M.Night Shyamalan

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Silver
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by Silver »

For myself, the main reason the film was misunderstood was because, as critical audiences are wont to do, they took exception at implausibilities and absurdities in the narrative, thereby, however, and in my view, taking the film in the wrong way: as mentioned, it seemed to me that the movie is deliberately unrealistic, at both a narrative and stylistic level
You're absolutely right here. And there are good reasons for these choices, so the following criticism:
This makes the movie a little more interesting than it is given credit for, but for me, despite the intention, the script was insufficiently worked out and the nightmare logic tended to dissipate in the final section in favor of the rather simplistic message the film clearly intended to espouse, leaving audiences dissatisfied and in the mood to pick at all the other "faults" of realism that could be ascribed.
can not be really a criticism to the movie.

I will try to explain why (as logically as possible). Shyamalan clearly is a director who takes very personally any comment on his movies by anybody - and I mean he is personally insulted, when he reads a negative review to the point of childish reactionism. After he made The Village - his most complex and personal movie to date (I knew it is his favorite long before he said that explicitly in one recent interview for TLA) - the critics were disappointed, because for some reason they stayed on the surface, where you have unrealistic twist and a classical love story. Most of them bashed the film, not able to see that beneath this surface, you have extremely rich movie, both thematically and emotionally, and this tale is quite possibly the saddest and the most tragic comment on escapism in movie history. It was clear Shyamalan put enormous effort to craft not only technically stunning movie, but also one which genuinely can make you think and cry if you manage to pass beyond the usual weirdness (which I happen to actually enjoy). And I would guess Shyamalan was so disappointed by the simplicity of the main criticism toward The Village (the most common - "I've guessed the twist 15 minutes into the movie, therefore it sux"), that he felt his creative side is under attack.

This lead to the absurdity to cast himself as a creative genius whose writings will change the world and to kill a movie critic in his next movie - Lady in the Water. He clearly lost control and I would immediately start to hate this arrogant asshole if LITW was not a beautiful and truthful adaptation of a psychotherapy session (see the link above I gave), and only revanchist bullshit. Again, no one went pass the obvious superficial fairytale elements, the tremendous naivety in the script, and of course - the balls of Shyamalan to say so loudly "fuck you very much" to all his critics. Virtually everybody hated LITW and the suggestions varied from "he should never write a script again", through "he should never direct a movie again" and to "he should kill himself".

And here we go to The Happening. What he did with this movie was to show his critics what exactly would *happen* if he starts really listen to them and stop writing and directing. On some level The Happening is a movie where the director is absent. It is "badly" written, paced, acted... on purpose. Even the usual cameo by Shyamalan is of a man who is systematically isolated from the movie - he is the voice of Joey on Alma's phone. So The Happening in a way is a movie, where the creative force behind it is self-restricted. The plot itself can be interpreted in favor of this: without real direction the characters have no purpose to exist and what is left for them is to start to commit suicides. Note how in the core the tools Shyamalan's using are derived from B-movies - even the overall structure of the film, and especially the finale in Paris just scream B-movie. And by using these tools - "poorly" written dialogue full with absurdities, weird acting, over-the-top and ridiculous usage of violence... he is making a point. What I really like about The Happening, what actually saves it from being a disaster, and elevates it to one of the most clever films of 2008, is how this "weapon" is used to convey the narrative and to carry the emotional evolution of the two main characters. Essentially, by using tools which have nothing to do with his previous aggressively calculated and authoritative directing style, Shyamalan is making a very shyamalanish movie at its heart. It is a great experiment and it is a pity that is so misunderstood.

P.S. I am not sure to what extent this makes sense, but I could clarify specific points or add arguments where needed.
Last edited by Silver on Fri Aug 20, 2010 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

Melvin Smif
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by Melvin Smif »

Silver...are you... M. Night Shyamalan!? It all makes sense! You know him(you) so well! :shock:

Seriously though, where do you and Shogun get the energy to continue beating your respective dead horses? Of course I feel like the biggest waste as I keep checking in to see where this argument has gone. :lol:

td888
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by td888 »

Melvin Smif wrote:Seriously though, where do you and Shogun get the energy to continue beating your respective dead horses? Of course I feel like the biggest waste as I keep checking in to see where this argument has gone. :lol:


Hahaha. Me too, although I had my run-in with Shogun too. Ours sizzled out.. ;)

offtopic
This argument reminds me of this story: a lady walks in a restaurant to have a dinner. When she orders her food she asks the waiter to turn the ac down, beacuse she's feeling cold. 10 minutes later she aks the waiter to turn the ac up because she feeling warm. Later on she asks if he can turn it down again. This goes on all the evening till she finally leaves. Another guest who saw this all happening asks the waiter why he didn't go crazy with the lady's demands about the ac. The waiter responds "We don't have ac in the restaurant..."

