Elephant
Tags: violence, murder

Plot synopsis:
Mr. McFarland driving erratically down a residential street on the way to drop off his son John. John notices damage to the car and realizes that his father is drunk, so John instructs him to move to the passenger seat and let him drive.
Alex and Eric are bullied at school by the so-called jocks, one of whom diverts a teacher and throws a spitball at Alex during science class. Later, Alex and Eric are shown at home ordering weapons from a website and receiving a rifle in the mail. While Alex is taking a shower, Eric gets in with him. He claims that he has never kissed anyone before, and the two kiss. The two formulate an attack plan. The next day, Alex and Eric prepare for the shooting, then make their way to school in silence in Alex's car.
After arriving at school, Alex and Eric encounter John outside and tell him to leave, as some "heavy shit's about to go down". Realizing what is about to happen, John attempts to warn others not to enter the school, to little effect. The two gunmen then enter the school, and after their plans to blow up parts of the school with propane bombs fail, begin shooting indiscriminately. Elias photographs them entering the library where they open fire, shooting several students, including Michelle and presumably Elias.
Realizing that the gunfire is real, students now begin to panic, while teachers attempt to quickly evacuate the building. The two boys separate, continuing their killing spree. Alex enters the bathroom where Brittany, Jordan and Nicole are, presumably shooting all three. Mr. Luce, cornered by Eric in a hallway, begs Eric to lower his weapon and talk to him, but Eric yells, "I ain't putting shit down!" and fires at him. He does speak to Mr. Luce, however; while he is doing so, he turns around suddenly to see Benny approaching him. Eric shoots and presumably kills Benny. Eric turns back to Luce and warns him not to bully kids like Alex and himself. He then agrees to let the man go, only to gun him down seconds later.
Alex enters the cafeteria, which is strewn with overturned chairs, backpacks, several dead bodies, and numerous abandoned half-eaten lunches, and sits down. Alex picks up a cup from an abandoned lunch and casually drinks from it. Eric meets up with him, and they have a brief conversation, which ends when Alex shoots Eric in mid-sentence. Alex leaves the cafeteria, showing no emotion over shooting Eric, and discovers Carrie and Nathan in a freezer. He tauntingly recites "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" to them to decide whom he should kill first. The film then cuts to credits leaving the ending ambiguous.

Review: There was a certain amount of hoo-ha about it, as the BBC had already put it back for a few months - films about the North of Ireland were, and are, touchy subjects.
The complete absence of story, dialogue and explanation serves to bring home the fact that, after all the talk and propaganda and fine words about freeing Ireland from the British oppressors or defending Ulster from the filthy Taigs, killing is killing - people are dying, frequently and horribly, and can there ever be a "reason" for it?
I grew up in sheltered south Dublin and witnessed the Troubles at second-hand, filtered through the language of journalism; Elephant brought home to me, in the most visceral way, the relentless insanity of the situation.
The film should be compulsory viewing in UK and Irish schools.The major criticism of Elephant is that it's too simple - that the lack of context and explanation aren't enough.
I saw it once, ten years ago, and have never forgotten it.It was directed by the late Alan Clarke, undoubtedly the best director of TV Britain has ever seen (maybe the best British director since Michael Powell).
The title comes from the writer Bernard MacLaverty, who said that the Troubles were like having an elephant in your living room.
That's what it was like to watch this film..
I grew up in Belfast through some of the worst of the troubles (and have been personally affected by the actions of both loyalist and republican terrorists) and I have to say that for me this film is pretty much it in a nutshell.
The desensitising effect mentioned by some of the other comments is precisely what happens in real life; the fact that stuff blows up occasionally and every so often someone gets shot dead eventually starts to just become part of the scenery.
I've lost count of the number of times I saw people walking through Belfast stop in their tracks for a second or two as a bomb was detonated nearby then just continue on their way.
You learn to live with it, and that's the real horror, which I think is something Clarke portrays here with an extraordinary degree of empathy.
Possibly some of it's because so many of the places in the film were so familiar to me but it really hit home in a way that no other film explicitly about Northern Ireland has ever done for me..
