Elephant

by Gus Van Sant, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster

Elephant is a 2003 American drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant. It takes place in the fictional Watt High School, in the city of Portland, Oregon, and chronicles the events surrounding a school shooting, based in part on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The film takes place a short time before the shooting occurs, following the lives of several characters both in and out of school, who are unaware of what is about to unfold. The film stars mostly new or non-professional actors, including John Robinson, Alex Frost, and Eric Deulen. This is the second movie in Gus Van Sant's Death Trilogy. The first is Gerry, and the third is Last Days; all three are based on actual events. The film was generally acclaimed by critics and received the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. As the first high-profile movie to address high school shootings since Columbine, the film was controversial for its subject matter and possible influence on teenage copy-cats.

Genres: Crime

88 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2009

About the author

Gus Van Sant is an American filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist whose work has long explored the edges of American life, with a particular sensitivity to characters who exist outside the cultural mainstream. His career began with television commercials in the Pacific Northwest, but his creative focus quickly shifted toward personal, formally inventive films that examined marginalized communities, especially within gay culture. His debut feature Mala Noche established many of the themes that would return throughout his work, including unfulfilled longing, a dry sense of humor, and an insistence on portraying same-sex relationships without moralizing. He followed it with a string of acclaimed independent films, most notably Drugstore Cowboy, a raw portrait of addiction, and My Own Private Idaho, a poetic story of drifting young men that became one of the touchstone films of early 1990s American independent cinema. To Die For revealed his talent for sharp, satirical storytelling, while Good Will Hunting brought him into the mainstream, earning broad critical praise and multiple Academy Award nominations. Van Sant's career has remained restlessly varied. He experimented with form in Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days, a trio of films known for their long takes and meditative rhythms. Elephant, inspired by the Columbine High School attack, won both the Palme d'Or and the Best Director Award at Cannes, drawing international attention to his unique blend of realism and abstraction. His work has ranged from major studio productions such as Finding Forrester to bold misfires like his shot for shot remake of Psycho, and he has continued to move between intimate character studies, biographical dramas, and genre defying experiments. Milk, his portrait of San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, earned eight Academy Award nominations and remains one of his most widely acclaimed films. Beyond directing, Van Sant has written screenplays, published fiction and photography, released music, and worked extensively in television, contributing to series such as Boss, When We Rise, and Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. His artistic interests extend across media, but his filmmaking is united by a fascination with outsiders, a lyrical visual style, and a willingness to take creative risks. Throughout decades of shifting critical and commercial fortunes, Van Sant has remained one of the most distinctive voices in American cinema.