Alan Clarke's "Elephant" consists of a series of long Steadicam shots, each dispassionately following either assassins or their targets, and each culminating with someone being gunned down in cold blood. The film forces us to witness 18 murders, contains virtually no dialogue, and maintains a dry, detached, documentarian tone throughout.
The film's title refers to the many murders – elephants in the room which were routinely overlooked by the local media - which took place within Northern Ireland during "The Troubles", a roughly three decade long period in which Northern Ireland's Roman Catholic, nationalist community, were at odds with its Unionist Community, who identified themselves as being British. The film is designed to convey a certain inexorable feeling, that violence begets violence, that these killings are pointless, senseless, horrific, futile and directed against ordinary, innocent, working class people, but Clarke's removal of all historical context will baffle and mislead modern audiences, and the film – schematic and calculated – at times partakes in the same cruelty it abhors.
If the film is simplistic, it does well (perhaps unintentionally), to banalize the violence it presents. By the 18th killing, you're no longer shocked, and are left instead with an overwhelming sense of frustration and futility. This captures not only the desensitisation of late 80s Northern Ireland, but the moment when desires arose for the pursuit of other solutions.
The film hit 80s Britain like a bolt of lighting. Clarke, known for his social realism, had shocked before, but here his angry cry for peace was deemed particularly timely. Some semblance of peace was achieved four years later, with the 1994, First Ceasefire agreement.
8/10 – Worth one viewing. The film would have a huge influence on Gus Van Sant's "Elephant".
The film's title refers to the many murders – elephants in the room which were routinely overlooked by the local media - which took place within Northern Ireland during "The Troubles", a roughly three decade long period in which Northern Ireland's Roman Catholic, nationalist community, were at odds with its Unionist Community, who identified themselves as being British. The film is designed to convey a certain inexorable feeling, that violence begets violence, that these killings are pointless, senseless, horrific, futile and directed against ordinary, innocent, working class people, but Clarke's removal of all historical context will baffle and mislead modern audiences, and the film – schematic and calculated – at times partakes in the same cruelty it abhors.
If the film is simplistic, it does well (perhaps unintentionally), to banalize the violence it presents. By the 18th killing, you're no longer shocked, and are left instead with an overwhelming sense of frustration and futility. This captures not only the desensitisation of late 80s Northern Ireland, but the moment when desires arose for the pursuit of other solutions.
The film hit 80s Britain like a bolt of lighting. Clarke, known for his social realism, had shocked before, but here his angry cry for peace was deemed particularly timely. Some semblance of peace was achieved four years later, with the 1994, First Ceasefire agreement.
8/10 – Worth one viewing. The film would have a huge influence on Gus Van Sant's "Elephant".