Elephant Song (2014)

A psychiatrist is drawn into a complex mind game when he questions a disturbed patient about the disappearance of a colleague.

Director:

Charles Binamé

Writers:

Nicolas Billon, Nicolas Billon (play)

Stars:

Bruce Greenwood, Xavier Dolan, Carrie-Anne Moss

3 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Greenwood	...	Dr. Toby Greene
Xavier Dolan	...	Michael Aleen
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Olivia
Guy Nadon	...	Dr. Craig Jones
Colm Feore	...	Dr. James Lawrence
Catherine Keener	...	Nurse Susan Peterson
Gianna Corbisiero	...	Florence Da Costa
Cindy Sampson	...	Christelle
Larry Day	...	Sergeant Taylor
Melody Godin-Cormier	...	Amy Greene
Mark Donker	...	Jakobus Aleen (as Marc Donker)
Matt Holland	...	Bruce
Enrique Pérez-Mesa	...	Marcus
Ethan Bolduc	...	Michael, 5 Years Old
Germano Santana	...	Michael, 7 Years Old

Storyline

It's January, 1966 at St. Christina's Psychiatric Hospital in Northwestern Ontario. Dr. Toby Greene and Nurse Susan Peterson are individually being interviewed by Dr. Craig Jones, one of the hospital's administrators, about the incident that occurred just before Christmas, the day that their colleague, Dr. James Lawrence, inexplicably did not show up for work. As Dr. Lawrence disappeared the day before during a session with one of his regular patients, a young man named Michael Aleen, the belief among some is that Michael may have had something to do with Dr. Lawrence's disappearance. That day, Dr. Greene took over Dr. Lawrence's patient-load, which included a session with Michael to try and discover if he indeed had some nefarious role in Dr. Lawrence's disappearance. Dr. Greene did not know Michael at all, and was unable to read his case file before meeting with Michael. Regardless, Dr. Greene believed he could read Michael and glean as much from his lies as from his truths. ...

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatrist | year 1966 | absent father | neglected child | alleged blowjob | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shot in 33 days.

User Reviews

interesting performance from Dolan

It's 1966. Psychiatrist Toby Green (Bruce Greenwood) talks to patient Michael Aleen (Xavier Dolan) who is supposed to have information on missing colleague Dr. Lawrence. Michael claims to be white elephant and keeps talking about elephants. He plays a cat-and-mouse game with Dr. Green and head nurse Susan Peterson (Catherine Keener). Green and Peterson used to be married until the lost of their daughter Rachel. Green faces a strained home life with Olivia (Carrie-Anne Moss) and autistic niece Amy. The head doctor interviews both Green and Peterson about Michael.

Xavier Dolan does an interesting job and Greenwood is good. The story needs a bit more meat. Toby's home life needs a little more clarification especially with Olivia and Amy. The mystery with Lawrence gets defused too early. After the security guard and police claim to have seen Lawrence, the tension to find him almost disappears completely. The story needs to pace out and create more twists and reveals.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Canada

Language:

English French Italian German Latin

Release Date:

26 February 2015 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Elephant Song

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$171,505

Company Credits

Production Co:

Melenny Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color