Hey i just wanted to say this as an Irish man who has studied troubles history, the “prologue” if you may call it that to the video where you explain the video feels quite rushed and not very well researched and seems to brush over the troubles as a war between two factions who simply hated eachother for no reason. While you say the country suffered devastating attacks from the IRA you fail to mention the equally horrific attacks on civilians done by loyalist paramilitaries which yknow, if youre making a video on the troubles you may be expected to include that bit too. The troubles was started after the NATIVE Irish population in the north was suffering horrific oppression and discrimination from British colonisers… which after years heated up deep resentment which eventually caused to pot to boil over in January 1971 when British Army Soldiers murdered 14 innocent Irish civilians and wounded 14 others who were campaigning for civil rights in Derry.
I made this video over a year ago, and I honestly regret how I handled the intro. I think I just wanted to talk about the film itself more, which was the wrong frame of mind to have when covering such a sensitive topic. If UA-cam allowed re-editing videos to change parts I would to the intro in a heartbeat. I know everyone says this same line, but since this video came out I have genuinely educated myself on the complete history and impact the troubles had on history on both sides of the coin, and since this video I have put much more care into appropriately representing the political contexts covered (e.g. in my video about The War Game) Gonna pin this comment just to make everything more clear going forward, and again, I am genuinely sorry if anyone has felt uncomfortable and/or upset by any inaccuracies.
@@reubengvTV Theres absolutely no bother lad, im glad to hear youve learnt more about the troubles. Im re reading my original comment and im sorry if it came out a bit tongue in cheek, that wasnt my intention.
@@reubengvTV i was a bit annoyed by the rushed intro, but pinning that new comment over a year after the video was released shows you do care about accuracy. when you couldve instead just just deleted the video or ignored the comment, you instead retroactively fixed it as much as youtube allows you to, while acknowledging the mistake. no one is perfect, the best we can do is learn from our mistakes, and that is exactly what you have done
'horrific oppression and discrimination from British colonisers' - horrific oppression? You are living in a fantasyland. If you want to see what horrific oppression looks like then go to Syria, Iran, or Ukraine. By comparison NI in the 60s and 70s was a paradise.
@@jimmythe-gent There are many reasons that can be summed up by "Google 'The Troubles'" but a detailed explanation was probably too long for a UA-cam comment
This doesn't even touch on the worst parts of a 30 years conflict. This was everyday life. If you tried to make a modern day version of Chicago, it would be a feature length movie with a series of just annual murders.
@@emitizmo7456 what is this, a competition? neither side was good. "oh but you guys killed more people so you're the baddies!!!" though if you want a definitive answer, wikipedia says 60% of deaths were the responsibility of republican paramilitaries. which i do find funny since a lot of people seem to perceive the IRA as "freedom fighters" when they were not much more than terrorists.
Just a thought, I think the victim in #9 was the killer in #6, the little conversation they have before the murder may be the only exposition in the whole film.
A correction: Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were already separate at the beginning of the Troubles - that border was drawn as part of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, after the Irish War of Independence. The Troubles was a conflict between Unionists and Republicans in (British-controlled) Northern Ireland. No borders were redrawn in the Good Friday agreement.
Yeah, I worded that wrong. I know that the original partition was in the 20s but I was saying how the Good Friday Agreement led to what it's like NOW, where violence is minimal to none. :)
Second correction: There is no such country as 'The Republic of Ireland'. That's just what the Brits insist on calling it. It's Ireland. It happens to be a republic I suppose, but it's called Ireland.
@@rdrrr you could probably guess that 'whatever reason' actually means a lot to me and I spend a lot of time reading about it. My guess is that as the empire falls, there is less pressure on its denizens to retroactively justify their behaviour. So less racism. That being said, I don't think the British govt will stop the 'Republic of Ireland' nonsense any time soon. They still have to retroactively justify their war on Palestine, at least until it's over. Recognising sovereignty is a slippery slope towards a society of empathy and the imperial core obviously has to resist that to continue existing.
Just realized these killings are remarkably similar to a dream I had. I was sitting in a restaurant of some kind don't know which and someone just walks up to me with a gun and no hesitation shoots me in the head. It didn't instantly go black it was more like the next thing I knew I was on the floor of the restaurant with my ears ringing then I slowly faded out. Woke up in cold sweat and confused as it's extremely unusual for a dream of mine to be that intense.
Strange, I've had a similar dream a few times before, getting shot in the head, and it was basically the same thing you described - ringing in the ears and slowly fading out. Also felt like my hair was damp on that spot of the head where the shot entered, as well as pain, as if someone hit me with a hammer in that spot.
I've had 2 dreams where I was shot in the head and its literally the scariest thing I've ever experienced, cant even describe the sense of relief I had when I woke up and realised I was fine.
I think The biggest takeaway I got after watching elephant in its entirety is just how horrible violence is, it removes all flags, all uniforms, all motives, all identifiers and it just shows random people being killed for no real reason and the meaninglessness of the killings makes them all the more revolting compared to a gorrier scene in some action flick. Killing number four is probably the best because it seems like the gunman is just looking for anyone to take revenge, doesnt matter who it is because he Searches both womens and mens restrooms, he just wants someone to kill for revenge and that stare when the civilian realizes theres no way out is just both terrifying and extremely saddening.
@@purest_evil The flick isn't about "all of real world conflict", it's about a very specific conflict and a time in that conflict, and the comment you replied to isn't talking about that conflict, but the meaninglessness of violence as a phenomena in general. Your foreword to this statement reveals the level of the intellectual credibility of the statement itself, so the comment isn't a real shocker as a whole. Touch grass mate.
@@ericcricket4877 bro you're gay and so is all of this speculated meaning on this movie; While the troubles looked like it was just people killing people through a naive gay hippy glass; it had an actual real world basis for why this happened. Violence always has a reason no matter how unconnected some victims may be, stupid to say it's solely meaningless since a lot of things have been accomplished with violence in mind. Ps I touch grass a lot, try touching ass instead hippy
brother said sum about foreword to this statement reveals the level of the intellectual credibility of the statement itself then ended with touch grass mate@@ericcricket4877
I had to research this film as part of my A-Level Film Studies course. A lot of people saw it as meaningless but as someone who researched the history of The Troubles, this movie really moved me. It truly shows how dark those times were.
