M. Night Shyamalan, Part 2: Unbreakable

In 2000, Shyamalan released his next eagerly anticipated film, Unbreakable, again teaming up with Sixth Sense star, Bruce Willis, who would be also teaming up again with his Diehard with a Vengeance costar, Samuel L. Jackson. A lot of reunions going on in this movie... brings a tear to me eye.

The movie is about a security guard named David Dunn, who survives a train crash without any injury whatsoever. This captures the attention of an eccentric entrepreneur named Elijah Price, who is stricken with an ailment that makes his bones extremely brittle. Price's logic is that if someone like him can exist, who is so easily broken, then someone must exist who is his extreme opposite, and can't be hurt by anything. He believes this to be David, and begins pushing David to accept his destiny as an invincible super-hero of sorts.

I remember being really anxious to see the movie because the trailer was really mysterious. It never really hinted at why David survived the crash, only that he did, and you would have to come see the movie to find out why. So, having absolutely loved The Sixth Sense, I saw Unbreakable on the opening weekend and was absolutely stunned at how good the movie was. First of all, the whole superhero angle hit me out of left field, but fucking loved it. Second of all, the theme of accepting one's destiny resonated with me more in this movie than it did in The Sixth Sense.

It was my first year of college, and I was living on my own for the first time in my life. Also, by this point in time, my hair was falling out en masse, and I was no longer able to hide the fact that I was going bald from the world, or myself. Socially, college was beginning to feel a bit too much like high school, with people splitting into cliques almost immediately, and every girl that I met who I felt remotely attracted too could care less about me (or so I perceived it, but in those years, my self-esteem was in the red). I hated my classes, I hated my job (I was a night clerk for my dorm), and I felt abysmally alone. I had no clue what my purpose in life was, who I was as a person, and more importantly, who I wanted to be.

In essence, at that point, I felt almost exactly like David Dunn felt. Hell, I was even bald like him too. By the way, I will admit, Bruce Willis' shaved look for this role, and my identification with his character, is a big inspiration for what made me decide to start shaving my own head. Also, after watching this movie, I started writing funny joke ideas and premises in a notepad, with hopes of someday being a stand-up comic - an aspiration I would go on to actualize about 5 years later.

Anyway, Unbreakable turned out not only to be a great movie, but the right movie for me at the time. It's a movie about how a person can be far too accepting of self-imposed limitations, blinding them to their amazing potential. It's also just a really awesome superhero movie. There are so many great scenes, I feel like discussing them all would be overkill... but I'm going to try.

My favorite scene is when David finally steps up as the hero he was meant to be, and saves a couple of kids from a killer, who has already murdered their parents. Part of what makes this scene so powerful is the incredible music, by James Newton Howard, that swells as David saves the day. This particular piece of music, entitled "The Orange Man", was destined for my MP3 player:



I want to mention, by the way, how I loved that David's rain poncho just seamlessly, and organically, becomes his superhero costume as well. My other favorite scene is the one right after, when David sits down to breakfast with his family, and discreetly pushes a newspaper to his son. The front page story is about a mysterious hero saving some kids from a killer. Throughout the movie, David's son has been pressuring him to accept his superhero identity. The kid looks hopefully up at David, who nods an affirmative, and mouths the words, "You were right". Tears begin welling up in his son's eyes. I will admit, tears were kind of welling up in my eyes as well, but I'm a big softy... or pussy, whatever word you prefer.

Finally, my other favorite scene is when David accepts his superhero role and goes out looking for people to save. Once again, Howard's music really helps embellish this scene, but it's also just filmed really well:



Shyamalan once again used a mostly drab color tone to offset brighter colors when they are supposed to symbolize something - in The Sixth Sense it symbolized the presence of a ghost. In this movie, it symbolizes that a person is less than scrupulous (which makes Elijah's revelation at the end not very surprising, being that he favored purple so much).

Speaking of Elijah's revelation, I will say that the movie is, by no means, perfect. The story about David's failing marriage was boring, probably because the actress who played his wife was, herself, boring. Every scene between the two of them felt as if both actors drank a gallon of Nyquil before each take. Plus, it was way too reminiscent of the subplot involving Dr. Crowe's marital problems in The Sixth Sense. Another scene that was just plain absurd is the one in which David's son threatens to shoot David to prove that he's invincible. It's supposed to be an intensely emotional scene, but it just comes off as over-the-top and unnecessary. I'm sorry, but any kid that would hold a gun to his father, in the belief that his dad is a superhero, whether he's misguided or not, is either dumb or crazy. I'm surprised they didn't ship this kid out to Boystown after that stunt.

