M. Night Shyamalan: The Man and His Work
in Movies ·
...
It’s an interesting setup at first, I'll give him that—but honestly, I quickly found myself getting bored by his hyper-focused approach to every single story. It feels like he’s constantly trying to sit in multiple chairs at once just to serve those big shots above him. Anyway, one last thing to consider: nobody stays pure these days.
I skipped over some of his early stuff and decided to stop right at Signs (2002)—that was really the only reason I felt like commenting. Those first twenty minutes? The way the setting is introduced, the urban interactions, the dialogue... it’s actually flawless. You could change the color grading, strip the color away entirely, or have any top-tier director sign off on it, and people would believe in it. That driving sequence through town, the conversation between Phoenix and the officer, that effortless atmosphere—it felt like a master observer had meticulously analyzed and prepared every frame.
It makes you wonder if they just had a great day on set, if the crew hit their stride, or who exactly was consulting on the vision... it’s as if he sat down 1:1 with everyone for hours, fine-tuning every tiny nuance to match his specific vision. Whether it was purely solo work or world-class assistance, I can't say, but those opening twenty minutes possess such an impressive sense of environment and communication. But after that? Shyamalan falls back into that usual concentrated style, and it’s almost like you're watching a completely different movie made by a different director.
Nowadays, I picture Shyamalan as some sort of 1950s film duo, and I can already see the titles coming: Shyamalan meets the Mummy, Shyamalan meets the Vampire, Shyamalan meets the Invisible Woman, Shyamalan and the Haunted Lake.... 🙂
If we could somehow pull him out of this murky haze and let him direct something that isn't tied to his specific "auteur" brand, I truly think he could deliver something incomparably better. Because the beginning of Signs really struck a chord with me.
...
It’s an interesting setup at first, I'll give him that—but honestly, I quickly found myself getting bored by his hyper-focused approach to every single story. It feels like he’s constantly trying to sit in multiple chairs at once just to serve those big shots above him. Anyway, one last thing to consider: nobody stays pure these days.
I skipped over some of his early stuff and decided to stop right at Signs (2002)—that was really the only reason I felt like commenting. Those first twenty minutes? The way the setting is introduced, the urban interactions, the dialogue... it’s actually flawless. You could change the color grading, strip the color away entirely, or have any top-tier director sign off on it, and people would believe in it. That driving sequence through town, the conversation between Phoenix and the officer, that effortless atmosphere—it felt like a master observer had meticulously analyzed and prepared every frame.
It makes you wonder if they just had a great day on set, if the crew hit their stride, or who exactly was consulting on the vision... it’s as if he sat down 1:1 with everyone for hours, fine-tuning every tiny nuance to match his specific vision. Whether it was purely solo work or world-class assistance, I can't say, but those opening twenty minutes possess such an impressive sense of environment and communication. But after that? Shyamalan falls back into that usual concentrated style, and it’s almost like you're watching a completely different movie made by a different director.
Nowadays, I picture Shyamalan as some sort of 1950s film duo, and I can already see the titles coming: Shyamalan meets the Mummy, Shyamalan meets the Vampire, Shyamalan meets the Invisible Woman, Shyamalan and the Haunted Lake.... 🙂
If we could somehow pull him out of this murky haze and let him direct something that isn't tied to his specific "auteur" brand, I truly think he could deliver something incomparably better. Because the beginning of Signs really struck a chord with me.
...