@@S71ck-111What find joy by looking back on a bloody past where both sides commited atrocities? And were meant to find joy on that? Oh well sorry we cant be fucking happy everytime we look back on history but i guess thats just pessimism to understand some parts of history are pretty dark Guess we should just be ignorant of the past and repeat it i guess but hey then we wont be so pessimistic ay?
Those were targeted shootings and not "random" as our narrator believes. The people shot typically were suspected of collusion with British security forces or Protestant militias.
Or killed by loyalists or the ruc/udr/british army sure, but the point of the film is that it doesnt give a background about any of the murders so it could be either. but yeah they usually were rarely random except in cases of some sectarian killings
Wow I'm glad they put a strong language warning on this movie to help tell us its not suitable for children. My little ones definitely would have been scarred for life if they had heard such vulgarity.
Fascinating! The killings feel so indiscriminate and impersonal, yet somehow personal, as they would have had some familiarity with the victims, particularly the home invasion ones.
@@shidbot123 both sides had paramilitaries like the IRA and UVF that murdered civilians over sectarianism. It was petty, useless and brutal for no good reason other than just not liking someone's religion and political views.
7:04 this is actually how i learned of this film; the music video for schoolboy Q's song "Dangerous" is a redo of killing 15, just recontextualized amid west coast gang violence. noticeably, in Dangerous there is actually retaliation, for an eye for an eye makes the world blind
lowk prefer the bright eyes version of this quote "they'll take eye for an eye until no one can see, and we must stumble blindly forward repeating history" it's a pretty grim and desolate worldview, but unfortunately that's just the world we live in
I can't help thinking the showrunner of the oft-overlooked yet utterly seminal UK cult-classic _Utopia_ (2013), Dennis Kelly, may have been influenced by this. The killings-S1E3's school shooting sequence in particular-share this same, perfunctory quality to their brutality that when paired with a similarly unflinching wide-angle view and equally masterful use of purely diegetic sound-design, serve to impart to the violence a level of realism and emotional heft which upon first viewing, short-circuited my de-sensitisation like virtually nothing else before or since. Notably, to quote the man himself: "The only violence I'm offended by, is that which isn't intended to shock the audience."
The transitions, backstory, editing, and quick context provided in this video really are just so intriguing to watch. This video really is a well rounded circle of a perfect video essay, amazing work.
The movie really highlights the dullness of killings, one after another losing meaning and becoming more null as the times continue to worsen day by day. The deaths don't need meaning, it is the death and the killing itself that speaks more than words could ever convey in this film. Meaningless death for a battle that never trully got a worthwhile conclusion, a page in history that mean would rather skip than read.
The violence was so wild the Irish Nationalists would work with the Brits to figure out what was a genuinely criminal case, for which the police could pursue, and what was a political action of war. Rather, the Nationalists threw the Brits a bone and helped us out lol. A friend of mine, very learned gentlemen, met in a pub with IRA officers and listed out reported violent crime in the area for the IRA to "claim" as their own. Otherwise they would explain who they suspect was behind the crime or declare that they know nothing about it. Apparently, they were largely truthful, quite happy to declare what was their own violence and quite quick to disparage violent criminals who were doing nothing but taking advantage of the poor situation. One fellow was happy and smiley, the other was a human brick who didn't speak a word. What a time in history.
i really appreciate your commentary on this. i'm not much of a film person, nor would i have ever heard of this before you, so it's super interesting learning about it and its origins. also: thank you for the captions. i'm sure they take up a good extra chunk of time but they're very helpful
I really don't think the emotion is acceptance. I think it is just looking at a strange you hear walking up behind you in a restroom, and glancing back. He hasn't had time to notice the gun, or register any danger.
That's a fair interpretation. It's just that there's so much time between when they each other and when the murder takes place that that's how I saw it
The Irish kid screaming "SHIT!" is the only moment in this film where human emotions are expressed. It's crass but you can really feel the terror in his voice.
Always excited to see a new reuben video drop! The topics you choose to cover are always so interesting and your style just keeps me enraptured the entire way through. You made a joke about ruining the atmosphere but when you do these creepier topics, you always manage to keep the tension despite the commentary and context you add. Beautiful video as always and can’t wait for the next one!
I'm on a two-video streak on videos about some sort of death. Go me. Anyway, subscribe. EDIT: My wording is really bad at the beginning. The GF Agreement wasn't the cause of the partition, rather a factor which ended the conflict as a whole (as it happened in the 1920s). My narration at surface level implies that it causes the partition of republic/northern, which isn't true, and I apologise for that!
Your video and ELEPHANT itself completely, utterly re-textualizes Gus van Zant's film of the same name. I had no idea where the title came from and man a lot is coming together in my head. Amazing vid, subbed.
I love how theres no mention as to whether the gun men are UVF or IRA, that's just..how things were here, and it perfectly sums up how violence had become an everyday thing, where you don't even question what side people were on
I remember coming across Elephant showing randomly on a loop in an exhibit at Sonar Festival in the MACBA 2003. I had no idea what it was or who it was by but it drew me in and I sat and watched it loop for a few times in a bit of a dreamlike daze.
I'd like to correct some of the blatant over simplification at the start of the video. The Troubles are part of British and Irish history, not just British history. The country also wasnt all under British rule at the time, like it seems to imply. The Republic of Ireland has been independent since 1949. Northern Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. The Troubles were fought between Loyalists who wanted Northern Ireland to stay part of the UK, and Republicans who wanted Northern Ireland to unify with the Republic as one nation. The conflict was marred by horrific, indiscriminate violence on both sides. IRA atrocities as mentioned in this video, as well as atrocities by the loyalist UVF (with a lot of evidence to suggest that the British government was complicit in it). Things like the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, bombings and shootings in Dundalk and Louth, etc. It is important to remember that both factions were equally reprehensible, and killed many of the same people they allegedly fought for. The IRA routinely murdered Irish Catholic civilians and police officers, as did the UVF kill British Prostestant civilians and police.
small but important correction, Republicans (distinguishable from general Nationalists) didn't recognise the partition of Ireland at all, and saw both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as illegitimate. Rather, they fought both since the Irish Civil War (although conflict was heavily concentrated in NI), and wanted to establish the old Irish Republic from 1919.
