Sixth period, time to die

I just watched the movie Elephant by Gus Van Sant. It's a movie about a high school shooting. It plays through several different students days at school and lives in general. It's well put together and well thought out. A little too ponderous at times, but that's what Van Sant tends to do. I looked up why it's called Elephant and anyone who wants extra credit can read this interview with Van Sant that goes into detail.

It's very brutal at the end. (How else would a high school shooting be?) But it seems almost like Van Sant identifies more with the killers than anyone else. I suppose I can actually understand that. All the kids in the school have some problem or another, be it a potentially pregnant girlfriend, a drunken dad, psychological abuse in the locker room or vacuous demanding friends. These kids are just on the bottom rung and are going the extra mile to do something about it.

One thing that stood out was how high school was portrayed. It was totally institutional (to borrow a term from another review). The halls and rooms so large and lifeless. The mindless rules that have to be followed for no other reason than they are in place. Does a place of learning have to be so sterile?

My friends who are teachers will tell me that you have to control the students or they will lose respect for you and become disruptions. I suppose that is true, but still there has to be some leeway. Life doesn't have to be so regimented, this isn't the military. Of course the real world isn't any better. Arbitrary decisions made on the whim of the top dog make life miserable for all the underlings. Also that clique thing never goes away. High school might be a microcosm of the real world taken to the nth degree.

As for a rating, I'd give it a filet mignon for it's concept. It's in your face and doesn't give any easy answers. But the minimalistic tones it uses always leave me a little cold. I'm saying foot massage overall, even tho I'm not likely to ever see it again.