Purple Television
[March 18 2014] : Television
Ari Marcopuolos’ purple Television Takeover Day 2 / Elephant (1989) by Alan Clarke
For Day 2 of photographer Ari Marcopoulos’ Takeover, we present, Elephant by Alan Clarke. The film is set in Northern Ireland and it’s title comes from Bernard MacLaverty’s description of the Troubles as “the elephant in our living room” — a reference to the collective denial of the underlying social problems of Northern Ireland. The film, which contains very little dialogue, depicts eighteen murders and is partly based on actual events drawn from police reports at the time. The grainy 16mm film, together with the lack of dialogue, plot, narrative and music give the film a cold, observational documentary feel.