Thank you for the added context because as a young English man, from my perspective the history seems to get quite misconstrued and blurry. I appreciate you laying down some facts
F4om someone from Belfast and my father was murdered by loyalists for only being Catholic, so many pointless deaths and this film hits hard. I thought it was similar to Shilders list.
small correction being that these are murders rather than killings, there is a distinction, given that none of the victims are armed or combatants. great video though, looks to be a fascinating film.
almost all of them as those guns mostly show almost no recoil at all (with a few exeptions) A special feat is that sniper shot from the hip at a running target over some 30 meters with a shortened double barrel (blackpowder??) shotgun as depicted at 7:18
I think all the commenters have said enough about my thoughts on this video (it's great), but I just wanted to express how much I liked that opening. I feel a lot of great video essays lose clicks early on because people lose their attention, but your video title combined with the rapid showcase of all the film's killings was an instant hook. Amazing job!
Thats the templemore baths in the first scene. I took swimming lessons there when I was 7 or 8. There was another pool not shown in the film that was unused, during the war it was used to hold the dead coming back from europe when there was no room in the hospitals and morgues.
Damn, your editing skills are improving with each video and so is your script! The interjection with the director's comments and his own were on point. Alas, I tought that you were going to talk about the 2003 film heheh
I love how every time it cuts to a new killing, sometimes you can't tell if the person you're following is a victim or a killer. I think it captures the paranoia and the fear of living in those times perfectly.
This really reminds me of another piece of british media that involved alot of murders done in a similar way; Utopia. I wonder if particular scences in Utopia were influenced by Elephant with it's unemotional and borderline sterile feel to its assasination scenes.
Man I saw clips of this on a documentary circa 2004 / 05, when I was making horror / crime / invasion literature comics, for years I've been wondering what it was! Finally I find out what it's called! And it looks like the whole thing is on UA-cam, too.
These random killings in all sort of different professions and the notion that those guys had already some altercation before and were beknown and identifiable amongst each other makes it feel like an escalated hooligan feud!
@QIKUGAMES-QIKU You're right( *from a historical standpoint* ), the victims of each Murder were approved by a higher "council" in MOST cases(I'm talking about real History here), it was still awful, *relatively* random and the Murder of a Civilian!, it's not like people got a warning, although a "24 hour, get out of this community" warning was sometimes issued for other crimes(oh yeah, both sides "policed" their neighbourhoods) there are nuances (like the fact that the "Remain" side were just as likely to commit this sort of atrocity (I am from one of these backgrounds myself, violence was so normalized that by age 7 I was making petrol bombs after seeing so many used around me, on TV and Irl) I spent part of Adult life in these area's/circumstances and twice(once after a gig and once after a night club) myself and my friend were targeted, luckily we got away(there is an element of dark comedy in even that, the car that tried to run us both over missed and crashed into a wall and we after debating it(the 4 lads inside were very badly hurt) we called an ambulance. It becomes normalised to such an extent that the day after something awful happens you are *NOT* rocking back and forth muttering to yourself, you'll talk to your mate and say "that was mad, wasn't it?", and that's it. Chilling film, lot of memories coming back.
Only one mistake in this film .. the age of the murderers. They should have been all in their late teens and early twenties at the oldest. That may have woken more people up (or at least started a discussion) as to who was actually doing the killing and subsequently spending their lives in jail because of those murders. The amount of suicides, mental health problems and drugs and drink problems among ex-paramilitaries' as (and still is) staggering.
Surprised I never heard of this before. I'm from Northern Ireland, born just two years after the Good Friday Agreement, and I've heard all kinds of stories about the awful shit that happened here. Still does in some places
A very interesting film and once again an amazing analysis on the film in question. It's a very bizarrely yet amazingly shot film with no real plot behind it. This style of obscure short film fascinates me.
I saw 'Elephant' really late one night, it being on when I woke up from a nap, I'm guessing BBC2 or Channel 4, and until this evening have always thought I maybe imagined or dreamed it. I've recounted this story to many people but noone has ever seen it! Not sure if I'm glad it's real or whether it would have been better lodged in my memory as a 'not sure...' Brutal, but in context pretty apt!
I saw this short film a bit differently. I don't see random killings (except for the janitor that seems completely random) but as targeted assassinations. Like in the two killings where one guy runs away and one is killed. You say he "escaped" but in both cases the gunner doesnt make an attempt to kill the second guy, he doesn't even bat an eye. It seems like they had a target in mind.
The scenes legit reminded me of Balabanov's Brat duology especially the in door sawed off scene. The violence are realistic and loud in the first film.
There was a U.S. version of this movie as well, which revolved around a school shooting. Still some of the best dialogue of teenagers I’ve ever seen, and the realistic scenarios, which makes it all the more brutal once the shooting starts.
All sorts of firearms were imported into Ireland and used by the IRA (and to a lesser extent the UVF and loyalist forces), most notably M16s and Barrett M82s.
Dude thank you for telling me about this, I'm actually gonna pause and go watch it real quick, i love Danny Boyle. I love your channel, been here since the first video. I noticed your videos haven't been as popular as the first one, i wanted to say don't get discouraged, persistence is key with UA-cam and you have the talent, so keep it up and you're going to do great things, guaranteed. You're literally already doing it!
Something that I like about this is that it portrays pity. In most popular movies, when someone is killed, you don't normally get to see the body. Maybe a glimpse to show it happened, but not enough for you to feel pity. Elephant lets the image of the corpse set in. It shows the person on the receiving end. The stories aren't about the murderer this time. It's about the victims. The victims are normally dehumanised, just used as a prop to further a plot or add drama to a scene. With Elephant, the victim is the drama. They keep a long shot on the body with no music to show the true loneliness that they died around. In real life, there's no grand theme track, no ambience. Just a body, and the footsteps of the murderer walking away.
Sometimes the camera favours the killer, sometimes the victim. Because of this, we can't be sure who is the one going to be killed, and whose going to be the shooter
From the way this was written you'd think the British had done nothing with their military in this conflict to maybe incite such tactics from their opposition.