The last thing that bugged me was the ending. Clearly, Shyamalan was feeling cocky that he had come up with such a smart twist in The Sixth Sense, he felt like he had to do it again. The twist in Unbreakable (spoil alert!) is that Elijah Price was the one that caused the train David rode on to crash. In fact, Price had committed a number of atrocities, among which are the bombing of a commercial jet plane, as well as burning down a hotel, all in the attempt to find David (or someone with his abilities). While this was an interesting turn, it was a lot more predictable than the previous movie's twist, and it felt somewhat antithetical to the point of the film. So, now that David knows he's been working at the behest of an insane murderer, will he continue moonlighting as a superhero? I'm just saying, this twist kind of completely undermines David's journey of self-discovery a wee bit. Wouldn't it be better if the train was just an accident, and Elijah continues being the Professor X to David Dunn's X-Man? Sure, it's interesting to think Elijah goes on to become David's arch-nemesis, but what's the point unless there's going to be another movie to explore this?

Speaking of which, Shyamalan has talked about making a sequel for years, but has finally began seriously pursuing it. No doubt, because a sequel to Unbreakable just might be Shyamalan's only hope of breaking the streak of shitty movies he's made over the last few years. While The Sixth Sense is clearly the better made film, Unbreakable has a lot more heart, and is, in my opinion, Shyamalan's masterpiece. It's also the last great film he'd make before his fall to the dark side...

Next: Signs

M. Night Shyamalan - Part 1: The Sixth Sense

Have you ever tried to love someone? Have you pinned your hopes and dreams on somebody, however unfairly, only for them to fail you in every way imaginable? I think we all have experienced this, and it's usually referred to as an "ex".

Well, I'm not going to talk about exes right now, although I certainly have a lot to say about that topic, so I'll save it for a rainy day. The kind of love I'm specifically referring to is more like a deep admiration for someone that is later found, through constant disappointment, to have been grievously misplaced. This is how I feel about M. Night Shyamalan.

Anyone that knows me, or is a regular reader of my blog, is aware of the vitriol I feel towards Shyamalan, but not many realize that it is a hate that was born out of love, much like the hate that drove Anakin to the Dark Side... and if that doesn't make sense, blame the Star Wars prequels. There was a time where I would have happily considered myself an M. Night fan, and I would see all of his movies in theater the very weekend it was released. Then again, there was a time I would have considered a Pepperoni Roll from the Minute Mart a "delicacy", so I guess as we mature, so do our tastes - which is the core to M. Night's problem, I think. The guy refuses to grow as a filmmaker, or at least, all of his attempts to grow have been ill-thought out at best.

The best way to really understand my hate of M. Night is to briefly run through his filmography and illustrate how far he has fallen as a filmmaker. Follow me into Hell.

The Sixth Sense



This is undeniably one of Shyamalan's best movies, if not *the* best (though that is debatable - personally I'm more partial to Unbreakable, which I'll get into momentarily). The movie has a premise that could be considered rather hackneyed in the horror genre: a child has a supernatural gift that allows him to see dead people. I mean, what's that about? I've seen dead people - big fucking deal! I went to my grandpa's funeral, and he just laid there in the casket doing nothing. My family has still not forgiven me for heckling "booooooring" at him, but he did the same thing in my high graduation, so fuck it.

Oh, wait, the kid in The Sixth Sense could see ghosts? Oh. Well, that's still not that original - the kid in The Shining could see ghosts as well, and that movie was ten times better. Also, this movie came out at about the same time as Stir of Echoes, starring Kevin Bacon as a character who could also communicate with the dead. So, my point is, the idea of a human, whether it be a kid or an adult, making contact with the dead ain't exactly like the discovery of Dark Matter (whatever the fuck that is). However, here is what made The Sixth Sense so good: the execution of the movie. Shyamalan took a simple premise and made a chilling, suspenseful movie around it. The characters weren't terribly memorable, but that was okay - we got to know the characters enough that the story was still largely entertaining. It also helps that there aren't that many characters to begin with beyond Haley Joel Osmond, Bruce Willis, and Toni Collette. Even if I can't remember the characters, the movie was strong enough that I certainly remember several amazing scene. One scene that still haunts me out to this day is when Cole is locked into an old "dungeon" with a hostile ghost by bullies.

