Putting real tragedy on the screen

The shootings in Red Lake remind me of the power of Gus Van Sant's 2003 film "Elephant." The movie, about a very ordinary day at a high school ripped open by violence, lulls you into the rhythm of bored teens waiting for the final school bell. Some kids are skipping class, some are gossiping, some are studying, some are flirting. There is a dreamlike quality to the movie as characters glide in and out of the frame. Van Sant hired ordinary teenagers to act instead of the usual twenty-five years olds or perfectly-coiffed kids that Hollywood usually likes to cast; the amateurs' laid-back deliveries and youthful, blank stares added to the powerful feeling of reality. Consequently, although you know going in that the film is inspired by the shootings at Columbine, Van Sant manages to make you feel the surprise and terror that characters in the situation feel.

It's a hard film to watch, and it has flaws; the movie is better when painting a portrait of the regular kids than when it turns to the assailants. But it's not a "message" movie that feels like a CBS Movie of the Week. Nor is it as preachy, callous or falsely sentimental as Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine." Gus Van Sant makes a powerful, heartfelt attempt to explain and understand the Columbine killings.