Today is M. Night Shyamalan’s 53rd birthday.
For me his first four major films are the best of his career. It’s hard to name my favourite but it’s a very close call between The Sixth Sense (1999) and The Village (2004).
I've found him a bit hit and miss since then with a lot of his films feeling like they didn't fulfil their potential.
I read a theory a while back as to why the popularity of his films started to decline. It said that people's expectations for his signature twists became so high with the release of each new movie that audiences spent more time trying to work out what the twist was, than they did just enjoying the movie and the journey itself. The article also claimed that we became bored with his formula.
I'd agree with some of that, but I'd also add that his insistence on appearing in his own movies also hurt some of them. He might be a decent writer and director but he's not the greatest actor, and that can be seen to its fullest extent in Lady in the Water.
In his defence though it's not just his acting that I think has affected some of his films. I thought the premise of Old (2021) was a really interesting one but some of the acting was terrible!
Aside from some questionable acting I've been disappointed in the way he went about some of his films. The Visit (2015) is a great idea in terms of the story, but I wish he hadn't made the movie in a 'found footage' style. I don't mind those kinds of films (although God knows they've been done to death by now), but there are scenes in the movie that had me shouting "AS IF YOU'D STILL BE FILMING RIGHT NOW!!" at my TV. Had it been filmed like a normal movie I would've bought into the idea a lot more than I did.
Around the time the film was released I read that Shyamalan wanted to make a smaller budgeted film because as a filmmaker, it forces you to be more creative. Unfortunately (for me at least) I found it to be a great idea wasted.
Shyamalan has had better success in more recent years with his movies Split (2016), thanks largely to James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy's performances, and Glass (2019) which form a trilogy of films with his second movie Unbreakable (2000).
As well as the movies he’s become best known for it’s worth noting that he co-wrote the screenplay for films like Stuart Little (1999) and After Earth (2013), as well as coming up with the story for Devil (2010), and also writing and directing The Last Airbender (2010) which was based on the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Love him or hate him M. Night Shyamalan has made an indelible mark on modern cinema. If he'd only ever made The Sixth Sense he'd have made something that people will remember for decades. But with eleven self-penned movies under his belt and more projects in development, this writer/director doesn't show any signs of making do with his past successes.
How many of his films have you seen and which is your favourite?