M. Night Shyamalan

M. Night Shyamalan at WonderCon 2016 in Los Angeles

M. Night Shyamalan [ 'ʃæ.mæ.lɔːn ] (born August 6, 1970 in Mahe , India ; actually Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan ) is an American film director , screenwriter , producer and actor of Indian origin.

Shyamalan made independent films at the beginning of his career , which had only moderate success. He received international attention in 1999 through the psychological thriller The Sixth Sense . The film grossed around $ 670 million worldwide and received six Oscar nominations, among others. With his subsequent films, however, he found it increasingly difficult to build on earlier successes. The reviews were increasingly negative, especially for The Happening (2008), Die Legende von Aang (2010) and After Earth (2013). In 2015 Shyamalan made a comeback with the television series Wayward Pines and the horror comedy The Visit, according to numerous critics. His subsequent film Split confirmed this trend. The associated sequel, Glass , however, received a much more negative response and was particularly criticized for its end.

Shyamalan's films can be assigned to the genre of fantasy or horror films . They generate tension through subtle threat scenarios and a psychology of fear, among other things. The main constants in Shyamalan's work are melodramatic events in a family or threatening, mysterious phenomena, which children are usually open to. Central topics are self-determination and self-discovery as well as belief and religion. Also typical are minor subplots that suddenly take on an important role in the film, as well as the different meanings of the colors. Furthermore, the films often end unexpectedly (“Plot Twist”), which was interpreted as Shyamalan's trademark.

Life

Parents Nelliate C. Shyamalan and Jayalakshmi Shyamalan lived in the small town of Mahe on the southwest coast of India . The father, now retired, was a cardiologist , his wife a gynecologist. Both came from medical families: Jayalakshmi has eight siblings, five of whom became medical doctors, her husband was one of seven doctors in his family. In 1960 they immigrated to the United States and settled in a suburb of Philadelphia . Four years later the first child, Veena Shyamalan, was born. When Jayalakshmi became pregnant again, she decided to return to India to give birth to her son. She enjoyed the family presence until her second child, Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan, was born on August 6, 1970 in Mahe. After less than a year she flew back to the USA with her son.

Manoj Shyamalan grew up sheltered in a suburb of Philadelphia. He was sent to the Waldron Mercy Academy Roman Catholic private school in Merion by his parents for discipline . In retrospect, the rigid, disciplined educational process did not bother him. "On the contrary," remembers Shyamalan, "I was actually quite happy because everyone had the same school uniforms and as an Indian outsider child I felt treated equally." Then he went to the Episcopal Academy , also a private school in Merion. Despite the strict school education, he enjoyed a lot of freedom at home during his childhood and youth. A Hindu lifestyle at home and strict Catholicism at school - this "interplay" between the two religions has deeply shaped Shyamalan: Determination, self-discovery and the search for higher knowledge will later be important themes in his films.

Shyamalan in front of the Tisch School of the Arts

Shyamalan showed an interest in film from an early age. On the one hand, he was influenced by a book by Spike Lee , in which he tells how he made his first film without money or a producer. On the other hand, he gained valuable experience with his father's Super 8 camera. “Some children see doctors on TV and like what they see. Manoj watched too, and he liked the television, not the doctors, ”he later stated. Shyamalan began making his first short films between the ages of ten and twelve - information varies. At sixteen or seventeen - again the sources are not clear - he had, influenced by filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock , made forty-five small self-productions, which he later published on DVDs for some of his films.

After Shyamalan finished school, he decided to attend New York University's Tisch School of the Arts , although his father would have preferred if he had studied medicine. During his studies he got to know the Indian psychology student Bhavna Vashani; they married in 1993 and now have three daughters.

In 1992 Shyamalan graduated with a bachelor's degree in film and changed his name. He was influenced by his former fellow students, who had nicknamed him Night . He exchanged Nelliyattu by Night and shortened Manoj to M. from. This is how his current name M. Night Shyamalan came about.

In October 2001, Shyamalan and his wife founded the M. Night Shyamalan Foundation ( MNS Foundation ), which aims to fight poverty and social injustice in Philadelphia. At the moment the organization is also active supraregionally. B. in Nagpur, India.

