All you need is love.
"The Happening" is a great movie. M. Night Shyamalan is a master storyteller, and once again he delivers. He's not a tradional storyteller, he has found the secret to using all aspects of film to tell his story. Every layer of the film is used, from the camera's perspective, the actor's expressions, the news clips on television, as well as the music and sound. What seperates Shyamalan from your everyday director is that nothing is a gimmick, everything is a piece of the story's puzzle. In the next paragraph I discuss some things that only people who've already seen the movie should read. Here I can only say that the film could be about many different things, there is an obvious level that I think Shyamalan uses to misdirect is, or perhaps to comment on our gullibility. But I personally believe that what he ultimately is suggesting is that information isn't necessarily truth, and therefore is worse than not knowing anything. "The Happening" does what most movies today don't even come close to, it gives you something to think and talk about.
This movie is about love, and the its healing properties. It isn't about evolution, climate change, pollution, government conspiracies or bio-warfare. It's about love. What I think is amazing is that it deals with all of those issues, or perhaps uses those issues as a backdrop, but never does it really stray from its true purpose. Of couse most great films do this, for some reason I was thinking of "Key Largo" just now. It is a film (like so many other Bogart films) about man's dual nature. Sure there's a hurricaine, gangsters, palm trees, a girl and an open bar, but really it's about what Bogart is going to do. Is he going to do the easy thing or the right thing? To keep us interested a good director gives us plenty to occupy our eyes and ears, but a great director fills up our minds too. The two questions I would ask those of you who've already seen "The Happening" are this; 1. Did the old lady at the end of the film get infected, or was here fate a result of something else? 2. What caused the infection to end? Was it somehow related to Marky Mark?
2 comments:
peter, if anyone else gets on here they will talk about how much the movie sucked. I think Shamalama-ding-dongs "gimmick" in this film was the corny acting and dialog. It was almost like a sunday-afternoon thriller (like the one where the lawnmower chases the kid on the bike), and it tricks people into not getting the point. I had to think a long time to finally figure out what was right in front of me the whole time.
I think it is a really good film, and I think people will be watching it for decades to come.
M. Night is surrounded by buffoons who think that if you come up with an idea where someone has a cell phone, a car and a pistol, kazaam! You've got a great movie! He uses every layer of the film, layers those other guys have never heard of. I'm glad you liked it Ben, hopefully we'll talk about it soon.
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