What struck me most in the film was when one of the killers killed his accomplice. In the previous scenes, we noticed that they were very good friends, they even had sex together and the fact that he shot his friend in cold blood shocked me. We saw that they were very close to each other and that they wanted to die together, but the death of Eric happened very fast and Dylan wasn't affected by what just happened and by what he had just done. Gus Van Sant said that he didn't want to represent the suicide of the two killers, but in my opinion, showing Dylan killing Eric was even worse. It shows how a man can be so ruthless and hearthless even towards his own friend.
2) What also impressed you?
What also impressed me was the moment when Dylan and Eric were visiting a website where people could buy weapons. It seems so easy to order guns and to get them delivered a few days after. Even if I knew that guns were legal in the USA, I didn't know that it was so easy to get them. What I mean is, that they are minors and they weren't aware of the gravity of their acts.
3) Did you find anything more particularly upsetting?
What was more particularly upsetting for me, is that when both killers got into the school with their guns, people were present in the corridors and they saw them, but they didn't react. It felt like if it was usual to walk with guns into a school. And what was even more shocking, is that the people who saw the killers didn't run away or scream. They acted as if everything was normal.
4) What did you find very disturbing?
What I found very disturbing could be the very long film sequences, when for example, we follow the jock from the back for a very long time. Moreover, there is a threatening music during this sequence, which creates a lot of suspense. In fact, the viewer is waiting for the arrival of the killers since the beginning of the movie and these long sequences hold him spellbound.
5) What was most shocking?
What was most shocking was the choice of Gus Van Sant to show the massacre without any background music, only the sound of the screams and of the gunshots. The film director may have wanted us to live the shooting just like the students had. This scene was shocking for me because the lack of music shows how the killers are pitiless towards the students and the teachers. The aim was to make a very realistic scene, and without any poetry contrary to other scenes of the movie, when we were expecting this scene to be poetic in order to mitigate the violence of the massacre.
6) What does the film suggest about the two school shooters?
The film suggests the desire of dying from the killers. Before going to the Colombine school, they knew that they were going to die and they didn't seem anxious about it. It may be because they don't care about life, they never assumed their own existence. They never found out who they really were, it seems like they are going through an identity crisis. In fact, this may be one of the reason that brought them to have sex together. Maybe by doing this they would learn something more about themselves.
7) What's more, what does the film director make clear about the two killers?
This film didn't want to give a manichaean vision of the event. They aren't any good guys and bad guys, I mean even if John is depicted as an angel because of his blond hair and his pale skin, the killers aren't portrayed as the "bad guys". Even if what they did was terrible, Gus Van Sant showed them as sensitive people. Indeed, we see that Dylan plays the piano brilliantly and we can deduce that he's a normal teenager. Plus, the choice of showing the bullying that Dylan has suffered could probably explain the massacre, so the viewer would understand what generated the killers'violence.
8) What kind of approach to the school shooting itself did Gus Van Sant opt for?
Gus Van Sant has decided to put the massacre at the end of the movie, so the viewer could get to know some students and the killers beforehand. In a way, Gus Van Sant wanted us to identify ourselves as the relatives of the victims : we get attached to the characters, and then they are killed, except John, and we feel powerless. The scene of the school shooting is quite shocking because it's very real, without any background music or film technique, except the slowmotion at the beginning. The death of Michelle is what opens the massacre and we are flabbergasted because we weren't expecting to see the blood, for example. Actually, the movie is full of poetic scenes and we thought that Gus Van Sant wanted to hide the violence of the massacre thanks to his poetry.
9) Moreover, what's the main consequence of the realistic treatment he uses? What about the 'poetic' touches he instills throughout the film?
The main consequence of the realistic treatment he uses could be that the shooting becomes a lot more striking for the viewer. The movie is full of contrasts because of the difference between the shooting scene and the poetic scenes. For example, after the death of the jock (the killers'main target), we can see a blue sky. Another example could be the scene where Dylan is playing the piano, and we can observe his room. Even when the movie shows the killers, we have some poetic touches, but when it comes to the massacre, Gus Van Sant wanted to show it in a very realistic way. Maybe he didn't want to lie to the viewers, he wanted them to see what really happened. It can also be considered as a sign of respect towards the family of the victims, because what happened was a tragedy and we can't deny that.
10) As a conclusion, what must we admit about the way in which the killing and the killers are perceived by the film viewers?
Even if Gus Van Sant wanted to portray the killers as normal teenagers, the film viewer can't help to feel some kind of hatred towards Dylan and Eric. Plus, I don't think that Gus Van Sant wanted to defend the killers, on the contrary. If he chose to show us innocent people at the beginning of the movie like Michelle for example, it is to tell us that Dylan and Eric killed innocent people just for the pleasure of killing. Moreover, the actors playing the part of Dylan and Eric were smiling and laughing when they were shooting at people. This shows how all of this was a game to them. We can conclude that Gus Van Sant devalues the killers but in an implicit way. Maybe his aim wasn't to denounce the act of the killers, but to criticize the fact that in the United States, it is too easy to get yourself some weapons.
Very well done, Héloïse. This is a crowning achievement.
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