Just gotta say another amazing video you are really unique on with the shows you do on your channel, very unique and pretty much unheard of and that is what I like about you’re channel. Keep it up 👍👍👍
As an Irish person, Im genuinely glad that this was represented in such media, and so bluntly and outright. By the time the Troubles ended, so so many innocent had died with no more rhyme, no reason, just pure senseless cruelty and sectarian hate, and Im glad it's represented here.
There was a reason, if there wasn't it wouldnt have gone on so long. Loyalists believed they were going to be absorbed into some hyper-Catholic backwards state. Republicans (not necessarily regular nationalists) believed they were going to complete the work of 1916 and 1919, and finally bring about the all-island Irish Republic defeated in the Civil War. These beliefs were only further entrenched in people's heads as tit for tat killings went out of control. But to dismiss the entire thing as having no reasoning behind it is dangerous.
Scene #15 is what American rapper Schoolboy Q depicted in his video for the song “Dangerous”. I always thought it was a bit artsy for the current times.
I enjoyed the videos, and all your previous, but unlike your others, this felt like a summery of Elephant, if this is what you were going for, it was a great summery.
If I'm being honest, I don't want to stick my nose into an issue I genuinely don't know that much about, which is why I give surface-level analysis in fear of getting stuff wrong lol
The last kill is very confusing. I can imagine the kills previously are all people being killed by the opposing side of the troubles but what situation in real life would have someone so casually walking in and willingly getting shot?
Maybe it’s meant to signify that he violence was confusing, it didn’t make sense it just happened and I also heard their all based on real shootings in Ireland
As someone from punjab (India) we are going through this similar divide of people who want to form a separate country and people who want to stay part of india right now Idk what's going to happen in the future cause things are not that intense rn but we can't be sure
Why doesn’t your local broadcaster show this on television? It’s bound to have an impact on your local population. After all, you have to understand what went on in Ireland to understand what happened in India.
@@chrishenniker5944 for that to be done they have to have some sort of awareness and intellectual observation skills Which they have brainwashed from the public The media is all bought by the government its all propaganda
Hey i just wanted to say this as an Irish man who has studied troubles history, the “prologue” if you may call it that to the video where you explain the video feels quite rushed and not very well researched and seems to brush over the troubles as a war between two factions who simply hated eachother for no reason. While you say the country suffered devastating attacks from the IRA you fail to mention the equally horrific attacks on civilians done by loyalist paramilitaries which yknow, if youre making a video on the troubles you may be expected to include that bit too. The troubles was started after the NATIVE Irish population in the north was suffering horrific oppression and discrimination from British colonisers… which after years heated up deep resentment which eventually caused to pot to boil over in January 1971 when British Army Soldiers murdered 14 innocent Irish civilians and wounded 14 others who were campaigning for civil rights in Derry.
I made this video over a year ago, and I honestly regret how I handled the intro. I think I just wanted to talk about the film itself more, which was the wrong frame of mind to have when covering such a sensitive topic. If UA-cam allowed re-editing videos to change parts I would to the intro in a heartbeat.
I know everyone says this same line, but since this video came out I have genuinely educated myself on the complete history and impact the troubles had on history on both sides of the coin, and since this video I have put much more care into appropriately representing the political contexts covered (e.g. in my video about The War Game)
Gonna pin this comment just to make everything more clear going forward, and again, I am genuinely sorry if anyone has felt uncomfortable and/or upset by any inaccuracies.
@@reubengvTV Theres absolutely no bother lad, im glad to hear youve learnt more about the troubles. Im re reading my original comment and im sorry if it came out a bit tongue in cheek, that wasnt my intention.
@@reubengvTV i was a bit annoyed by the rushed intro, but pinning that new comment over a year after the video was released shows you do care about accuracy. when you couldve instead just just deleted the video or ignored the comment, you instead retroactively fixed it as much as youtube allows you to, while acknowledging the mistake. no one is perfect, the best we can do is learn from our mistakes, and that is exactly what you have done
'horrific oppression and discrimination from British colonisers' - horrific oppression? You are living in a fantasyland. If you want to see what horrific oppression looks like then go to Syria, Iran, or Ukraine. By comparison NI in the 60s and 70s was a paradise.
One thing that isn't mentioned in this video is that the filmmakers recreated *actual* shootings that had occurred based upon police reports.
Why did they happen though?
@@shidbot123 presumably differing political beliefs
@@smasher4291well everything can be simplified to that,, yeah,,
@@smasher4291that, plus centuries of abuse the Irish have endured at the hands of the Brit’s
@@jimmythe-gent There are many reasons that can be summed up by "Google 'The Troubles'" but a detailed explanation was probably too long for a UA-cam comment
What a fascinating and brutally simple way to depict such a dark time in Ireland’s history. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
This doesn't even touch on the worst parts of a 30 years conflict. This was everyday life. If you tried to make a modern day version of Chicago, it would be a feature length movie with a series of just annual murders.
@@mattmarzula Who killed more people? Be honest and say the truth, I dare you. Nationalists or unionists?
@@emitizmo7456
No idea. Who?
@@emitizmo7456 over what span of years are we talking?
@@emitizmo7456 what is this, a competition? neither side was good. "oh but you guys killed more people so you're the baddies!!!"
though if you want a definitive answer, wikipedia says 60% of deaths were the responsibility of republican paramilitaries. which i do find funny since a lot of people seem to perceive the IRA as "freedom fighters" when they were not much more than terrorists.
Just a thought, I think the victim in #9 was the killer in #6, the little conversation they have before the murder may be the only exposition in the whole film.
brilliant, you are propably right. Roughed up fokuhila from the night before, didn't bother to style it before playing with his mates.
A correction: Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were already separate at the beginning of the Troubles - that border was drawn as part of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, after the Irish War of Independence. The Troubles was a conflict between Unionists and Republicans in (British-controlled) Northern Ireland. No borders were redrawn in the Good Friday agreement.
