M. Night Shyamalan

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although Shyamalan was raised a Hindu, which has often been inferred as having influenced the supernatural or New Age themes in his work, the fact is that the director was raised in an affluent Philadelphia suburb; he is not a strict Hindu, but is very strongly influenced by "faith". The author points out that Shyamalan's films are distinguished by Shyamalan's style, which explores the theme of discovering the self and the purpose of life in out-of-the-box settings, such as a child's ability to see the dead, a superhero straight out of the comic books, or "signs" left by aliens in a farm field. The paper relates that, besides the distinctive plot structure, Shyamalan's films are characterized by the technique of building suspense, which enables Shyamalan to keep his viewers' interest alive right through the film, not only wondering what is going to happen next, but also trying to figure out what the film is really all about.

From the Paper:

"Though Shyamalan is the son of two doctors, he developed a passion for film making at the early age of eight years when he was given a Super-8 camera, which allowed him to begin modeling his young career on the lines of his idol, Steven Spielberg. Thus, by the time he was seventeen, Shyamalan had already made 45 home movies. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that he studied film making at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York after finishing school. He graduated in 1992 and made his first feature film, "Praying With Anger", that same year. This was followed by "Wide Awake" in 1998; "The Sixth Sense" in 1999; "Unbreakable" in 2000; and "Signs" in 2002. He is currently working on his next project, "The Village", which is slated for release in 2004."

More papers on M. Night Shyamalan:

• Film Review # 147453 : "The Power of the Past in "The Village"
• Comparison Essay # 113111 : "Ethnic Literature and Film an America"
• Comparison Essay # 113022 : "The Haunting of Ethnic Writers"

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