Powerful

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Blistering performances.

Very nice movie. Have watched many times. Going to watch many more.

The Green Elephant is a film about human freedom, a cornerstone of its value and invaluable to the individual. Also, dedicated to the highest human qualities: courage, honor, selflessness and male friendship. Movies about possible metamorphoses of human nature in a closed space, total humiliation and hopelessness and just awesome allegory on the Russian army by Svetlana Baskova.Definitely one of the best Russian movie ever. Want to get unforgettable impression from entertaining dialogs and preposterous picture? Just do it! Anyway, this film doesn't leave anyone indifferent.

You must watch this now and with no hesitation.I cannot express how heart warmed and touched I was after witnessing such a visual piece of perfection. This footage defines unparalleled euphoria. It is the best moment in my contrasted, dull life so far, I have never experienced such beauty before. I am another man after this life changing event, my self is transcended into a state of utter joyful frenzy. All delightful emotions are elated into permanent phase of constant pleasure. Nothing can compare to what this film provides to the bodily senses and imaginative capacity it expands within the blessed soul.If I could give this more than perfect, I would rate it as infinite. I invite you to watch this film, you too will witness heaven and beyond.

The Green Elephant is shot in a hand held way on a poor quality VHS camera that gives it a look of a war crime. It looks as if it's been downloaded from Ogrish and as if we are about to witness a real atrocity. The content certainly echoes that feeling with two guys locked in a basement, one of them is seemingly not all there and his mad ramblings are sending the other insane. The man that has already lost it is berated over and over again then he finally snaps. Whilst our somewhat sane friend finally gets some sleep, the other decides to do his friend a favour by defecating on a plate and rubbing it all over himself and then wakes his friend to offer him some to eat. All seemingly for real too. The two are eventually taken from the basement prison by the guard and his assistant. Here they are berated some more and the more mentally unstable of the two is forced to give the officer oral sex. This is where the other finally snaps and kills the officer, rapes him then rips out is throat and makes his friend use it as a trunk.The whole film has a horrible feel to it. The hand-held VHS camera-work really puts you in the basement with the two and the feeling of claustrophobia is felt in a strong way. So much so that you long to leave the cell and yet when you do when one of the soldiers is let out to do some work, the only rest bite you get is to watch him being made to clean a filthy toilet with a fork. You also get some black and white segments that show the guard and his assistant on the outside of the cell. I'm not sure what these sections are attempting to portray. The problem with the film is that it is attempting to go for something deep. I've read that the director has some feminist intentions with it but these were lost on me. It all comes across as a bit pretentious with the overly vile dialog being screamed at the characters getting boring and loosing all impact fast. While the film certainly does pack a punch, it is a little lost on the fact that over the 90 minute runtime, little really happens and it becomes a chore to get through not for the horrific content but for the sheer dullness of it all.4/10