I love M Night Shyamalan. Well, let’s be accurate - I love his films. Or, even more specifically - I love his approach to films. Or, to be sniper-level accurate - I love his approach to a film’s story.
“What’s you favourite of his films?”
Well thank you for asking convenient O/S voice. My favourite is… nope, not Sixth Sense. Nope, not Signs. Nor Old. MY favourite is The Happening.
“But why? What is wrong with you? Were you dropped on the head as a child?”
Hurtful, convenient O/S voice. No … I think, but I have a reason for that being my favourite of his films, and Ill tell you why because otherwise what’s the point of this post?
The Happening is…. not a good film. But most metrics. As an art form I don’t like using adjectives like bad to describe films. Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder.
If you know you know.
However I do understand why a lot…
“Ahem"!”
OK, fine, most people don’t like it. I even agree with some of their points. But the metrics of how a film is usually judged and rated is not why I like the film. The reason I do is it’s a ****ing batshit idea! Plants suddenly start making people kill themselves? I mean, come on!
But it’s not the idea in itself - it’s that Shyamalan takes the idea seriously. His imaging was captured enough by it he went and wrote a screenplay, organised financing, went through casting, the whole onerous process of making a film about killer pollen and he gave it the time it deserved to breath (pun definitely intended).
Did it work? Probably not. But by god it wasn’t because he didn’t try.
And the thing is, Shammy has enough a catalogue now that some of his ideas didn’t, or didn’t quite work (step forward The Village) and others that very much did (Signs I’m looking at you). But each one he gave it his bloody all to try and let it live.
Creatives should all learn from Shyam The Man. We may fail, but let it not be because we didn’t give it our best shot.