ShogunRua
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by ShogunRua »

td888 wrote:
Melvin Smif wrote:Seriously though, where do you and Shogun get the energy to continue beating your respective dead horses? Of course I feel like the biggest waste as I keep checking in to see where this argument has gone. :lol:


Hahaha. Me too, although I had my run-in with Shogun too. Ours sizzled out.. ;)


I just became tired of that one. In this argument, Silver was ignoring a good deal of my points from the beginning, and by the end, went into full-on troll mode.

djross
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by djross »

Here are my reviews for three movies by this director which I have seen since I posted my reviews for The Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Happening:

The Village
Shyamalan's most interesting movie. Appreciating the movie probably depends to some extent on being able to view it as an allegorical parable rather than as really any kind of conventional "thriller." The politics of the allegory are ambiguous, depending to a large extent on precisely who it is that one understands the villagers to be representing, but it is difficult to say more about this without discussing plot details. Score: 55.

Unbreakable
If the direction shows some technical competence, this cannot conceal the fact that the cast is forced to deliver endless atrocious dialogue with undue portentousness, nor can it conceal the contrived character of numerous scenes, the ponderousness with which the narrative unfolds, and the absurdity of the premise. Score: 35.

Lady in the Water
Shyamalan's riskiest and strangest venture most clearly shows his intention to invent some new kind of cinematic fable. The film will inevitably come across to many as sanctimonious and self-indulgent, despite being perhaps his only effort to possess something resembling a sense of humor. Appreciation of the movie depends on the viewer's willingness to go along with the very bizarre premise. This viewer found interest could not be sustained for the duration, as events became increasingly trite. Score: 35.


In summary, having now seen the six movies Shyamalan has directed between The Sixth Sense and The Happening, it seems clear he sees himself as fashioning cinematic fables for a new age, most of which seem aimed at somehow re-enchanting audiences but the most aesthetically successful of which, The Village, seems to have rather more complex and ambiguous goals.

My average score for these six Shyamalan movies is thus 42.5. This compares with an average of 41.5 for probably the best known fabulist of all contemporary directors, Steven Spielberg (based on 14 films).

Silver
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by Silver »

Great. Few comments, if you don't mind:

Appreciating the movie probably depends to some extent on being able to view it as an allegorical parable rather than as really any kind of conventional "thriller."
This is actually valid for all of his movies - they all are anything but conventional "thrillers".

If the direction shows some technical competence, this cannot conceal the fact that the cast is forced to deliver endless atrocious dialogue with undue portentousness, nor can it conceal the contrived character of numerous scenes, the ponderousness with which the narrative unfolds, and the absurdity of the premise.
Most of this is a consequence of the same bizarre sense of humor you speak about in your review for LITW (now, having watched everything by Shyamalan, you can probably appreciate how it develops from the Stuttering Stanley scene in "The Sixth Sense" to the extreme ridiculousness of "The Happening"). Concerning the absurdity of the premise, let me quote part of my mini-review:
Probably the most original treatment of the superhero mythology: in your average comic book movie the good guy is searching for the bad guy to destroy him; here the bad guy is searching for the good guy to create him.
So, what you call "absurd", I see as quite fresh.


And a final note to ShogunRua - I have just watched The Sixth Sense again and at 00:28:10 mark (way before the Stuttering Stanley scene) Cole is saying to Bruce Willis - "Stop looking me like that, I don't like when people are looking at me like that." And unlike Stanley - Bruce Willis stops. Now shut the fuck up.

td888
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by td888 »


theficionado
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by theficionado »

Went to go see a movie recently. Crowded showing. When the preview for Devil came up and it was revealed that M. Night Shyamalan was a producer, the entire theatre broke into loud, mocking laughter.

I think that's when you throw in the towel.

MmzHrrdb
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by MmzHrrdb »

Topic: I don't understand all the hate he gets. He's not the best, but he's certainly not the worst. In fact, I think he's better than a lot of today's mainstream directors. But, that's not saying much. ;)

td888 wrote:video


That was hilarious! "It's something to do with the eights"

theficionado
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Re: M.Night Shyamalan

Post by theficionado »

~pumpkin~ wrote:
td888 wrote:video
That was hilarious! "It's something to do with the eights"

I feel like I'm losing my mind of M. Night Shyamalan.

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