Of course, most people cite the ending of The Sixth Sense as one of the best twists in cinematic history. I must admit, it certainly blew me away. Shyamalan did a fine job of misdirecting the audience enough so that one never really suspected anything was wrong with Willis' character, besides there being an uncomfortable emotional distance between he and his wife. It's a good twist, most importantly, because it doesn't feel contrived or cheap. The movie didn't set out to trick you so that it could shove you face in it later - all the signs were there, especially the big hint, specifically, the scene where Cole tells Dr. Crowe he can see dead people, and breath vapor comes out of his mouth as he says it, which the movie establishes is a tell-tale sign that a ghost is present. It's a fine twist, and serves to wrap up Cole's story in that it displays how his gift is not such a curse after all. The theme of an individual living up to his potential instead of being ashamed or afraid of it is something that is explored in Unbreakable, and most of Shyamalan's other work (though not quite as effectively). So, while the movie does a fantastic job of being scary, as I'm sure coping with such an ability as Cole's would be, it ends with an uplifting note: Cole seems to be more comfortable with his ability, and Dr. Crowe can finally "move on" from the past that has kept him unwittingly bound to this world. Everyone wins!

The story was great, but I remember being even more impressed with the cinematography and the use of color. Most of the color in the movie is very muted and drab. However, whenever a ghost is present, the color red is used to almost signify this. In the above scene, when Cole ventures upstairs and hears the angry ghost in the cupboard, he follows a red balloon. Most of the objects that Dr. Crowe interacts with are red (such as the door knob, and his wife's blanket). After Cole finally learns to accept his ability and use it to help people, the color tone of the movie seems to brighten a little.

As for the cinematography, Shyamalan proves himself to be extremely adventurous with a camera, but doesn't self-indulge too much. Most of the shots are fairly stationary, until a ghost is present, and then the camera begins to move more, or the scene is shot from an unsettling angle. Every shot fits each scene perfectly and effectively captures the emotional atmosphere, whether it be scary or happy.

Last, but not least, the acting is really good, if a little subdued at times (a problem that will creep into most of Shyamalan's later work). M. Night seems to prefer his actors to go for a more natural approach to their roles, which can be a double-edged sword, because while the performances may come across as more realistic, they can also just as easily be translated as dull or lifeless. When you have characters who are dealing with larger-than-life situations, such as communicating with the dead, realize that they are a superhero, or dealing with the first wave of an alien invasion, then subdued, "realistic" performances may not be the best approach. However, it works really well for this movie, and Shyamalan was lucky to be working with actors who can do subdued really well.

Now, some cinesnobs will turn their nose up, rolls their eyes, and say that The Sixth Sense is just commercial garbage that is no better than Shyamalan's other work, and while they may be correct that it's "commercial", that is not in and of itself indict a movie to being "terrible". I've seen plenty of commercial movies that are some of the best films ever made (cough, Back to the Future, cough cough). So what if it appeals to the masses - that's what a fucking movie is supposed to do. Movies they are made for just one person to enjoy are called porn. Also, it's just plain delusional to place this movie in the same echelon as Shyamalan's later work. Face it cinesnobs - The Sixth Sense is a great movie. It may not meet the art house standards of:

• Have an unbearably slow, plodding pace and be boring
• Be unnecessarily long (3 hours minimum)
• Involve flat, uninteresting characters; or, annoyingly, unrealistically quirky characters (see: Wes Anderson)
  
• Have a soundtrack that includes laconic, moody music by an obscure, Indy folk band OR music that is obnoxiously upbeat by an obscure Indy folk band.
• Show unbridled contempt for the audience
  

...but it meets the Classic Hollywood Cinema standards of having a solid 3-act story that features characters who complete an arc by the climax of the film, and is filmed and edited in a way so that we know just what the hell is going on. It's an incredibly impressive debut for an amateur aspiring auteur that had audiences frothing at the mouth for his next film, Unbreakable.

TO BE CONTINUED...