..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

Elephant
Directed by Gus Van Sant

So how come a cheap, independent film like Elephant has a better audio mix than most big budget blockbusters? Probably because the intelligence quotient behind its creation is greater. The directional effects are not labored upon, but the audio track is vividly immediate and precise, so that you are constantly submerged in the movie's environment. The stunningly good Gus Van Sant film, about a tragic day in a modern American high school, which has been released by HBO Video (92229, $28), is reminiscent of Lindsay Anderson's If….

Like If…, the film uses homosexuality as a metaphor for self-awareness and coming of age, and like If…, it concludes in violence that at one time would have been considered an impossible scale, more a reflection upon society and the contemporary political environment than upon reality, except that something very much like it did actually happen. Most significantly, however, Elephant, like If…, is also a masterpiece of lyrical filmmaking. Set in a kind of concurrent time, the camera strolls down the same hallways again and again, following different characters as they go about their day, capturing not only direct dialog, but, thanks to the sound mix, incidental dialog, as the paths of characters briefly intersect. While the camera seems to be moving randomly, kind of like a fly attracted to the smell of one person, until a more interesting scent comes along that causes it to change direction, there are also precisely measured shifts in film speed-without cuts-to accentuate subtly emotional moments. Hence, what appears to be random is actually planned with a phenomenal precision. Viewers unschooled in the artistry of cinema may legitimately be bored by the film's lack of a distinctive narrative, at least until things rev up during the final 20 minutes or so, but it is the very fact that Van Sant can extract such beauty from the mundane that, on a conscious or subconscious level, makes the movie itself a metaphor for the human soul.

There is both a 5.1-channel Dolby Digital track and a DTS track, and they are fantastic, but even the plain old through-the-TV-speakers 2-channel track is outstanding. Essentially what happens is that the ambient levels are all pushed to their maximum, so where a fancier movie might try to get more kick out of a gunshot or some other specific effect, the mix just lets the environment pour over you as it would in real life, with immediate sounds receiving more attention, but not at the loss of other noises. Like Van Sant's camerawork, however, it is far more manipulated and modulated than it first appears, and the DVD delivers it splendidly.

The picture is presented on one side in both letterboxed format, with an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback, and in full screen format. The letterboxing adds nothing to the sides and trims picture information off the top and the bottom. I prefer the full screen framing, just because it feels more involving to have more picture information filling the screen, but either composition is legitimate. The color transfer is fine. There are occasional flaws in the image, such as lens flares and brief drops in contrast levels, that are intended to sustain the illusion of makeshift cinematography, but in any case, the DVD is an exact replication of Van Sant's intentions. The 80-minute program (its brevity is invigorating) has alternate French and Spanish audio tracks in mono, and optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. The flip side contains a trailer and a 12-minute collection of good behind-the-scenes footage, with a couple interviews, giving you a taste for how the film was put together, though not much more than that.

July 27, 2004

DVD Roundup: This Week's DVD Releases
The Review Vault

- by Douglas Pratt

Douglas Pratt's DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter is published monthly.
For a free sample, call (516)594-9304 or go to his website at www.DVDLaser.com