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- 2019
- Kimstim Films
- 3 h 50 m
- 2019
- Kimstim Films
- 3 h 50 m
Summary Under the gloomy sky of a small town in northern China, different protagonists’ lives are intertwined in this furious tale of nihilistic rage. While protecting his friend from a dangerous school bully, 16-year-old Wei Bu pushes the tormentor down a staircase. Wei escapes the scene and later learns that the bully is hospitalized and grave...
- 2019
- Kimstim Films
- 3 h 50 m
- 2019
- Kimstim Films
- 3 h 50 m
An Elephant Sitting Still
8.2
Where to Watch
Summary Under the gloomy sky of a small town in northern China, different protagonists’ lives are intertwined in this furious tale of nihilistic rage. While protecting his friend from a dangerous school bully, 16-year-old Wei Bu pushes the tormentor down a staircase. Wei escapes the scene and later learns that the bully is hospitalized and grave...
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 16 Critic Reviews
86
88% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
13% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 16 Critic Reviews
86
88% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
13% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Its mighty ambition and mighty power are suggested by its unusual length (it runs nearly four hours) and its distinctive, original style and tone. Yet it’s rooted in a familiar kind of story, a tale of the sort that lesser filmmakers could easily dramatize in familiar ways but which Hu expanded into a vision of life.
At times, it feels as though we’re watching something we’re not supposed to be seeing, such is the detail of the emotional degradation on show; in this sense, it’s impossible not to read it as something of a nihilistic suicide note.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 19 User Ratings
8.2
84% Positive
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
11% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
5% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 19 User Ratings
8.2
84% Positive
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
11% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
5% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
This is a masterpiece of a movie and it has to be viewed in a cinema to be felt completely. It may be depressing and not very easy to watch but once you watch it, it will hunt you for months to come.
Nothing more to say as this is a movie that belongs to a category of its own
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I watched this film a couple months ago. I probably couldn't tell you the plot other than some scenes and images and a rough outline. What I can tell you is that the film leaves has a weight and presence that lingers a long time after it ends. There are only a handful of films that I think have a truly unique feel and tone and communicate an emotion that words alone never could (Lost in Translation comes to mind), this film is such a one.
If I had to try, I would say that Elephant is a distillation of depression, with a few things added. One such thing is a an element of disgust, I'm not sure with what, perhaps the state, or perhaps the soulless grey urbanisation that is almost a character in itself. While watching the film I felt as though the director were trying to show me something (I didn't know he'd died at this point), perhaps his own vision of life in general, or perhaps a vision of certain areas of China, perhaps both. If it were a simple thing he was trying to say he would have said it; if you want to understand, you must watch the film.
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Unmissable for anyone craving the gritty realism and independent spirit of pre-00’s Chinese cinema. Fair warning: this is decidedly not the feel-good movie of the year.
Yet, love and beauty remain a constant source of minute, if not fleeting, pleasure. It is not a cure-all in the way it would be in a Disney princess fantasy, but it is enough to sustain existence in spite of its high risk and low reward ratio.
Admittedly, Elephant is a heavy affair, but it’s not all doom and gloom. Hu's characters remain very real, and they are never shown as indulgent to the point of being above the banalities of everyday life. Barbed humor abounds, too, in matter-of-fact dialogue.
The film’s gritty, mundane agonies come to feel like a series of moral tests with genuinely unpredictable outcomes.
Still, the respectful thing to do, it seems, is to treat An Elephant Sitting Still like any other film, imagining how it would look were Hu already hard at work on his next project. A lot depends on just how much sustained misery one likes to endure.
AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL is a masterpiece, 230 minutes that never make the viewer lose of wish to watch it till the end.
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This is very much a film about despair - about living in dark, mundane circumstances and you could say there's an element of 'keeping calm and carrying on', or whatever the Chinese equivalent of that motto is. I suppose you could argue there's an element of fate about it or inevitability but then people may complain that it's too simplistic to say that. I'll let the viewer come to their own conclusion - in any case, its certainly a thoughtful film, with quite good use of camerawork, to pan around the various characters, show how downtrodden their existence is and it's easy enough to imagine how disheartening it must be for them to be in that place, mentally, physically and emotionally I suppose.
The vitriol some people show towards others did seem, on one hand, believable and also, for me it was obviously quite frustrating and saddening, for obvious reasons. It's in this sense that it is certainly a thought-provoking watch.
Speaking of camerawork, I did feel there was quite a distinct sort of floaty feel or atmosphere to this film, with the viewer apparently observing the characters from multiple angles, while also glancing around at the surrounding area. Its a thought-provoking, sad (also just to note there is one scene featuring a dog being attacked and we are briefly shown a somewhat bloodied dog afterwards, which could be quite upsetting for some) but a memorable film that's well worth a watch, as long as you know it's not going to be very cheery but otherwise, I would recommend this film, yes.
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Really great and very depressing.
It might be slow, but not boring. Plus, when it picks up, it really picks up. It's beautifuly directed and it's hard to take your eyes away from it.
I love the atmosphere of this film. It all feels wierdly familiar. I can feel the cold air. I can smell the environment. The closing scenes in particular I think will evoke an odd sense of nostalgia in a lot of people. The fact that almost every scene is shot in long takes makes it even more immersive.
It can drag quite a bit at times. With a runtine of almost four hours and a pace so slow it would make Andrei Tarkovsky jealous, it was always going to drag, but it never stops being completely entrancing and heartbreaking.
This is a must-watch.
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My wife walked out of this grim film after the first half-hour. I stayed to the end and was not sorry. It's NOT entertainment... more a slice of life.
The lives portrayed are not those we should emulate. Most of the film concerns the lowest rungs of the social ladder: people not favored by nature or by nurture. Their backdrop is a bleak industrial landscape that Americans would call "Rust Belt". Their plans often go awry in catastrophic ways. Their relationships seem to impoverish rather than uplift them. Their language, as far as I can understand it, is simple mutterings with indistinct pronunciation and little melody. It's no wonder the director killed himself soon after finishing this film.
So why did I give this big downer a nine on a scale of ten? There is art that entertains us -- America seems to have entirely too much entertainment, to the point that entertainers' opinions are taken too seriously and some are even elected to high office. Then there is art that shows us the realities that we may not be seeing because they are too distant geographically or psycho-socially. This is one of those films. It splendidly reveals one side of modern life in China, a side that has echoes in our own past and present. This is a picture of the Americans who die from Fentanyl overdose (a drug largely supplied by China, btw). It explains why some people would rather vote for a change -- any change -- rather than continuation of the status quo, and will forgive any amount of chicanery if it makes life better on the margins.
In this crucial moment of history, when Asia and possibly the wider world are threatened with a catastrophic corona-virus pandemic that could decimate China's economy and its population (if not the world's), An Elephant Sitting Still is a poignant look at those who will surely be first to die. Mean and backwards as they seem, they should not be forgotten.
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Production Company
Dongchun Films
Release Date Mar 8, 2019
Duration 3 h 50 m
Awards
Golden Horse Film Festival
• 3 Wins & 8 Nominations
CinEuphoria Awards
• 2 Wins & 7 Nominations
Shanghai Film Critics Awards
• 5 Nominations