1. Unconventional Shots from an Adult Perspective In
the first shot of the language film, we see a telephone pole in the center of the picture under a gray-blue sky, and there is nothing else. The composition of this shot, which is similar to an empty shot, is peculiar, neither full nor balanced. It is obviously the director's intention. When we don't know how to start the whole film, we might as well consider it. This shot lasted for dozens of seconds. At first glance, it looks like an upside down shot, but if you analyze it carefully, you will find that this is actually an aerial shot from a high altitude in the distance. The director deliberately hangs the camera at a high altitude and as the first shot actually gives the movie a high-profile adult perspective, and the whole movie is also presented from this perspective. However, the adult perspective from overlooking obviously did not explore the cause of the incident. There were no children in the picture, but there were faint sounds of children talking and fighting. Although we tried our best to watch, we could only hear some intermittent noises. their voices, and cannot see their true faces.
In the scene where John and his father were talking in the car, the director did not deal with it like a normal conversation shot. From time to time, he alternated between the speaker and the hearer. What we saw was always the father's shot, although the two were close to each other. Just a short distance away, the picture frame kept John and his father apart, and the two hardly entered the painting at the same time during the whole process. Secondly, in the principal's office, the two were in a state of confrontation. The two sides didn't say a word, and there was no communication. The principal could only stare at him with a weird look, and finally he had no choice but to let him go to class. When Eric and Alex eat breakfast at home, they also communicate with their parents as strangers. These all suggest that there is a problem in the communication between American parents and children, and there is a huge gap between adults and children, unable to understand and unable to communicate.
The biggest feature of this film in terms of lens language is the extensive use of long shots and follow-up shots. The extensive use of long shots makes the rhythm of the whole film so slow and long, creating a dull movie mood. In the scene where Eric was playing the piano, the director tried a circular panning that was larger than 360 degrees. If it was just used to explain the environment, a few fixed shots could complete the task, and there was no need to shake people like this. At this time, the camera is like an investigator, trying to find something, constantly scanning, the elephant painting on the wall also appeared at this time, but it only swept away, the director seems to be telling us that the adult perspective gives children The attention of people can never penetrate the truth, they lack patience, lack of communication, and always ignore the details of life. And when the camera is pushed to Alex lying on the bed, the music begins to change from soothing to rough and impetuous, and then there is the picture of the killing game. The use of the camera and the music are seamless. In addition, a large number of follow-up shots are interpretations from the perspective of adults. The director tries to communicate with the children, and tries to follow the children to watch their lives, but what he sees is only fragmentary fragments of life, which cannot really enter their hearts. .
2. Dramatic Dissolution The
unconventional film language is just one reason why the film looks dull. The deep-seated reason that makes the film indescribable is the dramatic disintegration. First of all, the non-linearity of time cuts off the continuity of time, leaving the audience at a loss and unable to restore the true chronological order. The director seized the time point when several people crossed, and reproduced their respective lives before the incident from the viewpoints of different people. The whole movie is like the accumulation of several people's life fragments, which forms the illogicality of the narrative, the event There is no causal relationship between the characters, and the characters have no influence on each other. The most important thing is that the film does not have a clear protagonist, the characters do not have distinct characters, the fate of the characters does not develop along the moral code, and there is no confrontation between justice and evil. During the shooting, there was no violent catharsis, no bloody close-ups, we didn't even think the murderers were hateful, they didn't subdue the law, our moral sense was not satisfied with the application, but we should probably think more about it.
If it is said that the lack of understanding and communication between parents and children is a common problem in families in most countries, the children in the movie also seem to lack communication with each other. Everyone's character is melancholy and withdrawn. Michelle is afraid to wear shorts because of her thick legs. And being ridiculed, Eric was bullied by his classmates in the classroom, and Johnd chose to cry alone when he was wronged... Even the three girls would quarrel because they didn't have enough time for each other. Under the gorgeous campus scenery, the shooting happened without warning, it seemed to be an accidental event, but behind the accident there was an inevitable lurking.
3. The Innovation of Horror Movies
"The Elephant" is labeled as a thriller, and it is not without reason. Traditional horror movies resort to the stimulation of the senses, using bloody pictures, bizarre dubbing, and rebirth of suspense to create a terrifying atmosphere, which is a process reaction, but the thriller represented by "The Elephant" is a kind of process reaction. It's a delayed reaction, and when you finish watching the movie, comparing your life with the movie, a sense of horror arises from your heart. Until the end of the movie, the two murderers are still not punished, they are still creating death. Besides, this shooting happened without warning, like a car accident in our lives, suddenly befalls us, imagine if you were one of the students at that school, you were sitting in a classroom, In the same way, two gangsters with guns suddenly broke in. The bad luck came so quickly that you didn't have time to think. This kind of horror is real horror. Sadly, that's life itself.
In a word, the film "Elephant" breaks the traditional film performance and narrative with unconventional lens language and multi-angle narrative techniques, reconstructs real life to the greatest extent, and brings us a peculiar view. At the same time, it also tells us the complexity of life itself. It is far from being as simple as we imagine. Just analyzing it from one angle is like a blind man touching an image.
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