The movie Tom Hanks called “one of the most moving films I’ve ever seen”
Over the years, Tom Hanks has had one main mission: to entertain and emotionally move the audiences of American cinema. Looking back on his excellent career, it’s fair to say that Hanks has more than achieved that goal and has provided some of the most memorable acting performances of the last four decades.
After making his breakthrough in a series of comedy movies, including Splash, Big and A League of Their Own, Hanks set about delivering dramatic turns, beginning with his Academy Award-winning effort in Philadelphia. His celebrated run also included further acclaimed turns in the likes of Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, Cast Away, Forrest Gump and Catch Me If You Can.
Tom Hanks, as an actor, is known a million times over, so far-reaching is his cultural influence. However, Tom Hanks is certainly a cinephile, and he has stated his love for his favourite movies on several impassioned occasions. For instance, Hanks’s admiration for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is common knowledge, but there are other lesser-known films that the legendary actor also holds close to his heart.
For example, Hanks once spoke glowingly of Gus Van Sant’s 2003 psychological drama Elephant, telling Arab News, “If you haven’t seen Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, it is one of the most bone-chilling films I’ve ever seen. It’s almost as ‘now’ as you can imagine. It’s mostly the subject matter and how they handle it. That was astounding.”
Hanks had made the comments back in 2006, when the nature of a school shooting was a frequent topic in the news, although, sadly, little has changed since then. Elephant takes play at a school in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon and tells of the events surrounding a school shooting, one that was partly inspired by the Columbine High School massacre of 1999.
Starring relatively fresh actors Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, and John Robinson, Van Sant’s film starts shortly before the shooting takes place and weaves the narratives of a number of students who are completely unaware of the horrors that are about to occur. In addition, the two killers, Alex and Eric, have their personal lives examined, which gives clues as to their motives.
Hanks said that Elephant was “one of the most moving films I’ve ever seen,” although perhaps moving is a strange word to use. A better lexical choice might have been “harrowing” because Van Sant’s 2003 effort is a sickening watch, doused in nihilism and emptiness that serves as something of a counterpoint to its shocking acts of violence and murder.
Naturally, considering the subject matter of Elephant, the time it was released and the idea that it influenced the 2005 Red Lake shootings in Minnesota, the film was a controversial work of cinema, to say the least. However, on the other hand, it was widely praised, not only earning the admiration of Tom Hanks but also taking home the Palme d’Or from the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.
Tom Hanks has provided so many brilliant, emotionally moving moments, from Forrest Gump to Saving Private Ryan, but his personal tastes reveal a very different taste for being moved. Gus Van Sant’s Elephant might be difficult to watch, but it’s one that Hanks can never remove from his body, soul, or mind.