Shyamalan lives with his family in Philadelphia, where he has his own production company Blinding Edge Pictures in a converted farm outside of town . The reason for his stay in this area - despite several offers from Hollywood - can be traced back to the proximity to the family, to the relatives and to the community. Shyamalan also thinks the distance to Hollywood keeps his artistic perspective fresh and says:

“I live in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. There I write my scripts and direct the post-production of my films. It's an idyllic region, almost supernatural. […] You can find very beautiful and old houses there. I have a habit of going for a walk there with my friends, and these quiet, peaceful places inspire me to write scary stories. "

Cinematic career

Mixed beginnings (1992–1998)

As a student at the New York Tisch School of the Arts , Shyamalan made his first feature film, Praying with Anger, in 1992 . Filming was funded in part by the American Film Institute . The parents, who acted as producers, also supported the project financially. The autobiographical film drama tells the story of an Indian boy, played by Shyamalan himself, who grows up in the USA and researches his country of origin after graduation. Shyamalan traveled to India and shot there. Praying with Anger was shown at the international film festival in Toronto on September 12, 1992 and was a festival success: the drama was sometimes “enthusiastically praised”. After the film had shown in just a few American theaters for a week and grossed $ 7,000, the American Film Institute named it Debut Film of the Year in July 1993. He was also the First Look Series Art Foundation New York Foundation of the Arts selected.

The following year Shyamalan wrote the screenplay Labor of Love , which he sold to 20th Century Fox for $ 250,000 . Originally Shyamalan was also supposed to take over the direction. But in retrospect, the studio refused to direct: the script has not yet been made into a film.

Shyamalan then drafted a new script called Wide Awake , in which he depicts a boy's search for God. Shyamalan contacted the Miramax studio , who accepted the script and allowed him to direct the film himself, as they had enjoyed Praying with Anger . He was given a budget of six million US dollars. Filming began in 1995. The film was released in American cinemas three years later, in 1998. The drama grossed just three hundred thousand dollars, making it a financial failure. Shyamalan clashed with Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein , who asked for the film to be re-cut after the post-production. In retrospect, the director regards this conflict with Miramax and his failure as valuable experiences that would only have allowed him his “real” career.

After the completion of Wide Awake , Columbia Pictures commissioned him to write the script for the children's fantasy film Stuart Little . He agreed and wrote it together with Gregory J. Brooker based on the children's book of the same name. Directed by Rob Minkoff , the film became a financial success in 1999. In June 2013 Shyamalan announced that as a ghostwriter the screenplay for the 1999 film appeared She's All That ( She's All That has written). This is an American high school comedy - a genre that is rather untypical for Shyamalan. The film became a surprise commercial hit.

M. Night Shyamalan with actress Bryce Dallas Howard at the 2006 San Sebastian International Film Festival .

International breakthrough (1999-2004)

In 1999 Shyamalan achieved his international breakthrough with his third directorial work, the psychological thriller The Sixth Sense - the film grossed 672 million US dollars worldwide. After laboriously working out the script, he commissioned his agent at the United Talent Agency to run a "bidding competition for the script". The minimum purchase price should be one million US dollars. David Vogel of the Walt Disney Company showed interest and bought the rights to the story without consulting his superiors for three million US dollars and hired the young Shyamalan as a director. The latter was able to secure extensive artistic control over the project. When the Disney executives learned of the acquisition, they resold the rights to Spyglass Entertainment , but secured 12.5% ​​of the box office sales . During the shoot, Shyamalan befriended Sam Mercer , one of the producers of the film who produced all of Shyamalan's films through 2010. In Germany, 1,006,235 viewers saw the film in the cinema in the opening week, which is the most successful start of a Shyamalan film in Germany.

The director was surprised by the enormous success of his thriller about the afterlife:

“I can't stop being amazed myself […] The whole idea of ​​life after death has to fascinate people. […] And […] this surprising ending that people talk about for days. Many have gone to the film several times to unravel the secrets that you only understand when you see it for a second time. "

After this critical and commercial success, he was offered the direction of a remake of the classic Planet of the Apes . Shyamalan declined, however, because he could not shoot the film in Philadelphia, but would have had to go to Hollywood.

