Roger Ebert praised the film and gave it 4 out of 4 stars writing " Gus Van Sant 's '' Elephant '' is a violent movie in the sense that many innocent people are shot dead . But it is n't violent in the way it presents those deaths . There is no pumped-up style , no lingering , no release , no climax . Just implacable , poker-faced , flat , uninflected death . Truffaut said it was hard to make an anti-war film because war was exciting even if you were against it . Van Sant has made an anti-violence film by draining violence of energy , purpose , glamor , reward and social context . It just happens . I doubt that '' Elephant '' will ever inspire anyone to copy what they see on the screen . Much more than the insipid message movies shown in social studies classes , it might inspire useful discussion and soul-searching among high school students . " The Red Lake shootings that occurred in 2005 were briefly blamed on the film , as it was viewed by gunman Jeff Weise 17 days prior to the event . A friend of Weise said that he brought the film over to a friend 's house and skipped ahead to parts that showed two students planning and carrying out a school massacre . Although they talked about the film afterwards , Weise said and did nothing to make anyone suspect what he was planning
Red Lake shootings
Red Lake shootings
Elephant (2003 film)