tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post5635737457725792298..comments2023-11-05T04:31:48.615-05:00Comments on Elusive Lucidity: Shyamalan NotesZChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211734319629732065noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-50211678576287622812010-03-18T19:22:43.198-04:002010-03-18T19:22:43.198-04:00Zach,
I suppose there is some truth in that Shyam...Zach,<br /><br />I suppose there is some truth in that Shyamalan does have several obsessions which he clearly pursues and that makes him more interesting than most other highly commercial directors currently. But that's barely praise at all.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16615199937354749817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-17856000064493709262010-03-17T18:57:55.182-04:002010-03-17T18:57:55.182-04:00Just caught this last exchange between Jon & A...Just caught this last exchange between Jon & Alex - don't know how long it's been here. I agree with both in a lot of ways.<br /><br />Alex, I don't know that I said, or would say, that Shyamalan has a "very distinct visual style." I think he has a moderately distinct and coherent visual style, about on the same level as a number of other intriguing filmmakers in the system (say, Tony Scott). If you look at what I wrote, you'll see it's not the distinction or even the <i>value</i> of Shyamalan and his style that mesmerize me (I'd agree with you that his understanding of something like religious faith is pretty shallow) - but it's his <i>singleminded</i> intensity in tackling his projects that I find so compelling.ZChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10211734319629732065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-28408090323846772062010-03-17T18:29:51.701-04:002010-03-17T18:29:51.701-04:00"In that sense, whether or not The Village..."In that sense, whether or not The Village's take on how communities use stories as a form of control is less complex than some other movie's (blanking on a good example of more complex treatment of the theme) is not as important to me as whether or not the "fantastic" elements that Shyamalan arranges have a clarity/poetry to them."<br /><br />I'm not making a complexity argument: I'm making a shallow versus deep argument. I haven't seen The Village - I have of course heard of it's plot. Since you mentioned Metropolis, I think it's reasonable to say that Lang's M or The Testament of Doctor Mabuse also address the same theme. Now, I can't argue that the Village is shallow as I haven't seen the film. <br /><br />I have, however, seen Signs (as well as other Shyamalan movies). First, I don't think Zach's claim that Shyamalan has a very distinct visual style is supported by the look of Signs - it's not that different from other movies. I further don't think that Shyamalan brought any notably deep understanding of his characters to the movie. I simply am not convinced by the movie's claim that Graham Hess' faith would be restored because of completely vague things his wife had said. (i.e. Graham is pretty gullible and too easily convinced, and he gets convinced by what he sees as a miracle. Of course you're convinced by miracles!)<br /><br />Further, that the movie seems to believe we WILL be convinced by this plot device tells us how trivially Shyamalan understands faith.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16615199937354749817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-40131786869664009882010-03-17T11:19:42.008-04:002010-03-17T11:19:42.008-04:00Alex - I'm not sure that The Village shows a t...Alex - I'm not sure that <i>The Village</i> shows a trivial understanding of its topic. Shyamalan is an allegorical fabulist in the mode of Val Lewton, Ray Bradbury, and Rod Serling. The value of these kinds of stories is not in their complexity, but rather in the aptness and singularity of how they organize and shape their themes/concerns. In that sense, whether or not <i>The Village</i>'s take on how communities use stories as a form of control is less complex than some other movie's (blanking on a good example of more complex treatment of the theme) is not as important to me as whether or not the "fantastic" elements that Shyamalan arranges have a clarity/poetry to them. (Although <i>Metropolis</i> is obviously a much greater film than any of Shyamalan's, I think it works in the same way: the "ideas" in it are rather simple - what makes it great is in how they are <i>realized</i> into indelible, fantastic images.)<br /><br />I also feel that it's important to keep some space open for this kind of personal filmmaking that still seeks a large, popular audience.Jon Hastingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01030406521787423155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-64561446178866872402010-03-16T14:05:23.022-04:002010-03-16T14:05:23.022-04:00The problem is that while Shyamalan has an obsessi...The problem is that while Shyamalan has an obsession about a serious topic, he has a very trivial understanding of that (admittedly important) topic. I would agree that he's no more trivial than the Coens, Tarantino, DePalma..... but that isn't saying very much at all. We don't really care that he is admittedly better than the vast majority of other Hollywood product, anymore that we would care about one Mark Kostabi painting being "better" than another Kostabi painting.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16615199937354749817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-45025193395082912672010-03-07T00:19:25.395-05:002010-03-07T00:19:25.395-05:00Jon, that's a very fine post - I hope that I c...Jon, that's a very fine post - I hope that I can get back to some of the things it touches upon, and in detail, in the near future. I agree about Shyamalan and the self-reflexivity about narrative: I don't know that it's special or deep, but his command of tone is such, and so singular, that I want to pay attention.<br /><br />Ignatiy, yes - Shyamalan's heroes might live in 'movie-ish' interiors, i.e. streamlined or idealized in some way, but they are places which do suggest a socioeconomic stratum often just ignored in cinema. Minor details help. <i>Signs</i> takes place in a pure mythic Americana farmhouse but little things, like Joaquin Pheonix taking the TV set into the closet below the staircase, are vital for establishing and maintaining a certain conception of familial space.ZChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10211734319629732065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-29097907746525749172010-03-05T20:20:25.525-05:002010-03-05T20:20:25.525-05:00...the willingness to create nonsensical stories a...<i>...the willingness to create nonsensical stories and premises with ordinary heroes...</i><br /><br />Yeah, one think I really like about Shyamalan is his very specific sense of economic place. There's an element of early Demme there (beyond the presence of Tak Fujimoto as DP), and it's interesting that Shyamalan's the only American director who consistently writes lower-middle-class characters, people who have to worry about money and don't live in spacious, ideal homes.Ignatiy Vishnevetskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877465254612151095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-25016546090784496472010-03-05T09:38:02.240-05:002010-03-05T09:38:02.240-05:00I like his work quite a bit (here's a post I d...I like his work quite a bit (here's <a href="http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/invisible-connections.html" rel="nofollow">a post I did on <i>The Happening</i></a>).<br /><br />I'm not sure that his themes are so obvious, though. Or at least no more or less obvious than many other contempo American auteurs working in and/or around genre - the Coens, Tarantino, DePalma, for example. I'm not sure that what his movies have to "say" about how we use and interpret stories is profound, exactly, but I think his exploration of that territory has been pretty interesting.-Jon Hastingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01030406521787423155noreply@blogger.com