His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures, in particular homosexuality. Gus van sant, american film director and writer whose films frequently focused on marginalized and isolated characters. Director gus van sant returned to the lowkey style of his early independent efforts with this semiimprovised exploration of how violence makes its way into a typical american high school. While there is much in flux about gus van sants upcoming adaptation of tom wolfes zeitgeistdefining book, the electric koolaid acid test, which centers on the lsdinfused cross. Aug 07, 2017 gus van sant didnt seem like the best first choice for the material, considering that his work is characterized by long, dreamlike shots, holding a quiet, philosophical tone, and their meticulous pacing, whereas even cowgirls get the blues is a scattershot and often overthetop transgressive tragic comedy. The film begins a short time before the shooting occurs, following the lives of several characters both in and. New yorkbeginning september 12, 2019, vito schnabel projects will present gus van sant. An ordinary day at a typical american high school takes a sudden tragic turn in this unforgettable film from director gus van sant good will hunting. Gus van sant has the camera pointing upwards as his latest movie begins.
Elephant is a 2003 american drama film written, directed, and edited by gus van sant. Elephant 2003 elias mcconnell, alex frost, eric deulen. Written, directed and edited by gus van sant and the winner of the palme dor at the 56th cannes film festival, it discerns the filmmaker principally basing his scenario on the columbine high school massacre, which in 1999. Need to watch elephant in the comfort of your own home. Best known as the awardwinning director of films such as good will hunting and milk, gus van sant is also a photographer, musician, and painter of figurative watercolors. Elephant is director gus van sant s depiction of a seemingly ordinary day at a seemingly ordinary high school. When i first interviewed gus van sant, he had just finished editing his feature gerry and was preparing to launch it at the sundance film festival. Gus van sant s elephant made me sick in the stomach. Milk 2008 based on the life of the politician and gay rights activist harvey milk, this is a biopic that put a gus van sant film again on oscar trail the first that happened was in 1998 with good will hunting. Recent paintings, hollywood boulevard gus van sant.
For those who dont know it, it won the palm dor at cannes and also best director. I just saw the gus van sant film elephant it was brilliant. Director gus van sant takes a powerful approach to this material, without being heavy. I have never found a films dialogue both important and not important at the same time. A radical left turn from the two studio films, good will hunting and finding forrester, that preceded it, gerry mixed together movie stars matt damon and casey. Winner of the palme dor and best director prizes at the 2003 cannes film festival. Sissy hankshaw uma thurman is born with enormous thumbs that help her hitchhiking through the u. It started with gerry, elephant was the second film in his arthouse quadrilogy, followed by last days and finally paranoid park. 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 dead. Gus van sant on his berlin entry and working with weinstein. Van sant studied painting and cinema, and credits the actor james franco with nudging him, in recent years, to pick up his paintbrush again. Drugstore cowboy, good will hunting, my own private idaho, milk, elephant, psycho and finding forrester.
Minimalism and artcinema narration in gus van sants. She becomes a model in advertising, and her new york agent, the countess sir john hurt, sends her to his ranch in california to shoot a commercial, set against the. No causes, no solutions, no moral or intellectual perspective, none of the facile politicking that immediately followed in the incidents wake. Described as a love letter to the movies, cousins visits the key sites in the history of cinemal from hollywood to mumbai. Gus van sant simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Gus van sant borrowed the title from alan clarkes film of the same name, and thought that it referred to the chinese proverb about five blind men who were each led to a different part of an elephant. He turned his back on hollywood at least for a while and started making smaller, more intimate films again. Elephant is a 2003 film directed by gus van sant that depicts a day in the life of high school students, two of whom later go on a shooting rampage. The 10 best movies of gus van sant taste of cinema movie. Van sant was born and raised in louisville, kentucky, the son of betty nee seay and gus green van sant sr. Gus van sant interview about elephant part 12 youtube. When it comes to making a european debut, director gus van sant has experienced the highs, taking home the palme dor at cannes for the columbineesque school massacre drama elephant in 2003. Elephant dvd winner of the palme dor and best director prizes at the 2003 cannes film festival, gus van sant s good will hunting, finding forrester elephant takes us inside an american high school on one, single ordinary day that very rapidly turns tragic. Its deliberately mysterious and opaque, following several characters throughout the day and observing that they are all dealing with personal troubles, with little or no adult help.
The film follows a number of high school students lives, and it centers on the shooting that eventually takes place at the school, and which is carried out by the two characters alex and eric. A report from the berlin film festival on three new projects, including the latest from gus van sant. Video essay on the 2003 gus van sant film elephant and the history of films confronting taboo subjects. Van sant formouse pelo rhode island school of design. This was the most immersive and enjoyable and cathartic experience ive. Thank for visit my channel dont forget subscriber me to watch more movies with best quality s. An ordinary day at a typical american high school takes a sudden tragic turn into unspeakable violence. Alex frost, eric deulen, john robinson, imdb rating. Elephant 2003 gus van sant synopsis, characteristics. Last may, i attended the press conference for elephant at cannes, following the world premiere screening, where van sant was flanked by his producer, colin callendar, head of hbo films. He is a director and producer, known for elephant 2003, my own private idaho 1991 and drugstore cowboy 1989. Gus van sant interview about elephant part 22 duration. Elephant 2003, inspired to reallife cases, follows highschool students around their school and their homes for one day. The movie follows one young boy who takes over the wheel from his drunken dad while returning from lunch, then loops back in time and follows another.
