Guest Blog #28 – Anand C
The title of this article caught me by surprise. The case that Michael Agger makes is cogent, even if he had to rely at times on exaggeration of the facts and ignore some rough edges to make his case (for instance, the fact that Praying with Anger, M Night‘s first film grossed $7,000 has *nothing* to do with anything). I would put this article somewhere in the middle of a spectrum, where one extreme is mindless icon-bashing and the other is a journalistic sincerity to preserve the essence of story-telling in film.
In spite of all its shortcomings, this piece does make one ask – “Is good story-telling defined by the sincerity of what the creator wants to say, or has it been reduced to saying what the audience wants to hear?”
4 responses to “HmmM… Night?”
I guess Shymalan is caught in a web of his own making. People expect surprise endings from him. which is very difficult to deliver in movie after movie. But why don’t people credit him for what he is, the one director who does not rely on special fx for his thrillers. He in true hitchcockian way has decided to leave the suspense in most scenes to audiences imagination (especially in Signs). Nothing a movie maker can do on screen can compete what the audience imagine. I agree that Village did not have much of a surprise but did you watch the performance of William Hurt. It was absolutely great. My only disappointment was the fact that he (shymalan) did not give much space for the characters of the other good actors in the cast.
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I guess Shymalan is caught in a web of his own making. People expect surprise endings from him. which is very difficult to deliver in movie after movie. But why don’t people credit him for what he is, the one director who does not rely on special fx for his thrillers. He in true hitchcockian way has decided to leave the suspense in most scenes to audiences imagination (especially in Signs). Nothing a movie maker can do on screen can compete what the audience imagine. I agree that Village did not have much of a surprise but did you watch the performance of William Hurt. It was absolutely great. My only disappointment was the fact that he (shymalan) did not give much space for the characters of the other good actors in the cast.
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Have you watched Praying with Anger and where cna I get a copy of the same.
Tried all Univ libs but no use.
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Have you watched Praying with Anger and where cna I get a copy of the same.
Tried all Univ libs but no use.
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