Introduction
A few years ago, I wrote a piece discussing four films from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan and their connection to the events of and the events following 9/11. A lot has happened since then; the most obvious incident being the killing of none other than Osama bin Laden – the man responsible for the destruction of that day ten years back. Does what I wrote still matter? Did the world change with his death the same way it did when the towers fell, or when the Pentagon was hit, or when United 93 met its end?
No.
Nothing changes much. There are times when we look upon one another with a clearer or a dimmer set of eyes, but for the most part, we all end up back where we started. Politics is still the same. There’s still war. And, famine. And, racism. And, death.
And, so it appears that the lasting legacy of cinema proves its worth. The films of Shyamalan still resonate, perhaps even more now. All I ask is that you re-watch these films and examine them a different way than before. These are not simple, scary movies with twists you see coming a mile away. That’s the surface. That’s the pop sensibility working. Look underneath everything and listen closely (yes, even to his “terrible” dialogue). Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water, and The Happening argue something. Something important.
M. Night Shyamalan's 911 (Redux)
Hidden in the background during two scenes in Lady in the Water (2006) is a television set displaying battle footage from a war, most likely – due to the climate and uniforms the soldiers can be seen wearing – representing the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In a film where there are no other uses of images aside the ones from the film itself are taken by the viewer at 24 frames per second, why does writer and director M. Night Shyamalan choose such footage? The answer ties in with the theme of the film itself and with the overall theme Shyamalan has explored within his films since Signs in 2002. Lady in the Water is the third in a series of four films that explore the issues America, its citizens and its government, has dealt with since the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
The first film, Signs, began filming immediately following that day, and yet the film achieves the behavior millions of Americans exhibited the weeks following 9/11. In the film, Mel Gibson plays a widower and former Reverend who lost his faith after losing his wife in a car accident. Sometime later, as the film opens, we find Graham Hess (Gibson) raising his son and daughter, along with his younger brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix). The story is how this family reacts to an alien invasion, and Shyamalan utilizes this to interpret the immediate reaction Americans had the morning of and the days following 9/11. The constant media attention given to the crop circles appearing around the globe and the actions taken by Graham’s children Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin) represent the oldest of man’s traits, fear of the unknown and what he does not understand. Cameron and Beau are driven to discover as much information as possible concerning the images on television, much the same way millions of people desired to comprehend exactly who was behind the 9/11 tragedy and why. The film’s second act relies heavily on the paranoia that followed in the wake of 9/11, with Merrill’s eyes glued to the television set, hungry for any new information. Look again at the scene where he recounts to Graham the latest news report concerning an invisible flying saucer in Mexico. Phoenix delivers his lines with such urgency, his eyes manifesting the hours of no sleep – the worry that maybe, just maybe he might miss something important. Who among us does not recall those days watching CNN, or even MTV, agonizing over what happened and what could happen next?
The film, however, is about having faith, and as the final fade to white occurs Shyamalan has given his statement concerning a nation’s disquieting state: that we all must hold on to our faith, because it is the one thing that can keep us grounded, sane, and safe. A few lines spoken by Officer Paski (Cherry Jones) early in the film seem to say it all: “Your – your family has been through a lot. And the last thing these children need to do is worry about some crazy things happening in the world.” Tragedy happens every day. Every day in this world people lose loved ones to death, but what happened to the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United 93 shook us to the core. The countless hours of media watching did none of us any good, because all it did was constantly remind us of the God-awful things in this world. Shyamalan does not give hope but implores all who feel they have none to seek it out in the mundane things of every day.
The signs in the film are not the crop circles. They are the details of life’s master plan, whether they are quirks like leaving glasses of water around the house, having a condition like asthma, or simply passing on the words “swing away.” The noting of these signs and finding faith through them bring upon this film’s ideas about faith. “Are you the kind [of person] who sees signs, sees miracles,” Graham asks Merrill at one point. Shyamalan might as well be asking the audience the same question.
