Elephant directed by Alan Clarke – A Review

Alan Clarke (1935 - 1990) was a British television, film and theatre director known for his realist / minimalist style. His works tended to focus on the struggles of the working class and various social injustices from his borstal drama Scum (1977, and its remake in 1979), to Made in Britain (1982) and the focus of this review Elephant (1989).

Elephant focuses on “the troubles” of Northern Ireland by showing us a number of political assassinations without any preceding backstory. The made for television short stands out for its candid look at violence from an unbiased, yet voyeuristic perspective. We see victims; killers and bystanders pass through different scenes as an assassination comes to fruition. One after another the scenes seem to regurgitate with more and more violence, and as this happens, you begin to realise as a spectator a level of disgust and repulsion to these actions rising in you.

In each scene after a murder has taken place, the camera cuts back to the victim lay on the floor. Clarke in doing so is forcing his audience to look at the repercussions of these heinous actions. At the time of its production, people could talk about how they didn’t know what was really happening in Northern Ireland, however this film strips away the viewers silent spectatorship, forcing them (at least theoretically) to look upon these atrocities face to face.

No longer now a spectator, the viewer feels a strong compulsion for the violence to stop, yet it continues. The use of Steadicam here also adds to the piece as the audience follows the characters step for step. We are not at a distance through out the film, were practically within breathing space. In a way, from a craft perspective this really helps to bring the audience into this (what many would describe as a foreign) environment. If the piece had been filmed on tripod conventionally, we would be looking at things from a more safe and static on looking perspective. Yet as the camera moves on Steadicam we have a moving perspective, one that gives us a feel and investment in the environment around us. As the background moves around us it gives a more realistic feeling to the space. When background moves here there is a level of substance to it, a tangible element that gives it a more realistic feel. In contrast a still image highlights just the subject, which gives a level of theatricality about it: a highlight in a way that doesn’t come natural and at times may feel false or disjointed.

As the film comes to an end there is a certain level of relief. Although by this point the tension has reached such a height that there is no real feel of release at this conclusion. Instead what you're left with is an uncomfortable feeling that this was but a small dramatic portrayal of the real horrors that took place. This film without a doubt ousts a powerful message to the audience. The elephant in the room has now been acknowledged and is opened up to audience discussion.

Whilst as a political document it may be slightly dated today, as a film the work is still an outstanding piece and a stand out in the cannon of British films. In someone else’s hands, Elephant could have been a political drama that bared little relevance to the actual societal subject. But in the hands of Alan Clarke, the film remains to this day an influential piece of television. Going on in later years to inspire filmmakers of the like of Gus Van Sant: who latter went on to make his own Elephant (2003).