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M. Night Shyamalan is a successful Indian-American director, producer and screenwriter. He gained critical attention with his first film Praying Angrily and achieved international acclaim with The Sixth Sense, which grossed over $600 million. Shyamalan is known for his unexpected endings and appearances in his films. He has expressed a desire to make films without plot twists.
M. Night Shyamalan, or Matoj Nelliyatu Shyamalan, is a very successful director, producer and screenwriter in his relatively short career. He was born in 1970 in India, but his medical parents soon emigrated to the United States. He was educated at a private school in Pennsylvania and received his film education at New York University. During his college work, he changed his professional name to M. Night.
In the 1990s Shyamalan received critical attention for his first film Praying Angrily. It was shown at the Toronto Film Festival but has never been released in theaters or on DVD. He had more success with his work on the screenplay by Stuart Little. He also released the film Wide Awake in 1998 which he wrote, directed and produced.
In 1999, his film The Sixth Sense won him international acclaim. The film starred Bruce Willis and Tony Collete and also launched the career of young Haley Joel Osment, who received an Academy Award nomination for his insightful portrayal of a boy who “sees the dead.” In common with all of Shyamalan’s subsequent films, it incorporated an unexpected ending that thrilled audiences. The film grossed over 600 million US dollars (USD), a testament to its strength and popularity.
Shyamalan followed up with the film Unbreakable, which once again featured Bruce Willis. The film was only modestly successful compared to The Sixth Sense. In the US, profits were just over $20 million. Shyamalan commented that he feels he rushed the film’s production and considers it his least favorite of his popular films, lacking in emotional content.
In 2002 Shyamalan returned with the hit Signs with Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. Unlike Unbreakable, Gibson and Phoenix both give the film a lot of emotional content. Critics praised Gibson’s layered performance as a preacher who has stopped believing in God since his wife’s death. Once again, Shyamalan’s twist ending delights the viewers.
The Village, released in 2004, was commercially successful but received mixed reviews. Visually it is Shyamalan’s most compelling film to date. The use of color evokes the work of current Chinese films. The film also introduced Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard’s daughter in her first leading role. Her portrayal drew praise from even the film’s harshest critics.
Bryce Dallas Howard also stars in the 2006 film Lady in The Water where Shyamalan attempts to deviate from his twisted ending viewers now seem to expect. Although the film mixes elements of suspense with drama, the story comes from a bedtime story that Shyamalan created for his children. Shyamalan has expressed a desire to make films without plot twists, as he fears his work becomes more or less predictable.
Unlike most films in the horror and thriller genres, Shyamalan’s work is praised for thoughtful and intricate plots and character development akin to high-quality dramas that do not explore the supernatural. Like Hitchcock, Shyamalan enjoys making appearances in his films. He plays a doctor in The Sixth Sense, a baseball fan in Unbreakable, the vet who kills Gibson’s wife in Signs and a guard in The Village. He has his biggest role in Lady in the Water.
Shyamalan is known for his sense of humor. In 2004, the Sci Fi channel released a “documentary” from which the director very publicly dissociated himself. The documentary was actually a hoax, encouraged by the director to promote The Village. The “mockumentary” full of ridiculous facts had a huge audience, due to its negative advertising campaign.
