An Elephant Sitting Still

Incredibly sensitive, and painfully sad.—The cinematography is amazing from a technical standpoint, but even more so from a narrative one.—Every scene and shot is stretched out near its breaking point, but not a one felt too long.—The acting is very subdued but effective.—The final shot offers the only redemption in an otherwise bleak world, and keeps the movie from being pointlessly nihilistic.—The score is beautiful, and its sparse appearance in the movie is close to perfect.

Maybe it's blasphemous to say this, but the style here, equal parts traditional slow cinema and Bressonian takes of people, is unnecessarily difficult to follow at a length of 4 hours. Still, the smothering cloudy gloom is very engrossing, and that last hour is simply...pain.

Some interesting camera work in terms of framing and composition that makes me assume Hu Bo was somewhat of a photography enthusiast. While I responded rather strongly to its underlying sentiment, its style becomes tiring after a while and the story - or lack thereof - in no way justifies it's insanely bloated running time. As a debut, however, it offers signs of incredible maturity and skill, making Hu Bo's passing even harder to comprehend or accept.

I'm going to give this a 70 because I admire it, not because I overly enjoyed it. The last hour or so was compelling but the other three hours was considerably less so. But it's a movie with an interesting (and challenging) style, opting for more close-up intimate shots almost exclusively; lots of shots of backs, walking and sitting. Very sad in its washed out colours and character actions. Wonderful soundtrack. But nothing happens most of the time. It didn't need 4 hours.

This is, without hyperbole, the most piercing depiction of a depressive fugue state I have ever -- ever -- experienced in my entire life. A thoroughly downbeat masterpiece of remarkable proportions whose cinematic language is entirely its own, with the only formalist reference points being that of apocalyptical arthouse extraordinaire Béla Tarr (who, unsurprisingly, mentored Bo) and Gus Van Sant's 'Elephant.' An uncompromising swan song that acts as a cry for compassion in a world gone cold.

There is no more appropriate title this could have been given. This slumbering beast of a film has convinced many critics of its worth but I couldn't get on board. Four hours of nothing.

cansiz balina toplumsal histeri yaratirken filin sesi bir grup insana umut veriyor

Didn't the people working on this film notice that Hu Bo was suicidal? Did they try to help him? I might be being unfair with them, but everything about this film screams "cry for help".

4 saatlik filmin 1,5 saati bir yerlere yürüyen karakterleri arka omuz dibinden takip ederek, 1,5 saati de ortalama 1-3 kelimelik cümleler kurulmadan önce sessizce beklenen 10 saniyelerin toplamıyla geçti. bu bela tarr özentisi anlamsızlıklar olmasa daha iyi bir puanı hak edecek bir film.

Capricórnio

Well-crafted despair. Didn't think I would have the endurance when I started but I found it difficult to stop watching. Great cinematography, subtle soundtrack. Narrative gets a bit too implausible for me towards the end but remains in touch with the tone of the whole. I don't know if it's just the elephant but something about it reminds me of Murakami.

The most demanding cinematic experience to ever cross my path. The ridiculously slow pacing and 4 hour run-time add extra weight on these ultra-depressing images of sad people being sad. The cinematography is great, but not for everyone; expect endless blurry steady-cam shots of peoples necks and backs. Hypnotizing.

AESS's unique, singular one take style has most of the really significant, shocking events taking place just outside of the frame, The mise-en-scene is often brilliant; the actors and the camera move about deceptively casually before settling into immaculately composed shots. The film making is fluid and natural but precise and controlled at the same time. Nor is it easy to take four separate stories and weave them together in a way that makes them feel like one.

Very bleak portrayal of modern Chinese society that manages to be utterly compelling despite its slow pace due to fantastic character work, exceptional intimate cinematography, and evocative performances.

This is probably the most depressive movie i've ever seen. You feel, everyone in the movie could commit suicide at any moment, thanks god only two came true. Camera work, script, acting and of course directing are all good. But i feel disturbed about that how can noone tried to help bo hu( rip), while shooting this suicidal movie. People taking depression treatment should not watch it. It could be dangerous.

A sombre piece, taking place over one day, following several characters, each with little hope of escaping their downtrodden life, only the fabled elephant offering something to aim for. The characters are written and performed with nuance and we really get to know them. It does feel long - that Hu opted to shoot long takes, often following a character without action or dialogue, serves to make this a tough sit at times. But it pays dividends if one is in the mood for its relentless misery.

It feels wrong in a way to suggest this film is too long/slow given the background of its creation, but I would be lying if I said it didn't feel its length and that I wasn't checking the runtime repeatedly throughout my viewing. There just isn't four hours' worth of story here. There's a great film inside of An Elephant Sitting Still waiting to be chiseled away at. Hu Bo left us the entire slab of marble, knowing how incredible the statue encased within it is.

????"????????????????"??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????/????????????

i’ve always thought that shallow depth of field looks kinda sappy

Majestic.

Acho que saber do suicídio do diretor leva toda essa tragédia épica a um outro entendimento, num primeiro momento o elefante que permeia o filme soa como algo utópico, um resto de esperança a ser perseguido, mas se não for isso? Se for o último e derradeiro lamento de uma alma? Ele não é visto, apenas ouvido, depois de quatro horas de pura desesperança, seria então o fim de tudo? Na Mubi.

A slow-paced look into the intertwined lives of four people caught in a miserable chain of actions and reactions that they seem unable to escape.

Hu's death is a tragedy however this film is tiresome and repetitive, representative of the sort of grim art cinema legacy that Bela Tarr has left us with. i by no means want films to be 'digestible' nor need them to be 'fun' but these sorts of overlong depression films are becoming trite

Methodical with a heavy atmosphere of despair and absurdism. Enjoyed the sombre tone throughout. Was moved by the plight of each the four main characters as they tried to find happiness and meaning.

???? ? ??? ???? ??? ? ???? ?????????? ???? ????? ??? ???. ??? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ? ????????? ???? ?? ?? ??? ???? ????? ????? ?????. ???? ??????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ????????? ? ???????? ?????? (?? ???? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ????? ???? ???) ????????? ???? ????? ??? ???

"new places, new sufferings"

Nihilism and impossibility of dreaming that come from the infection of resentment in a deprived and proletarianized world. We are our own hell and dump. An attempt to express this desperation, but do we, including the director himself, know exactly what questions we should be asking so that we can understand what desperation exactly we are living in?

Surely this one has a charm because of the director's suicide, being both his debut and his swan song, but it's a mostly flat and colorless experience. People are comparing this to Béla Tarr, but, to be frank, I don't see any connection apart from the film's duration; it just pales in comparison.