Elephant (movie) The Title Filming Location North American

The title is a tribute to the Alan Clarke, 1989 film for BBC, also called Elephant, which reflected on sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Van Sant similarly portrays school violence as something unfathomable, not unlike many other disturbing things in the lives of teenagers, which invite convenient explanations but ultimately frustrate analysis.

Van Sant has explained the "elephant" idea in several ways, besides the direct reference to Clarke's earlier work. It is an allusion to the proverbial " elephant in the living room", a large problem that no one talks about but everyone must find their way around as they go about their daily lives. It also invokes the IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy.n parableA parable is a story that is told to illustrate a religious, moral or philosophical idea. In rhetoric, a parable ('comparison' or 'similitude') was originally the name given by Greek rhetoricians to any fictive illustration introduced in the form of a bri about the blindBlindness can be defined physiologically as the condition of lacking sight. The definition as it applies to people thus legally classified is, however, more complex. The term "blindness" also applies to partial visual impairment: In North America and most wise men who, unable to grasp the whole, interpret the elephantThis page is about the animal, see elephant (disambiguation) for more meanings. Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Proboscidea is an order including only one family, Elephantidae or the elephants with 3 species: the Sa only in terms of the part they can comprehend: "An elephant is a tree", said the blind man who grasped the leg; "An elephant is a snake", said the one who touched the trunk; etc. Finally, during the press conference at Cannes, Van Sant mentioned that the creative staff had also experimented with allusions to certain policies and attitudes represented by the Republican Party, whose party symbol is an elephant.

2 Filming location

The movie was filmed at Whitaker Middle School in northeast Portland, Oregon; which had been closed in the summer of 20012001 is a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar), and also: The International Year of the Volunteer The United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations Events January January 1 A black monolith measuring approximately nine feet tall ap because of air-quality problems. For the twenty-day course of filming, the production company reopened parts of the schoolA school is any place designated for learning. The range of institutions covered by the term varies from country to country. In the United Kingdom, the term school refers primarily to pre- university institutions, and these can for the most part be divide and used many extras to replicate the feel of an actual location.

3 North American premiere and release

Elephant premiered in North AmericaNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocea at a benefit for a youth shelter held at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, October 4, 2003. The film was released for incremental distribution by HBO, in 100 theaters in the United States, beginning October 24. English language release on DVD and VHS began on May 4, 2004.

Prior to its distribution, the film generated minor controversy and divided reviews following the Cannes debut, particularly in the gay community. In the movie the two male killers kiss one another in the shower before they dispassionately commence their Columbine-like frenzy of murder.

4 Unconventional method

Van Sant originally intended to make a film for television about the Columbine massacre, shortly after the event ; the idea of a factual account was eventually dropped. The approach chosen is described by reviewers as "poetic" and "dreamlike", and by Van Sant himself as a rejection of conventional narrative, building on what he learned from work on Gerry. The script was "written" to its final form during shooting, with cast members improvising freely and collaborating in the direction of scenes. Up-and-coming gay author JT Leroy, a friend of Mr. Van Sant's (who will be directing the movie version of JT's novel, as well) was among the writers.

5 Characters

The teen actors were chosen for the parts based on interviews and their ability to improvise before the camera. Some of the characters were developed from details selected from the interviews.

John McFarland - Managing his alcoholic father, he has trouble at school
Mr. Luce - Principal of the school
Gay-Straight Alliance - An organization at many high schools which brings open-minded people together for fun as well as more serious discussion
Nathan & Carrie - Popular lifeguard and football player and his girlfriend
Elias - Photography student building his portfolio with portraits of other students.
Michelle - Ashamed of her body, the film follows her through the locker room and into the library where she assists.
Brittany, Jordan & Nicole - Three bulimic "teenyboppers" who talk incessantly, gripe about parents and squabble with one another
Benny - Kind and fearless student
Acadia - John McFarland's girlfriend
Alex - Harassed by jocks, accomplished but frustrated pianist and sketch artist. His advice to Eric: "Have fun".
Eric - Slacker, Alex's best friend and the other killer.

Many of the main characters' names are in fact the same as their real-life equivalents. Some of the habits shown in the movie (aside from the shootings) are done by the real cast as well, with Eli being an actual photographer and Alex actually playing the piano during his scenes (as well as incidental music elsewhere).

6 See also

Alex and Eric are fictionalized references to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

7 External links

Palme d'Or winners 2003 films

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