The Weight of Elephants

The Weight of Elephants

2013 · 87 min · ★ 6.9 · Drama

Adrian is a classic outsider. His playful, dreamy imagination distracts him from everyday life, for the reality he lives in could not be more different. Neither his chronically depressed uncle nor his overworked grandmother understand the ten-year-old’s games. His mother abandoned him when he was very young and he is bullied at school. Just as news arrives that three children are missing, a new family moves in next door. Adrian develops a close relationship to their tomboyish, ten-year-old daughter Nicole and believes he is getting close to solving the mys- tery of the missing children. New Zealand forms the backdrop for this universal story for adults and those who have never wanted to grow up. It is a story about friendship and loneliness, emotions which Adrian already feels so poignantly as a child. The Danish first-time director’s expressive visual language dramatically merges water and air, reality and a hint of fantasy.

Directed by Daniel Borgman · Written by Daniel Borgman

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Beamafilm

Rent or Buy

Beamafilm

Cast

Make it a double feature

2h 53m together

The Weight of Elephants

Wolf and Sheep

Both from Daniel Borgman.

More from Daniel BorgmanSee all →

Lars and PeterLars and Peter · 2009
Lars and Peter
★ 8.02009
MovieDrama
Lars (9) is naive and innocent, all he wants is for his father to be happy and his family to be together. Lars' mother is gone and life has been empty and dysfunctional without her. On the eve of his birthday, Lars' dad, Peter, gets himself drunk and after an embarrassing argument with the next-door neighbor, Alma, masturbates in the backyard. Lars sees everything. Now things are worse than ever. Lars is all alone, struggling to understand what he has seen, he has to figure everything out by himself...
Wolf and SheepWolf and Sheep · 2016
Wolf and Sheep
★ 6.42016
MovieDrama
In rural Afghanistan, people are storytellers who make up and tell each other tales of mystery and imagination to explain the world in which they live. The shepherd children own the mountains and, although no adults are around, they know the rules; they know that boys and girls are not allowed to be together. The boys practice with their slings to fight wolves. The girls smoke secretly and play at getting married, dreaming of finding a husband soon. They gossip about Sediqa; she’s eleven years old and an outsider. The girls think she is cursed. Qodrat, also eleven years old, becomes the subject of gossip when his mother remarries an old man with two wives. Qodrat roams alone in the most isolated parts of the mountains, where he meets Sediqa and they become friends.
BerikBerik · 2010
Berik
★ 6.22010
MovieDrama
Berik, a short drama about friendship and understanding, takes place in Semey, Kazakhstan. Berik, 33, blind and deformed due to radiation poisoning, spends his days at home alone, while his brother is at work. That is until Adil, 11, the smallest and least popular of the kids in the apartment block, turns up on Berik's doorstep looking for the local bully's football, which he has lost.
Loving PiaLoving Pia · 2017
Loving Pia
★ 6.02017
MovieRomanceDrama
A work of fiction, the film is developed from the life of – and starring – a real woman, Pia, who is intellectually disabled. Pia is 60 years old and she lives in rural Denmark in the care of her mother Guittou, 84. In the story, Guittou is getting old, and Pia worries about what will happen when her mother dies. She is afraid of being left alone. Although Pia has never had a boyfriend, she thinks that she needs to find a man to love in order to survive. Then Pia meets a man called Jens at the harbour. Pia embarks on a quiet and simple relationship with him, not realising that in the meantime it is her mother who is left alone.
BrainyBrainy · 2011
Brainy
★ 6.02011
MovieDrama
11 years old Brian is an imaginative boy who is dealing with the loss of his grandfather by constructing a fantastic series of rituals...
ResinResin · 2019
Resin
★ 5.22019
MovieThriller
The dangerous paranoia lurking beneath the seemingly idyllic existence of a family of hermits living on a remote island begins to come to the fore when their daughter starts to question her parents' worldview.
Freedom on ParoleFreedom on Parole · 2010
Freedom on Parole
★ 4.52010
MovieComedy
When career criminal John - the character from Clausen's drama-comedy »Temporary Release« (2007) - is granted parole, he hastens to Jutland to visit his son who is in difficulty. John might be a dedicated father, a perfect employee, and a great line-dancer, but life isn't exactly plain sailing.
BehaviourBehaviour · 2009
Behaviour
2009
MovieDrama
A young woman, Julie 23, starts her first day at her job, caring for the intellectually disabled. Suddenly she is left alone with two young men she has to take responsibility for.
How to Say GoodbyeHow to Say Goodbye · 2012
How to Say Goodbye
2012
Movie
Olivia and Peter are a couple who occasionally have problems with their communication, especially when it is about Peter's dad. It puts the relationship at a risk.
Jamie Bowen, Not So SpecialJamie Bowen, Not So Special · 2019
Jamie Bowen, Not So Special
2019
MovieDocumentaryComedy
Not So Special is the show I made after life kicked the door in and helped itself to the good glasses.
Manden og mågenManden og mågen · 2008
Manden og mågen
2008
MovieDrama
Johan has left his old life behind and now lives alone in a fishing cabin with a stuffed albatross.

More Like This

ShithouseShithouse · 2020
Shithouse
★ 6.92020
MovieComedyDrama
Lonely college freshman Alex has closed himself off from his peers, who all appear to have this whole "college thing" figured out. But everything changes one night when Alex takes a leap and attends a party at Shithouse - a legendary party fraternity - where he forges a strong connection with Maggie.
The Breakfast ClubThe Breakfast Club · 1985
The Breakfast Club
★ 7.71985
MovieComedyDrama
Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.
Now and ThenNow and Then · 1995
Now and Then
★ 6.91995
MovieComedyDrama
Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty, four childhood girlfriends — Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta — recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more.
Beautiful GirlsBeautiful Girls · 1996
Beautiful Girls
★ 6.71996
MovieComedyDrama
During a snowy winter in the small fictional town of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts, a group of lifelong buddies hang out, drink and struggle to connect with the women who affect their decisions, dreams and desires.
The Tree of LifeThe Tree of Life · 2011
The Tree of Life
★ 6.72011
MovieDramaFantasy
The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.
CrazyCrazy · 2000
Crazy
★ 6.42000
MovieComedyDrama
Benjamin, a 16-year-old with lousy grades, switches to a boarding school in order to eventually reach grammar school. Adjusting to his new environment is difficult as he has to struggle with being a teen... specially when he falls in love to the school's dream girl, Malen.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter