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Elephant [Blu-ray]
(Gus Van Sant, 2003)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: HBO Films Video: Optimum Home Entertainment
Disc: Region: 'B'-locked! (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:21:25.630 Disc Size: 17,251,050,392 bytes Feature Size: 17,105,088,960 bytes Video Bitrate: 21.99 Mbps Chapters: 12 Case: Standard Blu-ray (thicker UK) case Release date: July 20th, 2009
Video: Aspect ratio: 1:33 matted to 1.78:1 Resolution: 1080P - 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 2199 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2199 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit) LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles: N one
Extras: • None
Bitrate:
Description: Gus Van Sant's drifty, eloquent, and
effortlessly poignant ELEPHANT is loosely
based on the massacre at Columbine High School. (On April
20, 1999 in Littleton, Colorado two 17-year-old boys fired
semi-automatic weapons on their high school classmates,
killing 13, injuring 25, and then taking their own lives.)
Van Sant's film is set in Portland, Oregon and uses
non-actors chosen from an open casting call of high school
students. On a crisp, sunny Autumn day, with colourful
leaves on the trees and puffy clouds drifting across blue
skies, students arrive at school as usual. Eli takes
photographs for his portfolio, John manages problems with
his alcoholic father, Acadia attends a gay-lesbian meeting,
Nate plays a game of tag football, and Michelle works in the
library. Meanwhile, two outsiders, Eric and Alex, harbour
hatred for their peers. Each of ELEPHANT's students have
unique interests and personalities, and the film
respectfully emphasises their individuality. It also
demonstrates how school is an unpredictable blender where
students' differences are constantly agitated. Harris
Savides' excellent photography--shot in 1:33 aspect ratio,
making the movie a cube in the centre of the screen--follows
and floats, sometimes blurring and juxtaposing the light to
achieve an ethereal mood; while Leslie Shatz's ambient sound
design and a soundtrack of soft Beethoven piano music
completes that feeling. The film is structured in brief
overlapping chapters all taking place on the morning of the
11:35 A.M. attack.
The Film: Gus Van Sant's "Elephant" is a record of a day at a high school like Columbine, on the day of a massacre much like the one that left 13 dead. It offers no explanation for the tragedy, no insights into the psyches of the killers, no theories about teenagers or society or guns or psychopathic behavior. It simply looks at the day as it unfolds, and that is a brave and radical act; it refuses to supply reasons and assign cures, so that we can close the case and move on. Van Sant seems to believe there are no reasons for Columbine and no remedies to prevent senseless violence from happening again. Many viewers will leave this film as unsatisfied and angry as Variety's Todd McCarthy, who wrote after it won the Golden Palm at Cannes 2003 that it was "pointless at best and irresponsible at worst." I think its responsibility comes precisely in its refusal to provide a point. Excerpt from Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times located HERE
This transfer is progressive and adheres to the original 1.37 ratio (unlike the Blu-ray of Van Sant's Paranoid Park which was moved to 1.78 - NOTE: The region 1 DVD, reviewed HERE, is indeed in 1.33). Despite being single-layered with the feature taking up less than 18 Gig - this looks quite good. Colors are bright, detail is strong and the visuals export healthy contrast. Skin tones are not overly warm. Daylight scenes look the most impressive and there is some darker, or questionably lit, sequences that reflect the vérité signature of the film. This Blu-ray looks impressive and has some occasional depth. The MPEG-4 encode has done some viable justice to the film's appearance. Thumbs up on the visual front!
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :There are two English audio tracks available for the film. A DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 2199 kbps and a competent and serviceable 2.0 channel linear PCM. Both tracks are clean and clear without notable flaws and both report equally adeptly with the 5.1 supporting the centre channel dialogue and frequent classical music to a marginally higher degree. It is really the film's silence that is most haunting and effecting though. The surround is used sparingly but has some decent, and subtle, moments. I had no complaints at all. There are no subtitles and m y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.
Extras :None - which is unfortunate as the film certainly warrants some discussion. What a shame.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze August 17th, 2009
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 7500 DVDs and have reviewed over 3000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. So be
it, but film will always be my first love and I list my
favorites on the old YMdb site now accessible
HERE.
Samsung HPR4272 42" Plasma HDTV Gary W. Tooze
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