The Columbine Massacre: In the Killer's Mind (2007)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
This French documentary from filmmaker Stéphanie Kaim was obviously made on a low-budget but it's extremely well-made and as the title says it tries to get into the minds of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Through video footage shot by the killers to home movies and security footage, this documentary gives you a pretty gruesome idea of what happened that day and the events leading up to it.
Unlike most American documentaries on the subject, it should be noted that this here is pretty graphic as there are uncensored photos of the massacre shown so those wanting to avoid seeing real carnage should probably stay away from this or at least be prepared to cover your eyes. I think the documentary did a very good job at covering all sides of the story including early on talking about how Klebold and Harris were abused and picked on by most people in the school. We even get video footage of the two being hit by a few jocks.
From here we learn about their growing rage and through readings of their diaries we hear their hatred grow deeper and deeper. There's also footage from home movies that the two made where they fantasize about their killings and we also get interviews with a few people who knew them as well as people who were in the school that day when the massacre started.
The documentary lasts under a hour but there's a lot of great, sad and rather shocking information here including some issues that locals had with the police and how long it took them to respond to what was going on. There's also plenty of footage that really gives you a terrific idea of what was going on with these guys that made them snap. To say what they wrote was chilling would be an understatement. The film isn't very easy to watch and it's quite disturbing but if you're interested in the story then there's a lot of stuff here.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
This French documentary from filmmaker Stéphanie Kaim was obviously made on a low-budget but it's extremely well-made and as the title says it tries to get into the minds of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Through video footage shot by the killers to home movies and security footage, this documentary gives you a pretty gruesome idea of what happened that day and the events leading up to it.
Unlike most American documentaries on the subject, it should be noted that this here is pretty graphic as there are uncensored photos of the massacre shown so those wanting to avoid seeing real carnage should probably stay away from this or at least be prepared to cover your eyes. I think the documentary did a very good job at covering all sides of the story including early on talking about how Klebold and Harris were abused and picked on by most people in the school. We even get video footage of the two being hit by a few jocks.
From here we learn about their growing rage and through readings of their diaries we hear their hatred grow deeper and deeper. There's also footage from home movies that the two made where they fantasize about their killings and we also get interviews with a few people who knew them as well as people who were in the school that day when the massacre started.
The documentary lasts under a hour but there's a lot of great, sad and rather shocking information here including some issues that locals had with the police and how long it took them to respond to what was going on. There's also plenty of footage that really gives you a terrific idea of what was going on with these guys that made them snap. To say what they wrote was chilling would be an understatement. The film isn't very easy to watch and it's quite disturbing but if you're interested in the story then there's a lot of stuff here.