The M. Night Shyamalan touch

k0bayashi

On those last few hours of the year let’s have a lighter conversation and take a bit of those resting hours to talk about entertainment and especially about movies.

I’m a huge fan of Cinema, I’m not what we can call an academic erudite but I watch a lot of them as I love good stories, beautiful sceneries, sounds, music, lighting and colors.

Because of that, one of my preferred genres is fantastic and one of my favorite filmmakers is M. Night Shyamalan (that I’ll shorten to MNS from now on).

His ability to create fantastic worlds, rooted in real life. To slowly hook you onto his universe, done with a notable attention to his spectators. Indeed, he never throws you unbelievable magical events right from the first frame, he takes time to settle an ambiance and a whole setup to the smallest details without being boring.

But what’s really remarkable about MNS is his consistency.

All of his movies are different but with similarities that can’t be unseen once you’ve noticed them.

MNS is a storyteller, in its noble meaning. He tells tales! He crafts tales that want to push you to question reality and explore uncharted territories of your mind.

In a period of time where science and technology tend to be more aseptic than before, where both lost what made them incredible for a five year old, it’s to my point of view, more than interesting to get some artistic creations, it is crucial to nurture the imagination of the viewer.

So, first, comes the movie title itself. Did you ever notice that almost any MNS fantastic film title is composed of a single word or idea describing what the movie is all about?

  • The Sixth Sense
  • Signs
  • Unbreakable
  • The Village
  • Lady in the Water
  • The Happening
  • Devil
  • Split
  • Glass
  • Old
  • Trap

I’ll not make an exhaustive list but I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.

He starts placing bread crumbs on your way right from the beginning, and once you’ve seen that pattern, then you wait for the next movie title just as a game where you start thinking and imagining what will be the plot of it.

MNS tells fairytales, he invites you to evade for a while and as for Hop-ò-My-Thumb, he marks a trail for you to follow back, and that makes a real difference with more ordinary movies.

I almost never watch a movie twice as I’ve been gifted with a very well working photographic memory, except for MNS movies or very similar kind of movies where I do spot those interesting second layer reading trails, I then enjoy investigating and discussing with others tiny details that I spotted and that make me elaborate theories that I then need to discuss and confront with others.

Cameos

Talking about breadcrumbs did you notice that MNS is almost always having cameos in his own movies? And not just a barely noticeable appearance, he’s often playing an important second character that is essential to build a strong background to the story or drive you through.

Here are examples from the previous listing:

  • The Sixth Sense - He plays Doctor Hill that assists Cole’s mother.
  • Signs - He plays Ray Reddy, Graham’s neighbor that captured an alien, discovered their weakness and unfortunately also killed Graham’s wife.
  • Unbreakable - He plays the drug dealer that David saw in a vision, it’s the introduction for David’s powers.
  • The Village - He plays a park ranger of an outpost reading and hearing news about the whole incident.
  • Lady in the Water - He plays Vick Ran, a struggling writer, in a movie about a mermaid looking for a writer that will change the world!
  • The Happening - He plays the guy constantly calling Alma and asking her for a date.
  • Devil - One of the rare movies where he doesn’t make any cameo.
  • Split - He plays Jai, the guy that helps Dr Fletcher with cctv footage, watching back the whole trilogy will help you better understand his role and get the gotcha moment ;-)
  • Glass - He plays a customer of David Dunn’s video shop and tells him about the stadium, he helps David getting back on track here. I’ll let you watch that sequence again and enjoy how profoundly linked are all the characters of this trilogy.
  • Old - He plays the van driver, he’s metaphorically driving you to his own world.
  • Trap - He plays Lady Raven’s uncle and he’s the one allowing the intrigue to follow up.

All of those appearances are a casual reminder to us that everything is just a story and that there is a craftsman at the helm about to take us on a journey.

Legacy

I’ll conclude this short post by talking about what we can call the MNS legacy.

I’ve recently watched “The Watchers” movie without knowing who made it. At first I was a bit puzzled as I was looking for a movie that had all MNS markers but yet a kinda unique feeling.

Fast forward to the end credits and I was surprised to find out it was indeed made by Ishana Night Shyamalan.

What’s really amazing here is that she created a very unique and wonderful fairytale, rooted in European mythology, which is very poetic from an etymological standpoint of this very specific word.

She perfectly endorsed her legacy and decided to assume her last name, she then delivers a performance that is promising, but which can be a real burden on this business let’s be honest.

With two Night Shyamalan creators to enchant us, what could go wrong?

Original posting was made on substack