Love/Hate Relationship, Shyamalan
Reviling and Adoring the Sixth Sense and Lady in the Water Director
Jun 8, 2008
M. Night Shyamalan-Poor Plotting
The plots of M. Night Shyamalan are sometimes razor thin, a house of cards that crumbles upon the slightest inspection. Those who still don’t want the endings to any of Shymalan’s films spoiled should stop reading now. In Signs the earth, which is 2/3 covered with water, is invaded by aliens who die when they come into contact with water (and also don’t believe in advance scouts, apparently). In The Village a group of school teachers choose to try and recreate an older lifestyle in a secluded wildlife reserve, which for viewers equaled a massive “So what?”. And Lady in the Water totally violates basic narrative conventions by talking about a special world and the things happening in it throughout instead of showing the action.
M. Night Shyamalan-Great Plotting
On the other hand, if taken as a political allegory on the politics of fear, the end to The Village gains significance. And Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense both had stories that held internal logic.
M. Night Shyamalan-Hack Director?
Critics of Shyamalan might say that he has become all about mood, to the point that films like The Village are all on one morose note. Others might say the pacing of his films is too slow and dull.
M. Night Shyamalan-Genius Director?
Supporters of Shyamalan would argue his visuals do a magnificent job of keeping the tension high without showy flash or cheap “shock” tactics horror directors routinely use. Some would say his direction is so strong it can cover up for any weaknesses in the story.
M. Night Shyamalan-Twist Junkie
A lot of the criticism and public fatigue towards Shyamalan’s films comes from his reliance; some would say over-reliance, on twists. After The Sixth Sense audiences would consume Shyamalan’s films as simply passing time until the twist. Audiences expected a twist ending and they got one, to decreasing effect in Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village. It seemed the twist would get less shocking with each additional film.
M. Night Shyamalan-Twist Master
It could also be argued audience expectations set Shyamalan up to fail because they were trying to figure out the twist so much, when it came, it couldn’t help but be less shocking than had they consumed his film like any other. And supporters would argue all his twists were qualitatively different. In The Sixth Sense the twist forced the viewer to reconsider everything he had seen beforehand. Unbreakable had the simple good guy was really bad twist. Signs had the fairly straightforward ‘there are no coincidences’ payoff. And The Village, while similar to The Sixth Sense in making the viewer reconsider the entire film, did so in a less extreme way and much earlier in the narrative. The twist also made sense in all the films (except Signs) which is not something many filmmakers are able to establish with twist endings.
Night Needs Something To Happen with The Happening
This Friday the 13th of June Shyamalan needs to deliver a product everyone can love. His films have been gradually declining in both box office and critical acclaim to the point that Allison Hope Weiner of The New York Times commented on June 2nd, “Another failure would harm the Shyamalan name and make it difficult for him to keep full control over his films.” Shyamalan needs to cast his spell on audiences again. But if he uses a twist, it had better be sensational, or audiences will shrug it off as just another Shyamalan twister film. Shyamalan was once hailed as the next great filmmaker, this Friday Americans find out if he will be again.