Yeah, I worded that wrong. I know that the original partition was in the 20s but I was saying how the Good Friday Agreement led to what it's like NOW, where violence is minimal to none. :)
@@reubengvTV na dude you even animated ulster breaking off of the republic when you incorrectly explained it
Second correction:
There is no such country as 'The Republic of Ireland'. That's just what the Brits insist on calling it.
It's Ireland. It happens to be a republic I suppose, but it's called Ireland.
@@Eurynomos326 We used to call it "Southern Ireland" as well but for whatever reason that fell out of favour.
@@rdrrr you could probably guess that 'whatever reason' actually means a lot to me and I spend a lot of time reading about it.
My guess is that as the empire falls, there is less pressure on its denizens to retroactively justify their behaviour. So less racism.
That being said, I don't think the British govt will stop the 'Republic of Ireland' nonsense any time soon. They still have to retroactively justify their war on Palestine, at least until it's over.
Recognising sovereignty is a slippery slope towards a society of empathy and the imperial core obviously has to resist that to continue existing.
Just realized these killings are remarkably similar to a dream I had. I was sitting in a restaurant of some kind don't know which and someone just walks up to me with a gun and no hesitation shoots me in the head. It didn't instantly go black it was more like the next thing I knew I was on the floor of the restaurant with my ears ringing then I slowly faded out. Woke up in cold sweat and confused as it's extremely unusual for a dream of mine to be that intense.
Strange, I've had a similar dream a few times before, getting shot in the head, and it was basically the same thing you described - ringing in the ears and slowly fading out. Also felt like my hair was damp on that spot of the head where the shot entered, as well as pain, as if someone hit me with a hammer in that spot.
That's odd... i don't remember dreams at all, but when i have dreams exactly like this, i remember them like actual memories.
I've had 2 dreams where I was shot in the head and its literally the scariest thing I've ever experienced, cant even describe the sense of relief I had when I woke up and realised I was fine.
Do you recall what time you had the dream? Was it hypnagogic or hypnopompic maybe? For me, they are the ones that leave an imprint.
Well that's a blatant lie. Everyone knows that if you die in a dream you die in real life as well.
I think The biggest takeaway I got after watching elephant in its entirety is just how horrible violence is, it removes all flags, all uniforms, all motives, all identifiers and it just shows random people being killed for no real reason and the meaninglessness of the killings makes them all the more revolting compared to a gorrier scene in some action flick. Killing number four is probably the best because it seems like the gunman is just looking for anyone to take revenge, doesnt matter who it is because he Searches both womens and mens restrooms, he just wants someone to kill for revenge and that stare when the civilian realizes theres no way out is just both terrifying and extremely saddening.
Gay, that's not all of real world conflict
@@purest_evil The flick isn't about "all of real world conflict", it's about a very specific conflict and a time in that conflict, and the comment you replied to isn't talking about that conflict, but the meaninglessness of violence as a phenomena in general. Your foreword to this statement reveals the level of the intellectual credibility of the statement itself, so the comment isn't a real shocker as a whole. Touch grass mate.
@@ericcricket4877 bro you're gay and so is all of this speculated meaning on this movie; While the troubles looked like it was just people killing people through a naive gay hippy glass; it had an actual real world basis for why this happened. Violence always has a reason no matter how unconnected some victims may be, stupid to say it's solely meaningless since a lot of things have been accomplished with violence in mind.
Ps I touch grass a lot, try touching ass instead hippy
brother said sum about foreword to this statement reveals the level of the intellectual credibility of the statement itself then ended with touch grass mate@@ericcricket4877
@@yaman. Yeah. Balance is key my guy.
I had to research this film as part of my A-Level Film Studies course. A lot of people saw it as meaningless but as someone who researched the history of The Troubles, this movie really moved me. It truly shows how dark those times were.
It only moved you because your a filthy pessimist. Find some joy, will you?
@@S71ck-111What find joy by looking back on a bloody past where both sides commited atrocities? And were meant to find joy on that?
Oh well sorry we cant be fucking happy everytime we look back on history but i guess thats just pessimism to understand some parts of history are pretty dark
Guess we should just be ignorant of the past and repeat it i guess but hey then we wont be so pessimistic ay?
@@randompurpleslime8963 you can be a pessimist without sounding like a cunt
AICE Media Studies A level?
Those were targeted shootings and not "random" as our narrator believes. The people shot typically were suspected of collusion with British security forces or Protestant militias.
I was gonna say I could have sworn I read this part of history and "random murders" was the opposite of what it was.
Or killed by loyalists or the ruc/udr/british army sure, but the point of the film is that it doesnt give a background about any of the murders so it could be either. but yeah they usually were rarely random except in cases of some sectarian killings
Or vice versa, loyalist paramilitaries attack nationalists and other republicans
Wow I'm glad they put a strong language warning on this movie to help tell us its not suitable for children. My little ones definitely would have been scarred for life if they had heard such vulgarity.
Shut up bro I'm trying my best😭😭😭
SHIT!!!
They hear worse everyday at school, don’t worry.
@@Wonderkid44no
boo hoo
Fascinating! The killings feel so indiscriminate and impersonal, yet somehow personal, as they would have had some familiarity with the victims, particularly the home invasion ones.
Jea he knew that dude ot was either a hit or a case of pull up then and he pulled up
Why did these killings happen though?
@@shidbot123 could be mafia or gang related
@@shidbot123 both sides had paramilitaries like the IRA and UVF that murdered civilians over sectarianism. It was petty, useless and brutal for no good reason other than just not liking someone's religion and political views.
@@shidbot123the film depicts "the troubles", a period of severe political violence in Irish history
7:04 this is actually how i learned of this film; the music video for schoolboy Q's song "Dangerous" is a redo of killing 15, just recontextualized amid west coast gang violence. noticeably, in Dangerous there is actually retaliation, for an eye for an eye makes the world blind
Thats a cute little aphorism but its actually meaningless.
@@schnoz2372 😅there is meaning wherever I choose to see it
That's actually dope ASF
lowk prefer the bright eyes version of this quote "they'll take eye for an eye until no one can see, and we must stumble blindly forward repeating history"
it's a pretty grim and desolate worldview, but unfortunately that's just the world we live in
just looked up that music video and you are right
This is all I do in GMOD with all a bunch of realistic ragdoll mods and shit
It's pretty much standard practice in GMOD to do this kind of a thing... Maybe that is why the community has always had some loose screws.
