Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Blowing My Trumpet
With uncharacteristeric diffidence at having learned ones spout the virtues of Istvan Szabo's generational angst and Kiarostami's meandering allegories and havign to squirm uncomfortably at my pitiable ignorance , I decided that it was times for the philistines to get g(r)eeky and finally come to the table of this World Cinema gourmet. And what a meal it was....
Being in English, Elephant was the the guinea pig I chose to begin with, Gus van Sant was a name dropped often enough to merit attention and a chance television screening at a convenient hour was tempting for me to take the first halting step towards matinee enlightenment. So I was quite willing to overlook his execrable Good Will Hunting.
The plot , if I must call it that,is a prolonged sojourn across a college campus where the camera faithfully tracks different students in various modes-chatting, playing and even studying ( Ed-neo-realist-remember !). Finally two boys order some ammo, make a plan which large consists of mentally going through the campus territory, shower and shoot everyone in sight dead the next day without malice or remorse.
So what's my take on the film ?
First, although expressly mentioned, there were no pachyderms on screen.
Second, a very nice campus was visually destroyed beyond belief by stationary cameras held uni-directionally for eons. Third, it captured the gravitas and metaphysical overtones of teen-speak perfectly, consisting largely of grunts, mumbles and other animal impersonations and left the viewer in abject solitude to decipher hidden meanings and denouments (Ed-Is that the word ?) in the events narrated by Sant.
I need my trusted MBD guide on this one.
