Elephant in the room

The poetry of GUS VAN SANT's steady cam is rarely as affecting to me as in this early scene from ELEPHANT. In one fell sweep, we are introduced to a number of characters and the everyday scenes of a high school, from the football field to the hallways.

But what drives this scene, more than the floating eminance of the camera, is the way the soundtrack weaves in and out of environmental sounds and musical accompaniment, in this case MOONLIGHT SONATA, which is reprised later in the film when it is played on a piano in a character's bedroom.