If Signs is a film all about faith, then Shyamalan’s follow up The Village (2004) would be a meditation on the consequences of giving those in power more power based on the faith that they can do no wrong. The Patriot Act was something that took away the privacy of the citizen in favor of protection. Yet, as the Iraq War approached, those in power kept secrets and told lies that would further push their beliefs into the hearts and minds of the American people. Was there ever a connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden? Did there ever exist weapons of mass destruction? These questions were certainly posed at the time. The answers that were ultimately given ranged from non-answers that spoke of “intelligence” to make believe like that of the infamous U.N. meeting in which Colin Powell held up a vial of “chemicals” that Iraq supposedly had which posed a threat to the free world.
There are many questions posed by the citizens of Covington Wood in Shyamalan’s film, the answers of which mirror those of the government during the time prior and during the early days of the Iraq War. No one can leave the village for fear of an enemy that resides in the wood surrounding the village, and when attacks begin to occur in the village (such as mutilated animal carcasses), the response from even the young children is that those creatures from the forest are to blame. The town “elders” try to explain that “Those [They] Don’t Speak Of” are not necessarily the ones responsible, playing a game in which they remove blame from themselves and steer it toward a common enemy, or threat. By the end of the film, it is understood that the elders created the village and the threat, for they needed to inspire fear in their citizens in order to keep order. It is discovered that an elder has been mutilating the animals and that the so-called enemy does not fully exist, though the idea of the threat does.
There was plenty of fear mongering during this time, and Shyamalan crafted a film that would reflect this angst and this astonishing display of sleight of hand those in power achieved through misdirection and secrets and lies. At one point in the film, Edward Walker (William Hurt) tells his daughter Ivy a half-truth in order for her to leave the village and enter the “towns.” What occurs is that, due to her blindness, she stumbles upon a modern day world but does not encounter any evidence that she is still being lied to. Her father tells her that the creatures are made up, but he fails to tell her that they live in a secluded wildlife preserve. He does what he needs to do in order for this lie to have some chance of continuing, yet still manage to keep his daughter in the loop so that perhaps one day she will be able to carry on the lie herself. Plenty of people bought into the Iraq War – some still do. The Village is a film that challenges what is told to us, because as Napoleon once said, “History is a set of lies agreed upon.” If no one questions those in power, then what becomes of the very thing that makes any country worth living in? America is a great country in that citizens are afforded the right to protest and even protest those who are protesting. This film presents a fascist state that on the surface appears to be a liberal hippie colony where money doesn’t exist and violence is discouraged. The town elders believe that what they are doing is the right thing, for they feel there is a threat beyond the woods, only it is something far different than what they use to manifest fear.
Edward’s speech during the last half of the film speaks volumes of what Shyamalan is ultimately getting to. When presenting to his fellow elders that he has told Ivy part of their lie, they grow angry with him. He responds by asking who they thought was going to lead once they were all dead and buried. “It is in them that our future lies…that this way of life will continue.” At this point in the film, there begins a questioning in just how far the elders have a right to keep control over the village. Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) is dying, the victim of a stabbing. If things do not change, then how is letting someone die from an act of violence justified? The reason these men and women created the village in the first place was to escape the outside world – our world – in which such things took the lives of those they loved. Now, here they are, a young man dying from the very thing they were trying to escape. Edward desires that his daughter be let in on the truth – at least a little – in order for their world to survive, for they would not be decent people were they to allow for Lucius to die. At the end of the scene, August Nicholson (Brendan Gleeson) agrees with Edward, stating this: “We can move towards hope. It’s what’s beautiful about this place. We must not run from heartache. You know, my brother was slain in the towns. The rest of my family died here. Heartache is a part of life. We know that now. Ivy’s running toward hope. Let her run.”
If heartache is a part of life, then there must be some way to escape it. In his 2006 film Lady in the Water, Shyamalan attempts to prove that there is a way to escape the pain and suffering from the world. There must be.
In the film, a man named Cleveland Heep, along with several individuals residing in an apartment complex called The Cove, discovers he has a destiny linked to magical, sea-dwelling “narfs” and grass-backed beasts called “scrunts.” The film is a strange amalgam of tragic realism and the fantastic. This is obviously done on purpose, for Shyamalan highlights the fantasy aspects in order for the footage of war to stand out in scenes involving the apartment of Mr. Leeds (Bill Irwin). Shyamalan, like so many during wartime, longs for a better place, and the place he creates was one of pure fantasy. Still, Mr. Leeds seems to say it all during the final minutes of the movie. As the fantasy world, which had begun to give many people in the apartment complex a renewed sense of purpose in a world with war, begins to crumble, he says this: “We can’t stand here playing make-believe. I wanted to believe more than most. I wanna be like a child again. I needed to believe there’s more than this awfulness around us….”