This film was made for British television in 1988, the last film by it's controversial creator Alan Clarke.
Set in Northern Ireland, the film depicts a series of seemingly random killings.It is shot entirely on location with completely unknown actors.
In a way the use of gliding camera movements following characters either to their own deaths or to kill someone else, as well as the film's frequent use of holding on the image of the victims for some time after the killings take place can work against the involvement you might feel for this film.
The best film about Ireland's sectarian violence.
Director Alan Clarke knew instinctively that to make a film about the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, could be politically suicidal.
The violence was still going on when this film was made in 1989, after all.
No film about Ireland's "Troubles" will satisfy both Protestant and Catholic.
Alan Clarke's answer in making a film about the "Troubles", is "Elephant." It is not the definitive film about Northern Ireland, but it is a brave, and I think successful, attempt, that Alan Clarke should be praised rather than denigrated.
It's interesting that Gus Van Sant used the same title for his film about the random act of violence at Columbine High School.
Incidentally, eighteen years after his death, a boxed set of the films Alan Clarke is best known for, includes "Scum" (both the TV and theatrical release), "The Firm", "Made In Britain", and "Elephant", is finally available..
The film shows the executions in such a matter-of-fact way.
I remember I finished my pint before going to see what had happened - I guess I was young, then, but there was a feeling of acceptance amid the shock.
Probably set in Northern-Ireland it consists of several unrelated scenes in which we follow, with the familiar 'HandyCam' shots of Alan Clarke one or two characters for several minutes until they approach a person ...
I think it's the atmosphere, the long buildup before the actual kill, the complete lack of both emotion and conversation that made this movie work for me.
Ten years after seeing this film I still remember several scenes.
It gave me the feeling that I was watching the way the killings really happen(ed) in Ireland.
The recurring action of "Elephant" consists of the camera closely following someone walking down a small path and then shooting other person, then the camera stays there with the victim for a little while.
Pounding our minds with this cold-blooded, disturbing and unexplainable scenario, barely containing any dialog and not giving any reasons behind those acts, director Alan Clarke and his last film deals with 'the troubles' in Northern Ireland but it also seems more than just that.
It comes from Bernard MacLaverty's description of the troubles as "the elephant in our living room", a reference to people's denial of the underlying social problems of Northern Ireland.
But since no one's talking and the images are so powerful and universal, we can picture this as happening outside of Ireland, since the violence problem hits everywhere and almost everyone.But what Clarke wanted to cause on us with those images?
It is said that the director re-enacted those from similar real events that took place in his country, terrorist attacks related with the troubles.
It is as if Clarke was trying to capture the soul getting out of the body or just waiting for a sign that they could have survived the brutal attacks they were victim of.
Because of something unimportant, small and even maybe a case of being at the wrong place, at the wrong time, crossing someone who needed to kill someone.
Clarke wanted to show the banality of life, testing on us the effect all the murders would have on us.With this silent criticism where only a gun being fired was the only voice who said a thing echoing for a long time, this is a haunting and unforgettable picture, and inspired another great "Elephant", the one directed by Gus Van Sant, who heavily worked on the same principle (criticism, shot compositions) but treating in the form of the Columbine incident.
Many films about touchy political issues are analysed through a character's interpretation of how they think or how a particular story plays out but Clarke plays it out simply: people are dying...
Clarke makes fantastic use of tracking shots, slipping left and right and around to follow a person into their death.It's provocative and probably the best TV movie ever made.
Someone want`s to do a realistic docudrama on sectarian killings in Northern Ireland ?
Alan Clarke seems to be under the impression that sectarian death squads are composed entirely of young men shooting dead other young men but the reality is somewhat different .
In Northern Ireland during the troubles both loyalist and republican terrorists ( Both of which contain men and women , young and old )  viewed anyone from the other side as a legitimate target , it didn`t matter about your politics or religion , your age or sex  as long as you lived in the Shankhill or the Falls you were fair game.
