferably not so coincidentally), just a few days after watching "The Elephant", the news of the worst school shooting in American history that shocked the world came. Not that it's because of how prophetic "The Elephant" is, but because the questions it raises people's minds haven't improved much. There is much more that we need to do and can do.
As VanSant said, my babble above is just a blind man touching an elephant, or not even touching it at all. But I sincerely hope that the world will be more tolerant and understanding. May this beautifully painful youth be an experience, not a burden and hell, for all who go through it.
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