Mr. Leeds is portrayed, though not explicitly presented as, a former military man, who has seen his share of awfulness. Haunted by the images on his television – those of conflicts from places like Afghanistan or Iraq – he is constantly reminded of the things he must have seen during his time in the service. Having this man speaks these words is Shyamalan trying his best to get across that even someone who believes in putting on a uniform and fighting in war can also believe – or want desperately to believe – in something better than destruction.
What is also important to note is the character’s purpose in being a witness to the fantastic proceedings on display, though the reason he is a witness confirms Shyamalan’s reason to give Leeds these lines. He is someone the main character, Cleveland, respects, and it is because of this that Leeds becomes important. Some may be too quick to point out that Shyamalan performs a part in the movie, but one would be wrong to conclude that he is playing himself. Cleveland is actually the one who represents Shyamalan, for it is Cleveland who learns that through pain can come healing. And, it is Cleveland who respects Leeds. In the grand scheme of things, the character Shyamalan portrays is nothing compared to who Cleveland becomes, or rather who he discovers he was the entire time.
Lady In The Water ends with a happy ending. The mission the characters take on is fulfilled, and the audience is left knowing that these characters have found their destiny in the world. It is a shame, though, that this film, more than the previous ones, is pure fantasy.
This is why The Happening (2008) is his most important film. Having found faith after the tragedy of 9/11, more trust is given to those in power. Then, having to live with the consequences of said trust, a desire for a world where we all have a destiny and in the end good things happen occurs. If that world is indeed fantasy, then what of the real one? Where does the real world stand in the mind of Shyamalan? The answer is that he does not know the answer, but he does try his best to find one. In fact, he goes all the way back to September of 2001 in order to directly examine the fear and chaos of that day. He wants to know why those terrible events happened. Yet, by the end of the film, he still does not have an answer.
The Happening is about an airborne virus attack situated on the east coast of the United States, and it is obviously meant to mirror 9/11. When the first attack happens, people are certainly worrisome but even with a panic that causes thousands to begin fleeing major cities, it is not until the second attack that people begin to surrender to their paranoia. Through all of the panic though, Shyamalan’s sole focus remains in telling a story about two individuals re-igniting their love for one another. It is because of the threat that looms over them, that the two are able to understand that stupid arguments over stupid mistakes are incomparable to the tragedies surrounding them at every turn.
What of the tragedies? Well, as it turns out, something in the air is causing people to kill themselves. There are many explanations given by several characters throughout, including the most possible one, which deals with the environment. In the end, though, none of that matters. In fact, we never come to truly learn who or what is at fault, but the characters do not care. Nor do we.
A news program plays on a television near the close of the film, featuring two talking heads. What they talk about is the uncertainty of the attack. Neither knows why it happened or if any like it will happen again, though they do manage to speculate on it. However, Maya (Zooey Deschanel) does not seem interested, focusing on a pregnancy test. The final images of The Happening involve a bouncy, ecstatic Maya conveying the news to Elliot (Mark Wahlberg), resulting in Shyamalan’s mission statement.
When all is said and done, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 will never truly make sense. Sure, there will be reasons given, background on those involved, but the thing that matters is what comes out of any tragedy: a renewed sense of life. Things are falling apart between Maya and Elliot, but through the attacks, they are able to understand that what truly matters in this world, as cheesy as it sounds, is love.
With four films, Shyamalan looked at 9/11 and its aftermath and did his best to find some sort of meaning, some sort of reason. He found that there was none. He found that a lot of people seemed to lose their way. He found some had lost their faith. He found that some longed for a better world. He found that some, after the skies had cleared, cared only for one another. After four films, that’s quite an accomplishment. If only more people learned to love after that fateful day, how different would this world be? By asking such a question, Shyamalan has undoubtedly made a series of films that defined the first decade of the twenty-first century.
