Gus Van Sant
Elephant

Definitely not an easy film to tackle, "Elephant" talks to us about the Columbine massacre with a cold and heavy gaze, seemingly even indifferent.

In the first hour of the film, nothing particular happens: it's like a single pan (with very long - and beautiful - takes) showing the normal life of students in a school. Absolutely ordinary images (a gym class, hallway encounters, library discussions), but also more ominous ones (two friends at home browsing a weapons site), which intersect with each other, in an almost "Tarantino-esque" style. The direction is crystal clear, and this also helps to avoid boredom in the long scenes. The characters are very interesting, almost cartoonish (a very blonde boy, another heartthrob for the girls...).

Suddenly, the turning point. The aforementioned two friends burst into the school, and calmly shoot indiscriminately at anyone they encounter. Right before, they had said to each other: "It'll be a blast!" Meanwhile, the drama heightens considerably, and the kids hide under tables, gripped by panic. It is precisely here that one feels the chill of the camera: the insane act, as it is depicted, almost seems like a natural consequence of the opening. And this is precisely where the film reaches its (silent) critique of today's society.

"Elephant" means a huge problem that no one seems to notice, that of an America slowly going to ruin. This film (and therefore Van Sant himself) WANTS to make us feel bad, wants us to reach the extremes of our visual and psychological endurance, even at the cost of becoming "politically incorrect." And I believe this also helped to earn it the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2003, for best film and direction (theoretically against the rules, which admit only one award per film), decided unanimously.

A film "important and necessary" at least as much as "Bowling for Columbine", to open our eyes and show less indifference to these horrific events, of which unfortunately little is remembered.