Zero Day

The most beautiful books are found as manuscripts in a coat pocket. That’s how it is with this film too, that is made up of videotapes left behind by Andre Kriegman and Calvin Gabriel. Andre and Calvin were pupils at the Iroquois High School. Just like the deadly duo Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold -the murderers at Columbine High -they collected weapons and explosives for what they call Zero Day. Before they move on to their gruesome deed (taking as many possible pupils and teachers with them during the final slaughter and their own deaths), their tapes show they are really quite normal kids and very good friends. The film wants to show that this phenomenon in American society is not easy to explain. The protagonists burn their CDs and video games before their action. Because people shouldn’t think it was catalysed by violent games. The film is a skilled mockumentary (satirical fake documentary) that approaches the phenomena of the school slaughter from the inside, as it were. It’s an effective counterbalance to the circling approach of Gus Van Sant in Elephant (also in this programme) and the social satire approach of Michael Moore in Bowling for Columbine. The style of the film is clearly that of an amateur self-portrait or, in the words of Gerald Peary (Boston Phoenix): ‘low-res-and-improv Blair Witch-style DV’. (GjZ)