Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Elephant Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 16, 2009

Bold and disturbing, Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant” arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. In 2003, the film won the Cinema Prize of the French National Education System, Best Director, and the coveted Palme d’Or awards at the Cannes Film Festival. A year later, the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics (SFCC) granted it their Best Foreign Language Film award. There are no supplemental features on this Blu-ray release. Region-B “locked”.

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Gus Van Sant’s Elephant is a difficult to critique film. It chronicles an imaginary tragedy, much like the one that took place at Columbine High School in Jefferson Country, Colorado on April 20, 1999. The title of the film was borrowed from a 1989 TV production by Alan Clarke, which is also about mass killings (in Northern Ireland).

The film opens up in an unnamed High School where we are introduced to a number of different students. The camera spends some time with a few of them and we get a sense of what their world revolves around, what excites and angers them. The students talk about relationships, shopping, homework, etc. We also meet some of the staff – they look busy but friendly.

There is one particular student, Alex (Alex Frost), who director Van Sant’s camera follows closely. He is a quiet kid, one that no one talks to. There is a short scene where we see a bully harassing him but he walks away. Later on, the camera shows the student in the school’s cafeteria. He is looking around and taking notes.

We are back with the other students. We spend a little more time with them. We also meet a few more staff members. Nothing interesting happens here, just more of what we already saw in the beginning of Elephant.

Now we are at Alex’s home. He seems anxious. His best friend, Eric (Eric Deulen), arrives. Soon after, the doorbell rings – a large box is delivered. There is a large automatic rifle in it, which Alex and Eric quickly test. Then, the two friends shower and head to back to the school. An unspeakable tragedy ensues.

Elephant is a disturbing film because it does not offer any justification for the violence it shows. Similar to Gallic director Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible – also a film about a tragic event that does not seek to explain its cause - Elephant simply offers a different point of view.

The film is surprisingly relaxed. At times, it almost feels like a documentary. Director Van Sant’s camera follows the largely unprofessional cast – mostly students from a suburban high school in Portland, Oregon – from afar. This allows the audience to get a more complete look at their reactions later into the film when the tragedy occurs.

Evil is suspiciously missing from Elephant. Many critics have argued that the film indirectly encourages evil, thus it should have not been made in the first place, but I disagree. Elephant would have been an evil film if it offered some sort of justification for it, a map to understanding evil. It clearly does not. It simply observes it.

Director Van Sant’s organic style is most appropriate for Elephant - it is dry but not cynical. Unfortunately, the mainstream media in America has been surprisingly dismissive of his film. Elephant runs only 81 minutes.

Elephant Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Gus Van Sant's Elephant arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

Elephant looks lovely. Contrast is great, detail strong and clarity just about perfect. There are no stability issues. There are no signs of heavy noise filtering either. I noticed a bit of mild-edge enhancement during the second half of the film, but I don't believe that the majority of you will be bothered by it. The indoor footage, where the lighting is limited, looks a lot stronger in 1080p (on the R1 SDVD, the indoor footage often looks blocky). The moving clouds preceding the finale also look a lot stronger. Generally speaking, the color-scheme is excellent. This being said, there are a few tiny flecks that I spotted throughout the film. However, large scratches, dirt, stains, and debris are nowhere to be seen. To sum it all up, Gus Van Sant's Elephant looks very convincing on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Elephant Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Optimum Home Entertainment have not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The audio treatment is adequate. There are no issues to report with the dialog – it is crisp, clear and very easy to follow. The bass is practically non-existent. Aside from the gunshots at the end of the film, there isn't much to talk about in terms of dynamics either. In fact, at times Elephant very much feels like a documentary feature. This being said, there are no disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or dropouts that I detected. All in all, considering how Gus Van Sant shot his film, I think that the English LPCM 2.0 track is as good as it could possibly be. The lack of English subtitles, however, is rather disappointing. An English HOH track should have been included with this Blu-ray release.

Elephant Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are absolutely no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc.

Elephant Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I do not believe Gus Van Sant's Elephant would see a Blu-ray release in North America any time soon. Even after the film won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003, HBO Home Video were reluctant to release it on SDVD. When they finally did, it was a budget release, one with hardly any supplemental features on it (believe it or not, French distributors MK2 treated Elephant with a lot more respect than HBO Home Video did). I find this rather sad. In any event, if you could play Region-B discs, I strongly encourage you to consider adding Elephant to your collections. Very Highly Recommended.