Ok but imagine if said Ragdolls are sentient
I can't help thinking the showrunner of the oft-overlooked yet utterly seminal UK cult-classic _Utopia_ (2013), Dennis Kelly, may have been influenced by this. The killings-S1E3's school shooting sequence in particular-share this same, perfunctory quality to their brutality that when paired with a similarly unflinching wide-angle view and equally masterful use of purely diegetic sound-design, serve to impart to the violence a level of realism and emotional heft which upon first viewing, short-circuited my de-sensitisation like virtually nothing else before or since.
Notably, to quote the man himself: "The only violence I'm offended by, is that which isn't intended to shock the audience."
That is a perfect comparison, oh my god.
UTOPIA REFERENCE!!!
The transitions, backstory, editing, and quick context provided in this video really are just so intriguing to watch. This video really is a well rounded circle of a perfect video essay, amazing work.
i found the transitions to be annoying
everyone has their preferences in videos :)@@user-lw9yz
his backstory was wrong
The movie really highlights the dullness of killings, one after another losing meaning and becoming more null as the times continue to worsen day by day. The deaths don't need meaning, it is the death and the killing itself that speaks more than words could ever convey in this film. Meaningless death for a battle that never trully got a worthwhile conclusion, a page in history that mean would rather skip than read.
cool pfp btw
@@SenkaBandit appreciate it
The violence was so wild the Irish Nationalists would work with the Brits to figure out what was a genuinely criminal case, for which the police could pursue, and what was a political action of war. Rather, the Nationalists threw the Brits a bone and helped us out lol.
A friend of mine, very learned gentlemen, met in a pub with IRA officers and listed out reported violent crime in the area for the IRA to "claim" as their own. Otherwise they would explain who they suspect was behind the crime or declare that they know nothing about it. Apparently, they were largely truthful, quite happy to declare what was their own violence and quite quick to disparage violent criminals who were doing nothing but taking advantage of the poor situation.
One fellow was happy and smiley, the other was a human brick who didn't speak a word. What a time in history.
i really appreciate your commentary on this. i'm not much of a film person, nor would i have ever heard of this before you, so it's super interesting learning about it and its origins.
also: thank you for the captions. i'm sure they take up a good extra chunk of time but they're very helpful
I really don't think the emotion is acceptance. I think it is just looking at a strange you hear walking up behind you in a restroom, and glancing back. He hasn't had time to notice the gun, or register any danger.
That's a fair interpretation. It's just that there's so much time between when they each other and when the murder takes place that that's how I saw it
The Irish kid screaming "SHIT!" is the only moment in this film where human emotions are expressed. It's crass but you can really feel the terror in his voice.
Reuben, we've talked about this whole "shooting elephants thing", you cant just do that dude.
Always excited to see a new reuben video drop! The topics you choose to cover are always so interesting and your style just keeps me enraptured the entire way through. You made a joke about ruining the atmosphere but when you do these creepier topics, you always manage to keep the tension despite the commentary and context you add. Beautiful video as always and can’t wait for the next one!
I'm on a two-video streak on videos about some sort of death. Go me. Anyway, subscribe.
EDIT: My wording is really bad at the beginning. The GF Agreement wasn't the cause of the partition, rather a factor which ended the conflict as a whole (as it happened in the 1920s). My narration at surface level implies that it causes the partition of republic/northern, which isn't true, and I apologise for that!
Alright.
halloween!
Irish history has never been the forte of English folk...
Your video and ELEPHANT itself completely, utterly re-textualizes Gus van Zant's film of the same name. I had no idea where the title came from and man a lot is coming together in my head. Amazing vid, subbed.
Proof of all your Claims are Required.
It's all Fake and you know it.
The greatest short film of all time as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for bringing more attention to this gem.
Yeah, I love the story too. Maybe the dialogs could be shortened just a bit...
I love how theres no mention as to whether the gun men are UVF or IRA, that's just..how things were here, and it perfectly sums up how violence had become an everyday thing, where you don't even question what side people were on
Jolly pristine entertaining video, Reuben you have truly outdone yourself yet again. Bravo, i say Bravo!
With each video your “essay” voice gets better and more atmospheric!
In all honesty, I'm getting way more confident with my voice and narration with every video :)
I remember coming across Elephant showing randomly on a loop in an exhibit at Sonar Festival in the MACBA 2003. I had no idea what it was or who it was by but it drew me in and I sat and watched it loop for a few times in a bit of a dreamlike daze.
I'd like to correct some of the blatant over simplification at the start of the video. The Troubles are part of British and Irish history, not just British history.
The country also wasnt all under British rule at the time, like it seems to imply. The Republic of Ireland has been independent since 1949. Northern Ireland was part of the United Kingdom.
The Troubles were fought between Loyalists who wanted Northern Ireland to stay part of the UK, and Republicans who wanted Northern Ireland to unify with the Republic as one nation.
The conflict was marred by horrific, indiscriminate violence on both sides. IRA atrocities as mentioned in this video, as well as atrocities by the loyalist UVF (with a lot of evidence to suggest that the British government was complicit in it). Things like the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, bombings and shootings in Dundalk and Louth, etc.
It is important to remember that both factions were equally reprehensible, and killed many of the same people they allegedly fought for. The IRA routinely murdered Irish Catholic civilians and police officers, as did the UVF kill British Prostestant civilians and police.
small but important correction, Republicans (distinguishable from general Nationalists) didn't recognise the partition of Ireland at all, and saw both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as illegitimate.
Rather, they fought both since the Irish Civil War (although conflict was heavily concentrated in NI), and wanted to establish the old Irish Republic from 1919.
W evaluation tbh. Brutality on both sides
Thank you for the added context because as a young English man, from my perspective the history seems to get quite misconstrued and blurry. I appreciate you laying down some facts
they were not equally reprehensible
F4om someone from Belfast and my father was murdered by loyalists for only being Catholic, so many pointless deaths and this film hits hard. I thought it was similar to Shilders list.
Another W Reuben video
this the guy that does funny Minecraft what is bro doing here?