While filming The Sixth Sense , he had also written his own new script in which he again invented a character for Bruce Willis. This accepted the offer to act in another film by the director. Disney paid Shyamalan $ 5 million to write the script and another $ 5 million to direct, making Shyamalan one of Hollywood's highest-paid filmmakers. Shyamalan, now regarded as something of a prodigy in the film industry, received a production budget almost twice as high (75 million US dollars) as his previous film.

Work on Unbreakable , a thriller about supernatural powers and heroes, finally began in 2000. In addition to Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Robin Wright Penn can also be seen. In the US, the critics were mostly praising the film, but not as positive as they were about The Sixth Sense . Shyamalan also came up during the filming of Unbreakable as a possible director for the cinema adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone .

That same year in July, during the Howard Stern Show , Shyamalan said he had met with Steven Spielberg once. It was about creating the script for the fourth Indiana Jones film. This would have been a chance for the young director to work with his role model. But the ideas were probably too different. Shyamalan said the work was too complex for the two of them to have their own say, and that it wasn't the right time or movie to get together.

London premiere of The Village

As a result, Shyamalan wrote the screenplay Signs - a symbol about a family's fight against aliens. Disney studios bought the script for $ 5 million and offered it an additional $ 7 and a half million to direct. The main roles were played by Mel Gibson and Joaquín Phoenix . In 2002 the crop circle thriller got off to the most successful start in the history of Touchstone Pictures (Disney), which financed the film.

Shyamalan engaged Joaquin Phoenix again two years later for his thriller The Village , for which he was also able to win actors such as Adrien Brody , Sigourney Weaver , William Hurt and Brendan Gleeson . Again it was shot in Philadelphia and Touchstone Pictures funded the film. Shyamalan's new film got off to a successful start. Everything pointed to a major commercial success, but after the first week in the United States, there was a significant drop of 66%. After eight weeks, The Village had grossed around 260 million US dollars worldwide, significantly less than The Sixth Sense or Signs . The reviews were deeply divided.

After The Village , Shyamalan came up for the film adaptation of the novel Shipwreck with Tiger by Yann Martel . However, he refused because he feared that his film would not do justice to the literary model.

Setbacks and Crisis (2004-2013)

Shyamalan set about adapting the bedtime story The Girl from the Water , which he had written himself, for the screen. He developed a script and presented it to the Disney studios. Production manager Nina Jacobson and marketing director Oren Aviv criticized the script sharply. On February 15, 2005 there was a joint dinner: Jacobson and Aviv rejected the story on the grounds that it had gotten too confused. Studio chairman Dick Cook, who was also present, immediately made Shyamalan an offer: “We'll give you $ 60 million. Do what you want with the money. We will not interfere. We'll see you at the premiere. ”The director then attacked the Disney people as producers who were only interested in money and said that they had no sense for“ iconoclastic geniuses ”like him. He then quit there and moved to Warner Brothers Studios, which financed the shooting.

The film tells the fairytale story of a caretaker, played by Paul Giamatti , who rescues a young woman from the swimming pool of his residential complex; with miraculous consequences: the girl turns out to be a nymph who is hunted by cruel creatures. Caretaker Cleveland and the residents of the facility try to help. Bryce Dallas Howard , who had already played an important role in The Village, played the mysterious nymph. The $ 70 million film was released in the summer of 2006. While presenting his fairy tale at a press conference, Shyamalan said that he would like to direct the seventh Harry Potter film. The reviews of The Girl from the Water were mostly negative and the film became a financial failure.

At the same time as the cinema release, Shyamalan revealed numerous facts from his private life. Michael Bamberg published a detailed biography about the director: The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale (for example: “The man who heard voices: Or how M. Night Shyamalan because of his career of a fairy tale ”). In this book Shyamalan tells about the filming of The Girl Out of the Water and his argument with Disney.

Shyamalan and Wahlberg at a press conference for The Happening in Spain

After this failure, Shyamalan was no longer considered a "safe bet" and it became difficult for him to find a studio that would support his new project, The Green Effect . Finally, Twentieth Century Fox got hold of the condition that the script was rewritten a little, the title changed and half of the production financed by another studio. Shyamalan rewrote the script, changed the title to The Happening, and found Indian media group UTV to cover half the cost. He hired Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel as the lead actors . The eco-thriller is about plants that emit a neurotoxin that affects people so that they commit suicide.

