I’d like to say as I sometimes do, “my opinion on this one will be clearer the second time round,” but the chances of me seeing it again any time soon are pretty slim. Elephant is too gruelling, and I’m not entirely sure if its existence is a good thing. It’s brilliantly pieced together, with a great sound mix and nice use of speed changes in camera.

For a moment at the start I thought it was going to be another Brown Bunny – as in Vincent Gallo’s disappointment, the camera in this movie often lingers almost (but never quite) too long on a subject. There are many long tracking shots of the characters, and we see different encounters from each perspective. This movie had no problems in holding my attention, though.

Ultimately, I don’t know if it’s a cheap shot on the audience’s emotions, though. I’d be surprised by the person who isn’t moved either to tears or sheer nausea by this one. I expect Van Sant’s Kurt Cobain movie will be much of the same, and I have to admit, I can’t wait.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 1st, 2005 at 8:08 pm in 4 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.