@@BVaecs Why do people act like i'm not allowed to watch youtube just cuz i make videos
@@notvixiosbecause your free will is no longer a thing when you're a celebrity, now stop commenting and act like one.
5:40 crying in your face? you have an amazing music taste man
true rdj fans will know
Another interesting video essay from you, Reuben. I swear old British media is built different
4:25 the light turning off was from the guy falling and knocking the plug out of the socket
I saw this and thought it was a Monty python sketch for about twenty minutes
small correction being that these are murders rather than killings, there is a distinction, given that none of the victims are armed or combatants. great video though, looks to be a fascinating film.
I used killings as the commentary I used repeatedly used that word - but that description equally applies :)
@@reubengvTV very understandable, feel like the king james bible blurred the line between the two hundreds of years ago anyway.
@obscure.reference How aren't these killings? People are being deprived of life.
@@aycentroid killing can be righteous or justified, murder is not. i think it is relevant to call murder something other than killing.
@obscure.reference I'd think it would be murder is always killing but killing isn't always murder. Like the square and rectangle saying
Reuben this essay was truly beautiful, keep it up lad
that guy has crazy recoil control
almost all of them as those guns mostly show almost no recoil at all (with a few exeptions)
A special feat is that sniper shot from the hip at a running target over some 30 meters with a shortened double barrel (blackpowder??) shotgun as depicted at 7:18
What is really disturbing is the acceptance of death by some victims, especially the last one.
"For some of us the trouble is the Elephant in our living room". A quote from the film Elephant depicting the events and emotions of the conflict.
I think all the commenters have said enough about my thoughts on this video (it's great), but I just wanted to express how much I liked that opening. I feel a lot of great video essays lose clicks early on because people lose their attention, but your video title combined with the rapid showcase of all the film's killings was an instant hook. Amazing job!
The Good Friday agreement was a peace agreement, it didn't split the Republic from the UK. They split in 1922.
Thats the templemore baths in the first scene. I took swimming lessons there when I was 7 or 8.
There was another pool not shown in the film that was unused, during the war it was used to hold the dead coming back from europe when there was no room in the hospitals and morgues.
It's the futility of it all that strikes me, all those lives lost (on both sides) to such pointless violence.
Perfect video. Thank you for introducing me to such an impacting film.
Ngl this movie is the best ad I've ever seen for Ring doorbells. I'm sold.
Damn, your editing skills are improving with each video and so is your script! The interjection with the director's comments and his own were on point.
Alas, I tought that you were going to talk about the 2003 film heheh
The shooting in Steve McQueens "Hunger", where the prison officer is visiting his elderly mother, feels like a nod to elephant.
Good Gracious what a film that is and a great video as well. Thank you for bringing this to YT so all of us can watch. Truly appreciated ❤
I had never heard of this film. Thanks for sharing!
Whoop whoop, another amazing vid bro. Keep up the work and you'll get to 20k 🔥👍
I love your videos man! You always talk about some spooky piece of media I’ve never heard of
This has to be the first video I have sat through without pausing or going away in a while
Thank you for introducing me to this fantastic film. One of the most aesthetically pleasing movies I've ever seen.
How?
Alan Clarke, the same man who gave us 'Rita, Sue and Bob too.
For me, the SMYTHS TOYS SUPER STORE advert in the middle really changed the feel.
I thought I'd be watching a breakdown of the 2003 Elephant, not disappointed though. Glad I subbed.
I love how every time it cuts to a new killing, sometimes you can't tell if the person you're following is a victim or a killer. I think it captures the paranoia and the fear of living in those times perfectly.
This really reminds me of another piece of british media that involved alot of murders done in a similar way; Utopia. I wonder if particular scences in Utopia were influenced by Elephant with it's unemotional and borderline sterile feel to its assasination scenes.
Man I saw clips of this on a documentary circa 2004 / 05, when I was making horror / crime / invasion literature comics, for years I've been wondering what it was! Finally I find out what it's called! And it looks like the whole thing is on UA-cam, too.
These random killings in all sort of different professions and the notion that those guys had already some altercation before and were beknown and identifiable amongst each other makes it feel like an escalated hooligan feud!
Interesting how Gus Van Sant then made his very own version. I think he won the Golden Palm with it about fifteen years ago...
OH MY GOD THE EDITING IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!! AND THE SCRIPT IS AMAZING!!! 👏👌
What's so good about it I don't get it. It's so dry, there is no plot, there's silence all over
4:25 I think he accidentally unplugged it as he fell onto the wall. Pretty sure they all weren't random onto strangers...
@QIKUGAMES-QIKU You're right( *from a historical standpoint* ), the victims of each Murder were approved by a higher "council" in MOST cases(I'm talking about real History here), it was still awful, *relatively* random and the Murder of a Civilian!, it's not like people got a warning, although a "24 hour, get out of this community" warning was sometimes issued for other crimes(oh yeah, both sides "policed" their neighbourhoods)
there are nuances (like the fact that the "Remain" side were just as likely to commit this sort of atrocity (I am from one of these backgrounds myself, violence was so normalized that by age 7 I was making petrol bombs after seeing so many used around me, on TV and Irl)
I spent part of Adult life in these area's/circumstances and twice(once after a gig and once after a night club) myself and my friend were targeted, luckily we got away(there is an element of dark comedy in even that, the car that tried to run us both over missed and crashed into a wall and we after debating it(the 4 lads inside were very badly hurt) we called an ambulance.
It becomes normalised to such an extent that the day after something awful happens you are *NOT* rocking back and forth muttering to yourself, you'll talk to your mate and say "that was mad, wasn't it?", and that's it.
Chilling film, lot of memories coming back.
Only one mistake in this film .. the age of the murderers. They should have been all in their late teens and early twenties at the oldest. That may have woken more people up (or at least started a discussion) as to who was actually doing the killing and subsequently spending their lives in jail because of those murders. The amount of suicides, mental health problems and drugs and drink problems among ex-paramilitaries' as (and still is) staggering.
Nice usage of Crying In Your Face off Analord 4 at 5:37 in the back there! Underrated choon, Aphex the goat!