Allison Hope Weiner wrote in the New York Times on June 2, 2008 that the failure of The Girl Out of the Water at the box office and critics put pressure on Shyamalan. She also speculated that if The Happening failed, he might run into trouble keeping full control of his projects. Commercially, The Happening became a bigger success than The Girl Out of the Water . Worldwide it achieved a gross profit of around 163 million US dollars. However, the reviews remained negative.

Shyamalan had already signed for the film adaptation of the television series Avatar - The Lord of the Elements with Paramount Pictures in 2007 . He wrote the script and also directed it. Shyamalan's movie title choice Avatar: The Last Airbender resulted in a lawsuit with James Cameron , who owned the rights to the title Avatar for his science fiction film. The film producers therefore shortened the title to The Last Airbender (Eng. The Legend of Aang ).

Filming began in Greenland in March 2009. The US theatrical release was on July 1, 2010, the German on August 19, 2010. The film was rejected by the overwhelming majority and received five of the negative awards in February 2011 at the awarding of the Golden Raspberry , including for worst directing performance and the worst script. In Europe, the verdict was a little more benevolent, but the critics agreed that the 3D conversion was superfluous and miserable. Financially, The Legend of Aang became Shyamalan's third top- grossing film after The Sixth Sense and Signs, with worldwide grossing $ 320 million .

In parallel to the work on The Legend of Aang , Shyamalan signed a contract with Media Rights Capital : he should produce three horror films under the seal of The Night Chronicles . The first film in the planned trilogy was released in German cinemas on January 13, 2011 under the title Devil - Elevator to Hell . Shyamalan acted as an idea generator and producer, directed by John Erick Dowdle . The critical voices were mixed, but were much more positive than in the previous films.

On May 31, 2013 Shyamalan's science fiction film After Earth , in which Will and Jaden Smith play the leading roles, was released in US cinemas. The reviews were mostly negative and the income on the opening weekend fell well short of expectations. The German theatrical release was on June 6, 2013. On September 10, 2013 the publishing house Simon & Schuster published Shyamalan's book I Got Schooled , in which he proposes a US educational reform.

Comeback (since 2014)

After Shyamalan was associated with several projects for television series, including Proof for the station Syfy and Lost Horizon on NBC , the American television station Fox announced in mid-2013 that the Indian-born filmmaker would direct and collaborate on the planned series Wayward Pines with Chad Hodge as producer. A year later, the Mystery series was ordered for 2015, and Fox announced that the series would air in 125 countries from May 14, 2015, making it the largest global TV series launch to date. Renowned actors such as Melissa Leo , Juliette Lewis , Terrence Howard and Toby Jones could be won in the pre-production .

The story, in the tradition of Twin Peaks and Lost , was finally broadcast worldwide as planned in May 2015. The mystery crime series about Secret Service agent Ethan Burke, who investigates the disappearance of two federal officials in the mysterious small town of Wayward Pines, Idaho, received largely positive reviews and was seen as a turning point in Shyamalan's career. For example, the consensus of 50 reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website was : "As scary and strange as possible, Wayward Pines is a pleasant return to old strength for M. Night Shyamalan." Due to its success with viewers and critics, Fox ordered for 2016 a second season of ten episodes; it aired in the US from May 2016. Shyamalan worked again as executive producer, but no longer directed himself.

In early 2014, Shyamalan announced that he would like to regain the rights to his screenplay Labor of Love (see above), which was sold in 1993 , in order to film the story of a bookseller who loses his wife in an accident. Bruce Willis is in the lead in the lead role , but the start of shooting planned for 2015 has not yet been noticed. Instead, Shyamalan shot the low-budget horror film The Visit (working title: Sundowning ) with a minimal set, which included costume designer Amy Westcott ( Black Swan ) and cinematographer Maryse Alberti ( The Wrestler ). The shooting was kept secret, and the film was shot for $ 5 million in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Shyamalan financed his project with his own salary, which he got for his previous film After Earth (2013). With this, after his mixed experiences with Hollywood productions, he wanted to secure his artistic freedom (and thus the final cut) again and tie in with his old horror-thriller roots. For post-production he was able to win the independent producer Jason Blum , who hosted the film at Universal Pictures for international film distribution and distribution. Like Wayward Pines , The Visit was largely received positively - the critics spoke of a more or less successful comeback. The film also impressed at the box office and grossed 98.4 million US dollars worldwide by October 26, 2015, 19 times its production costs.