It takes place in the fictional watt high school, in the suburbs of portland, oregon, and chronicles the events surrounding a school shooting, based in part on the 1999 columbine high school massacre. Icons is a previously unpublished interview with van sant conducted in portland in june 2015 by matthieu orleans, the exhibitions curator. Eric eric deulen and alex are two close friends who are students in a welltodo suburb of portland, or. We gaze at the sky as it allows clouds to drift fluffily through it, and appears entirely empty of portents. Between 1997 and 1999, the united states had no less than eight fatal shootings perpetrated in schools, including the notorious columbine high school. Elephant, the elegant and unsettling movie from gus van sant my own private idaho, good will hunting, depicts students at a high school before and during a harrowing, columbinestyle shooting. Ben coccios zero day, like gus van s sant s elephant before it, coolly reconstructs and passively deconstructs an ineffable recent phenomenon of very few young lives. With elias mcconnell, alex frost, eric deulen, john robinson. The following interview was originally published in our fall, 2003 print edition.
Official trailer for gus van sant s excellent columbine movie elephant. Elephant fine line, directed by gus van sant, was inspired by the mass shootings at columbine high school in april 1999. His movies are known for having a prolgbt stance and messages. Gus van sants elephant 2003 is based loosely on the real events of the 1999 columbine high school killings. Elephant is a film instructed by gus van sant and premiered in 2003. Sep 29, 2018 the dramedy, based on the memoir of the reallife cartoonist, is directed by gus van sant and also stars rooney mara. Parents need to know that elephant is gus van sant s palme dorwinning drama, which is loosely based on the infamous 1999 columbine high school shootings. Gus van sant s elephant, though a rapturous and terrifying memorial to the columbine massacre, brings nothing to the discussion on highschool violence. Gus van sant was born on july 24, 1952 in louisville, kentucky, usa as gus greene van sant junior. The following weapons were used in the film elephant. Jul 15, 2018 nprs michel martin speaks with director gus van sant about his new film, dont worry he wont get far on foot, which chronicles the fall and rise of cartoonist john callahan. 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. Gus van sant celebrity profile check out the latest gus van sant photo gallery, biography, pics, pictures, interviews, news, forums and blogs at rotten tomatoes. Gus van sant, joaquin phoenix reunite with dont worry, he.
The cinematography is breathtaking and really conveys each story line feelings of the characters. Barbara scharres reports from cannes 2015 on a disastrous screening of gus van sant s the sea of trees. It simply looks at the day as it unfolds, and that is a brave and radical act. An intresting point is that gus van sant knew that the audience knew that the shootings were going to take place at. Elephant internet movie firearms database guns in movies. Those looking for answers, or even insights, are certain to be disappointed by. Gus van sant gusvansant s profile on myspace, the place where people come to connect, discover, and share. Gus van sant talks electric koolaid acid test casting. It displays van sant s fascination for young desperate pointless lives and the metaphysical contrast of those lives with blue skies and prairies although here their presence is only hinted at. A graduate of the rhode island school of design, where his classmates included david byrne and other members of talking heads, director gus van sant has managed an unpredictable and idiosyncratic career, deftly weaving in and out of mainstream and independent circles. With uma thurman, lorraine bracco, pat morita, angie dickinson. Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent. Gus van sant alex frost, eric deulen, john robinson, elias mcconnell.
It was a solo project so it was completely my production, from the visuals to the music choice. Gus van sant s elephant reporter alex cohen talks to director gus van sant about his new film elephant, about two teenage boys who plot and execute a. Elephant undertakes effectual protracted camerawork to characterise the mindlessness of violence which remains an evocative problem for a nation enamoured with firearms. The film is based in part on the tragic events surrounding the 1999 columbine shooting.
In a wideranging conversation, the two men discuss the whole scope of van sants work and inspirations. Hunting down a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or watch the gus van sant directed movie via subscription can be confusing, so we. Minimalism and artcinema narration in gus van sant s gerry, elephant, and last days matthew john alberhasky iowa state university follow this and additional works at. Jul 12, 2016 unstyled styling why fashion loves gus van sants real look grungy, grubby and authentic, the clothes in films such as my own private idaho were never meant to look good. In other words, he uses silence, like he did with gerry and elephant, the other films of the death trilogy. Powerful and unsettling, masterful in its direction, editing and sound design. He was nominated for an academy award for achievement in directing for his 1997 film good will hunting and his 2008 film milk, and won the palme dor at the 2003 cannes film festival for his film elephant.
Never have i seen a film deglamourise violence in this way. All 16 gus van sant movies ranked from worst to best taste. Gus van sant s latest film, elephant, won the palme dor at cannes last spring despite vociferous denunciations from certain american critics. The son of a travelling salesman, he and and his family moved constantly from place to place. Director gus van sant discusses dont worry he wont get far. Last years cannes film festival may have been dubbed the worst in memory, but no one there could dispute the winner of the palme dor gus van sant s elephant. Elephant movie titles a movie title project i did for the gus van sant movie. Gus van sant rebooted his career around the turn of the century. Elephant is a cool, distant film, content for the most part to observe the routine of highschool life. Guss father was a clothing manufacturer and traveling salesman, who rapidly worked his way into middle class prosperity, holding executive marketing positions that included being president of the white stag manufacturing companys apparel operation. Van sant har bland mycket annat regisserat filmerna will hunting, elephant och drugstore cowboy. Part of theamerican film studies commons,english language and literature commons, and thefilm and media studies commons. Jul 17, 2018 gus van sant already has carved his own place in film history, but theres one aspect of his distinguished career that no other feature film director can claim.