Surprised I never heard of this before. I'm from Northern Ireland, born just two years after the Good Friday Agreement, and I've heard all kinds of stories about the awful shit that happened here. Still does in some places
I was already enjoying the video, hearing the When It's Cold I'd Like To Die instrumental at the end was a nice cherry on top
You are so welcome it's such a good track
A very interesting film and once again an amazing analysis on the film in question. It's a very bizarrely yet amazingly shot film with no real plot behind it. This style of obscure short film fascinates me.
I saw 'Elephant' really late one night, it being on when I woke up from a nap, I'm guessing BBC2 or Channel 4, and until this evening have always thought I maybe imagined or dreamed it. I've recounted this story to many people but noone has ever seen it! Not sure if I'm glad it's real or whether it would have been better lodged in my memory as a 'not sure...' Brutal, but in context pretty apt!
I saw this short film a bit differently. I don't see random killings (except for the janitor that seems completely random) but as targeted assassinations. Like in the two killings where one guy runs away and one is killed. You say he "escaped" but in both cases the gunner doesnt make an attempt to kill the second guy, he doesn't even bat an eye. It seems like they had a target in mind.
Bro I wanted something made on this movie, and to see it’s from one of my new favorite creators, thank you dude genuinely
The scenes legit reminded me of Balabanov's Brat duology especially the in door sawed off scene. The violence are realistic and loud in the first film.
conclusion/moral of the story: always speedwalk to your destination
Confrontational and to this day impactful. A real contrast to Crimewatch in reconstruction.
There was a U.S. version of this movie as well, which revolved around a school shooting. Still some of the best dialogue of teenagers I’ve ever seen, and the realistic scenarios, which makes it all the more brutal once the shooting starts.
this video is the "elephant" of video reviews about elephant
never mind all of that, where did the guy get a SPAS-12?
All sorts of firearms were imported into Ireland and used by the IRA (and to a lesser extent the UVF and loyalist forces), most notably M16s and Barrett M82s.
^in a addition, guns in the British isles aren’t necessarily illegal, just hard to own.
Dude thank you for telling me about this, I'm actually gonna pause and go watch it real quick, i love Danny Boyle. I love your channel, been here since the first video. I noticed your videos haven't been as popular as the first one, i wanted to say don't get discouraged, persistence is key with UA-cam and you have the talent, so keep it up and you're going to do great things, guaranteed. You're literally already doing it!
Something that I like about this is that it portrays pity.
In most popular movies, when someone is killed, you don't normally get to see the body. Maybe a glimpse to show it happened, but not enough for you to feel pity. Elephant lets the image of the corpse set in. It shows the person on the receiving end. The stories aren't about the murderer this time. It's about the victims.
The victims are normally dehumanised, just used as a prop to further a plot or add drama to a scene. With Elephant, the victim is the drama. They keep a long shot on the body with no music to show the true loneliness that they died around. In real life, there's no grand theme track, no ambience. Just a body, and the footsteps of the murderer walking away.
i just found the other elephant at a thrift store and got excited thinking it was this one
This is the most video essay'y video essay I have ever seen. I can't even tell if it's a parody or not
For me it's about the way the people were feeling on both sides re the troubles. As the killings go on you just think " fuck that's enough "
Sometimes the camera favours the killer, sometimes the victim. Because of this, we can't be sure who is the one going to be killed, and whose going to be the shooter
THIS IS MY GOOD FRIEND REUBEN AND HIS VIDEOS ARE AMAZING!
Your channel is solid. Keep going.
1:32 i love how absolutely no one noticed the guy he walked past right as he entered
The only thing that took me out of it, was that most of the shooters would’ve been wearing balaclavas during the shootings.
Feels like an Irish version of Hotline Miami..
From the way this was written you'd think the British had done nothing with their military in this conflict to maybe incite such tactics from their opposition.
Just gotta say another amazing video you are really unique on with the shows you do on your channel, very unique and pretty much unheard of and that is what I like about you’re channel. Keep it up 👍👍👍
Utterly great thumbnail, title, and general presentation.
As an Irish person, Im genuinely glad that this was represented in such media, and so bluntly and outright. By the time the Troubles ended, so so many innocent had died with no more rhyme, no reason, just pure senseless cruelty and sectarian hate, and Im glad it's represented here.
The lord works in mysterious ways.
I really dont understand?did They just go around killing random people?snd who were they
@@hahaokay9604did you even watch the video or did you just skip the introduction because you just wanted a summary?
@@hahaokay9604 its literally in the video
There was a reason, if there wasn't it wouldnt have gone on so long.
Loyalists believed they were going to be absorbed into some hyper-Catholic backwards state. Republicans (not necessarily regular nationalists) believed they were going to complete the work of 1916 and 1919, and finally bring about the all-island Irish Republic defeated in the Civil War.
These beliefs were only further entrenched in people's heads as tit for tat killings went out of control. But to dismiss the entire thing as having no reasoning behind it is dangerous.
Scene #15 is what American rapper Schoolboy Q depicted in his video for the song “Dangerous”. I always thought it was a bit artsy for the current times.
As a semi-professional brisk walker, I found this troubling.
Its however not often in movies where there is like a fight for someones life
I enjoyed the videos, and all your previous, but unlike your others, this felt like a summery of Elephant, if this is what you were going for, it was a great summery.
If I'm being honest, I don't want to stick my nose into an issue I genuinely don't know that much about, which is why I give surface-level analysis in fear of getting stuff wrong lol
The last kill is very confusing. I can imagine the kills previously are all people being killed by the opposing side of the troubles but what situation in real life would have someone so casually walking in and willingly getting shot?
Maybe it’s meant to signify that he violence was confusing, it didn’t make sense it just happened and I also heard their all based on real shootings in Ireland
As someone from punjab (India) we are going through this similar divide of people who want to form a separate country and people who want to stay part of india right now
Idk what's going to happen in the future cause things are not that intense rn but we can't be sure
Why doesn’t your local broadcaster show this on television? It’s bound to have an impact on your local population. After all, you have to understand what went on in Ireland to understand what happened in India.
@@chrishenniker5944 for that to be done they have to have some sort of awareness and intellectual observation skills
Which they have brainwashed from the public The media is all bought by the government its all propaganda
I love this film, it really shows the violent nature of the troubles