In today's society, many different art forms are constantly surrounding us. The music that blares through your headphones, the advertisements we encounter, and even the buildings that tower over the New York skyline can all be considered art. One of the most popular artistic mediums today is film. Cinema uses moving photographs to tell a story, express emotions and convey ideas. The unique aspect of cinematic art is that it allows the viewer to become its subject or characters and experience their situations as they occur. Gus Van Sant uses this characteristic to his advantage in the 2003 film "Elephant." Elephant attempts to capture the real and unseen events of the tragic Columbine massacre in an attempt to make sense of a senseless act, while remaining true to its senselessness . On April 20, 1999, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, launched a deadly assault on Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Armed with a rifle, shotguns and numerous explosives, they wreaked havoc in their school. In the end, twenty-four people were injured and fifteen died, including the shooters. It was a tragedy that resonated across the country and will be remembered as the worst school shooting in American history. Gus Van Sant took this incident and decided to interpret it in his own artistic vision. “Elephant” is not a drama; it's not a documentary. It is simply a free-floating meditation on tragedy. The film immerses you in the present moment, in real time, with the victims and the killers while returning to itself, making chronological jumps and repeating its story from different angles. It is intentionally made to be vague in order to leave the viewer perplexed but, at the same time, st...... middle of paper ......gh student who is a friend to everyone, even shooters. The next character we meet is a photographer, Elias, who spends much of his time taking photos of his study subjects and scrutinizing his images in a darkroom; Elias can be described as an “artistic” child. Then it's over to the attractive couple, Nathan and Carrie, and then to a trio of pretty materialistic girls, Brittany, Jordan and Nicole, who gossip, complain about their parents and do their pleasure ritual in the girls' room to throw up. their lunch. Michelle, a simple, slightly overweight girl who won't wear shorts to gym class and is unfortunately alienated from her peers, is introduced later. Last, but not least, Alex and Eric appear on screen. They are outcasts who are bullied and later show up at school with giant bags full of automatic weapons, ammunition and explosives..