Review of Elephant (2015) by Jared H — 08 Apr 2009

This heartbreaking, visually groundbreaking film that evokes a Columbine-style high school massacre is probably one of the most eerie films you'll ever see, simply because it seems so real. It seems like you are really walking through a normal American high school on just an ordinary day. Almost like what "Schindler's List" did with the holocaust, "Elephant" doesn't glamorize the Columbine shootings, nor does it over-dramatize it to tug at your heartstrings. It doesn't need that. It simply shows you. And in just showing you, it makes you realize the evil that this world is capable of creating.

With that said, I don't know any real good reason why a normal person should watch this movie. It's disturbing. Kids shooting kids. Just about the worst thing imagineable. So, with this rating, I'm not "recommending" it as if to say, "Yeah, man! Go see this film, it's awesome!!!" I wouldn't do that. But I am recognizing the place that the artistic world holds for movies like this. It's not really a "movie"...it's more in a category on its own.