And the method of murder dealt differs somewhat from ELEPHANT , a car bomb in a street of Saturday shoppers was a favourite with republicans while capturing an innocent passer by and torturing them to death with a stanley knife and red hot poker was a  common practice amongst loyalists .
Watching ELEPHANT you`d believe that people die quick and painless deaths - untrue.
If you want to get educated about the horrors of the troubles give ELEPHANT a miss and read a book by someone like Martin Dillon who knows what he`s talking about.
Clarke's attempt to confront the audience forces us to ponder the dehumanization of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The irony behind the appeal of this film is that for those who wish to watch violent action movies just for the sake of the spectacle of violence will be the most disappointed.
A series of scenes depicting acts of sudden violence absent of character and plot.
A premise so repetitive sounds like it would be a bore to watch but Alan Clarke's cinematic eye helps make the 1989 short film 'Elephant' almost hypnotic.
Using a wide lens and constant stedicam shots following anonymous killers, Clarke sculpts a vision that is unique and, in many ways, powerful.
Clarke's visual style makes almost every shot, aside from the brief closeups of gunfire found in each scene, feel as if it is depicting something from afar.
Almost everything about Clarke's approach makes the film feel cold and, in a way, brutally nihilistic.
There is a point somewhere in the middle of the film in which a character actually says a line or two of dialogue and it is legitimately more shocking than the violence that inevitably follows.
Alan Clarke makes you numb and coats the viewer with an unnerving deadpan atmosphere.
It's a miserable film that almost certainly goes on for longer than it needs to, but it is also fascinating and, in a way, oddly investing..
The name of this movie is clearly a metaphor for the mass destruction seen by gun wielding individuals and the gigantically senseless violence caused which is just as powerful and moving as Gus Van Sant's inspired film of the same name..
In each part of this strange thriller, a murderer and a sacrifice and usually but them in the shot no one.The painting "Elephant", is filled with a cold, so a neutral atmosphere.
All shorts are designed in one color, unrelated, they still look very harmonious.This film may be a benefit for young filmmakers to make films, in which there are scenes of murder.Of course, if you look at the film with plenty of imagination, it can be to make up the history of each murder, thereby determining why it happened.After a while, after this film, there is a picture of Gus Van Sant, going by the same name.
There definitely is a connection there, because in one of the interviews himself Van Sant said that after watching the "elephant" Clark, he wanted to withdraw his "Elephant." I think he is right and is the spectator Clark, who watched this movie with plenty of imagination.
That imagined Van Sant, the mass murder at the school, and quite original show cause, not as pure, but the name speaks for itself, the problem is definitely there, it is just in the minds of others, there is much we would not get.
Both elephants, a very similar atmosphere that captivates the viewer, who manages the end to inspect these movies..
The Troubles in Northern Ireland inspired a lot films and dramas.
Some more controversial than others.Alan Clarke's Elephant was totally left field.
When the BBC broadcast it, they were inundated with complaints on television programs such as 'Points of View.'Never before we had a television drama, almost wordless where one person shoots another person, a few minutes later someone else shoots another and so on and so on.Be they working in a petrol station, in a swimming pool, playing football, eating in a restaurant, at home or walking in the park, someone blasts them.These horrific random acts of violence in due course desensitizes us to the violence.
Maybe even render us bored and confused.Without dialogue we are unsure as to what is happening and just seeing people walking about until they take a gun out and shoot somebody.Alan Clarke was an early adopter of the Steadicam for television work which means we follow the various people out and about as the camera operator is alongside them.This was one of Clarke's last works.
Seeing Elephant again when the film is almost 25 years old, I was struck that this is now a period piece.Northern Ireland has moved on since the peace process of the 1990s..
Tip: this movie can be found as a feature on Gus van Sant's DVD.
Gus vanSant made my day by putting this movie as a feature on his DVD by the same name (Elephant).
It was quite a few years ago that I saw this movie on TV and I have regretted ever since that I did not tape it to VHS as I had done with all the other films by Alan Clarke (the BBC showed most of his movies over a period of some weeks).
