Despite the fact that "Elephant White" stars Djimon Hounsou and Kevin Bacon, I had never heard of it, which leads me to assume that you have not heard of it either. If I'm wrong, please let me know in the comments, we should definitely be friends.
The film is about a hit-man for hire, who gets mixed up in the underground sex traffic world of Thailand. During his mission he uncovers several shady business connections, some of which even violate his own relationships. He also forms a friendship with a young girl who becomes his guide through the twisted maze of trafficking, using her own experiences to both guide and create friction for the hit-man.
What I liked most about this film was that the men buying and kidnapping the girls to sell them, and the war between different groups did not become the focus of the film. It could have been a little more prevalent because at times it was confusing exactly what was going on, but it was nice to see an unconventional but touching relationship become the focus of the film. Director Prachya Pinkaew took the typical hit-man action thriller and turned it into a piece about humanity and our basic instinct to help others.
The cinematography of "Elephant White" should not go unnoticed either. It was absolutely gorgeous. It reminded me, at times, of "Traffic", using vivid color tinting (which is much more in the editing than the cinematography, I know, but the way it is shot is important as well) to enhance the choice of lights and darks in the frame. The camera movement and angles, however, were something all their own. The flow of the cinematography would push the adrenaline in intense scenes, build the characters in the shot, and establish the entire mood of the scenes, even changing as the mood changed. The camera work became a character all it's own in the film.
Not to be outdone, the sound design in this film was also very noteworthy. While there were a few points that I thought I was watching a glorified commercial for guns, most of the film maintained a moderately realistic soundtrack when necessary, and magnified certain sounds to build an unrealistic but motivated world at other times. It added a whole new level of polish to the film by the end.
Finally, it is important to note the editing of this film. In thrillers there should be a focus on quick editing to keep things lively and moving, and this film accomplished that, no questions asked. It also developed a style of quick editing all it's own. It seemed to mimic the calm collected mind of the hit-man, while maintaining the fast-paced style that modern audience crave.
Overall I think the fact that this film seemed to go unnoticed was an injustice to film audiences. It had everything necessary to be a blockbuster movie released in February or March (wasn't quiet good enough to compete with the big boys in May or July), and it could have done well had it been marketed. There were excellent performances from both Hounsou and Bacon, and the director seemed to be able to stand toe to toe with hollywoods admired. My question to you is, why was this film so invisible until reaching Netflix instant play?
I'm also going to add to the end of this blog that I started watching "Stone" and I was beyond disappointed. I love Robert De Niro, if that wasn't already obvious, and Edward Norton is one of the more talented actors in the business right now, so I don't understand how this movie was so slow and hard to watch, but for the first time I did not finish a De Niro film and that is saying something.
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