From November 2015 Shyamalan worked on his new thriller, also produced by Jason Blum, entitled Split . Joaquin Phoenix was initially discussed for the lead role , but he was eventually replaced by British actor James McAvoy . In September 2016, the film celebrated its world premiere at the Fantastic Fest in Austin and was largely positively received. The Guardian said, for example, Shyamalan's work was a " masterful mix of Hitchcock, horror and therapy sessions ." The film opened in the United States on January 20, 2017 - at 40.1 million US dollars, the film landed at number one on the charts, exceeding expectations. Shortly before shooting for Split began , Shyamalan was hired by US singer Andra Day to direct the music video for her song Rise Up . It was Shyamalan's first music video, as he announced on Twitter . The clip was released in May 2016.

In early 2016, it was also announced that Shyamalan, together with the US broadcaster TNT , would like to revive the horror anthology series Tales from the Crypt (1989). He should act as a producer and director. In addition, Shyamalan wrote a screenplay with Alex Carter (author of the Family Guy series ) about an extended Indian family living in the USA. The animated sitcom is slated to be titled Eleven Little Indians and will be produced by 20th Century Fox .

Shyamalan announced the film Glass in April 2017 via Twitter . It was released in 2019 and was set in the same universe as Unbreakable - Unbreakable and Split . Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson took over their roles from Unbreakable . In August 2018, the German distributor (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Germany) published the first official trailer, the second trailer was released in mid-October 2018.

Contents and forms

“I like dark stories. I like complicated situations. I like developments in my stories that trigger completely opposite feelings. My films should have an impact. The horror in my films is just a hood that is supposed to capture the audience so that they can watch and listen more closely. "

- M. Night Shyamalan

genre

Shyamalan's films fall into the genre of melodrama, fantasy and horror films. However, the Indian-born director mainly deviates from the film aesthetic "destabilization that creates the impression of unreality and hallucination" traditionally attributed to horror films and does not, like many contemporary directors, use special effects or action (such as explosions or shootings) that are actually in these genres are common.

Accordingly, Shyamalan tries to "turn genre conventions on their head". Unbreakable - Unbreakable is often referred to as a comic film, Signs as a science fiction film. Unbreakable adopts the visual effects of the superhero film and "submits to the narrative framework conditions of naive good-bad subjects", but differs significantly from films of the same genre such as Superman , Batman or X-Men . Film scholars see the film as more of a melodrama or refer to it as a mystery thriller because of its sometimes eerie and threatening atmosphere. The same goes for Signs : the film is more of a mix of melodrama and thriller than a science fiction film. Even The Village is seen as a (love) thriller, although the film is actually a costume drama. The disaster film The Happening was even interpreted as a kind of "counter-disaster film". The fact that the director has found an unusual way of portraying the fantastic and horror is reflected, among other things, in the reception of his films. Bernd Zywietz says, for example, in his work on Shyamalan:

"By renouncing the usual styles such as light phenomena, quick cuts, chorales or large symphonic performances on the music track, Shyamalan stages the monstrous or the fantastic in a very profane way."

subjects

A wide variety of topics form the core of the films. Religion and the beliefs associated with it play an important role in The Sixth Sense and Signs in particular . In the latter film, the pastor regains his lost faith based on the story told; in The Sixth Sense , religion serves as protection and refuge. In The Legend of Aang , the religious is replaced by the spiritual from the television series. Furthermore, self-discovery and the search for identity are important constants in Shyamalan's films. In Unbreakable it is about finding and accepting one's own destiny, in The Girl from the Water the residents of a rental block also have to find and determine their functions in a puzzle and in The Village the protagonists learn their personality unfold. In The Last Airbender is about self-discovery when Aang be discovered first as Avatar and in his new role must hatch.

