An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)

The story of a day

“There is an elephant in Manzhouli. It sits there all day long.”

And no matter how many people stab it with forks, offer it food, chide it or console it, it does not move. It remains stationary the whole time, throughout its life. It remains still even when life progresses. It remains still when time stops.

“An Elephant Sitting Still” is the first and last film by Hu Bo, who died by suicide soon after its release. It has definitely won "stuff" at film festivals but in terms of camerawork and filmmaking, An Elephant Sitting Still is hardly a masterpiece. It is bleak and grey, mostly the camera follows the heads of our characters as they walk. There is nothing special about it in terms of sound except when the elephant roars.

This entire story of 4 hours is based on a single day. It shows us four extremely different people: a high school boy with an unloving family, his friend who has an affair with the school dean, an old man who isn't given a home in his own house by his own son and a gangster man whose friend commits suicide. All these people are united in the bleakness they are trapped in, and all of them, on the very same day, witness death. And it's amazing how many deaths can occur in a day, and even more surprising is how plausible the story is.

At some point in the movie, I wondered if I was reading a suicide note. Something that is tragic and still and yet, moving forward with a purpose. The human life it fragile and fleeting, no matter what happens, no matter how much you are beaten down, life is forever going ahead and the elephant will still be sitting at Manzhouli.

Despite being bleak, “An Elephant Sitting Still” possesses a timeless grace. Despite having minimal dialogue where the characters seem to speak in broken sentences with even more left unsaid, the characters have a strange connection. Despite being 4 hours long, it is not boring.

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A LONG AND EPIC MOVING ART.

Okay, this is a long one and a masterpiece. This is the first time I watched a movie with over 3+ hour runtime. It's basically a 4-hour movie (3hrs and 50mins to be exact). At first, I hesitated because I am not fond of watching a film that too long. But I promise, It's worth your time.

This is a story of 4 different people that struggles in their depressing town each experiencing a depressing life. Each has story of its own. A boy has an abusive father and had a problem in their school after having an accident caused by him. A girl who has a negligent mother and having an affair to the vice dean of their school. An old man with nowhere to go after forcing him to leave out at his apartment by her family for financial reasons. And a middle age man, who has a family issue and having an affair to his best friend's wife.

I like every seconds of this movie especially to have a style of long and floating shots. Its very quiet, not too much dialogue but the emotions of the main leads deliver the story so perfectly. They all have very sad faces and as you look in their eyes, it's like they are telling us that there has no meaning in "living". The cinematography is also soothing, every shot is worth it.

I really love this movie and maybe my favorite movie recently. Even the story is depressing, I see hope in the ending.

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