Other beauties by Alan Clark are Scum (introducing Tim Roth) and The Firm (introducing Gary Oldman).
I thought I would never see this movie ever again until I recently rented Gus vanSant's Elephant.
According to the interview with him, which is also a feature on his DVD, he was made aware of Alan Clarke's movie by a friend.
Gus vanSant's Elephant is an entirely different movie (based on the Columbine killings), but he was definitely influenced by Alan Clarkes style of filming (long steadycam shots in which we follow characters).
Although the topic is no longer an issue (Northern Ireland killings) this is still a must-see movie..
I remember watching this when I was 15 years and living in the country south of Belfast, it caused a bit of a stir.
It was a well aligned look at the madness that was going' those days.The film was great, but will serve as a dirty birthmark on future generations.The colors of the print represent the dark-blue rainy place well, the angles are fresh, but a camera and a filter can't elude reality.
One thing that I can rave about in this film was the camera angles.I loved how the camera seemed to be following the actor.
"The single, most radical, television film ever made, both politically and ascetically!".
It's been said that this is, "The single, most radical, television film ever made, both politically and ascetically!" Right from the get-go Clarke creates a setting of tension as we find ourselves following a man, unknowing of what is about to occour.
We soon find out what we are about to witness- a number of pre-meditated murders in Northern Ireland- but do not know for what reasons.
In this film Clarke pseudo-documents the most ugly social aspect of society in the most beautiful fashion.
I would have to say that this is one of his most artistic films, in which he succeeds in, not only keeping the mood, but also creating a visually appealing masterpiece.
Clarke takes us through a number of situations in which we either begin by following the killer or the victim.
The fact that we are unaware of which we are following at the beginning of each new segment allows Clarke to maintain a mood of tension throughout the entire film, while also preventing things from becoming too predictable.
We witness the killings from the perspective of the killers, and are then forced to become onlookers of the pre-meditated crimes, reminding us that, though filmed very beautifully, we are witnessing a very ugly part of human nature.
The realism of the scenes contribute to the overall mood of the film.
Some scenes were especially affective in creating feelings of tension and unease, as we know something is going to happen, but when?
All this considered, I would have to agree with the quote mentioned at the beginning, that this is definitely one of the most radical films, politically and ascetically, ever made for television.
As I could not imagine such a film being played on television these days without evoking a dramatically angry response from most conservative viewers.
But you have to remember that this film was meant to evoke a response, both within ourselves, and in turn within society, and it succeeds in doing so.
I would definitely recommend this film for all mature viewers as it is both artistically appealing and entertaining.
"Elephant" is a 36-minute short film from over 25 years ago.
It was one of the last works of director Alan Clarke before he died from cancer.
Anyway, you certainly do not have to fear graphic violence and maybe also need a bit of a sadistic touch when you watch this.
Strange little short film.
Alan Clarke's "Elephant" consists of a series of long Steadicam shots, each dispassionately following either assassins or their targets, and each culminating with someone being gunned down in cold blood.
The film forces us to witness 18 murders, contains virtually no dialogue, and maintains a dry, detached, documentarian tone throughout.The film's title refers to the many murders – elephants in the room which were routinely overlooked by the local media - which took place within Northern Ireland during "The Troubles", a roughly three decade long period in which Northern Ireland's Roman Catholic, nationalist community, were at odds with its Unionist Community, who identified themselves as being British.
The film is designed to convey a certain inexorable feeling, that violence begets violence, that these killings are pointless, senseless, horrific, futile and directed against ordinary, innocent, working class people, but Clarke's removal of all historical context will baffle and mislead modern audiences, and the film – schematic and calculated – at times partakes in the same cruelty it abhors.If the film is simplistic, it does well (perhaps unintentionally), to banalize the violence it presents.
This captures not only the desensitisation of late 80s Northern Ireland, but the moment when desires arose for the pursuit of other solutions.The film hit 80s Britain like a bolt of lighting.
Clarke, known for his social realism, had shocked before, but here his angry cry for peace was deemed particularly timely.
The film would have a huge influence on Gus Van Sant's "Elephant".