The family is also a central motif in almost all films . The focus here is on men "who have been withdrawn from life through personal, emotional and mostly family losses". The children in particular are mostly open to family problems and try to get the adults back on the right track ( The Sixth Sense , Unbreakable , Signs , Das Mädchen aus dem Wasser ). In After Earth , Shyamalan takes this topic to extremes: This time the father is in considerable physical pain and is incapacitated. The son must now follow in his footsteps and save both lives. The son develops from a teenager to an adult - the film is thus a new edition of the coming-of-age motif. In The Visit , the mother of the two protagonists has been plagued by memory pains since leaving home. She tries to reach a reconciliation by visiting the children with their parents. Seen in this way, this film also presents a “spectrum on the dysfunctionality of the family”.

These core themes are then interwoven with fantastic or eerie additional levels of action, the task of which is to draw the viewer's attention to the story and cast a spell over them. Shyamalan's films are therefore “dramas under the guise of the fantastic.” The director himself says that fear is only an aid to capturing the audience.

style

Camera and editing

The camera usually observes the situation from a certain distance. The viewer must therefore judge the relationship between the characters (see stage arrangement) through their positioning in the room. Shyamalan's films are characterized by half-long and half-close shots, which, contrary to the genre convention, speaks of drastic editing sequences, the denial of an overview and the preferred use of “half-close shots, interrupted by close-ups”. The camera work adapts to the emotions and movements of the protagonists. This extreme focus on the actors has two consequences for the portrayal of ghosts, aliens or eerie characters: Either you see them explicitly or not at all. A frequently recurring feature is that different scenes are shot with just one camera or consist of only one long camera shot.

M. Night Shyamalan and actor Mark Wahlberg 2008

There are comparatively few cuts in Shyamalan's films. Scenes that take place “in an uncut plan sequence ” dominate. Donato Totaro established this empirically: He wrote that The Sixth Sense had 686 camera positions. This means that every 8.7 seconds there is a cut, Unbreakable 322 settings (a cut every 18.7 seconds) and Signs 574 (a cut after an average of 10.3 seconds). Compared to other films such as Armageddon , where the number of shots is two to three thousand, Shyamalan's films have significantly fewer cuts, but longer camera settings.

As a result, the films are kept calm and slow, the protagonists and their drama come to the fore: "The takes are so long that you can watch the characters working through their inner conflicts in peace, which gives the actors an unusually large amount of freedom." the protagonist of Unbreakable - Unbreakable at the end of the film, for example, fights an intruder, “the camera does not leave its position”. The entire scene is filmed from an overarching take, which makes the fight seem less action-packed. In The Legend of Aang , too , many battle scenes were filmed from a single camera perspective. The camera hovers around the figures: The consequences are the impression of non-dynamism and distancing.

The cuts often take the pace away from the films, for example through long fades to black ( The Sixth Sense , Unbreakable ), fades ( Signs , The Village ) or slow motion ( The Village , The Girl Out of the Water , The Happening ). In an interview, Shyamalan says:

“Today, most films are made through elaborate montages in the editing room, the actual shoot degenerates into pure material procurement. I take a different approach and try to capture the magic of the moment. If you cut a lot during a conversation, you automatically create a different reality than on set. Often then comes the rude awakening because you can no longer feel the magic. That's why I often choose theater actors and shoot as cohesively as possible. "

volume

Through the music of James Newton Howard , who has composed the film music for all Shyamalan films (except Devil and The Visit ) since The Sixth Sense , and through loud tones / noises or sound effects (e.g. strong winds in Signs or The Happening , creaking branches in The Village or crackling noises ("smush") in The Visit ), eerie, dramatic moments and shocks are generated, "so that the calm of the image guidance and the drama of the sound are sometimes in a strange discrepant relationship."

Shyamalan himself describes the massive use of tones and noises as his special effects. “I sacrifice a lot of time and energy for this, just as much for important scenes as for those that seem insignificant. You can use it to change the way a dialogue takes place very easily by using the effects at the same time, after or before. […] It's a very powerful tool, one that is least used in the cinema. It can completely change the course of a story. "

Light and symbolism

The play with light and shadow is another important element in Shyamalan's film language . Among other things, the darkly lit scenes in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable - Unbreakable create an eerie film atmosphere. In Unbreakable , the lighting also changes its color: the scenes with Elijah, the antagonist, change from a warm yellow to a cool, almost metallic blue, the closer the film gets to the end. With the scenes of the protagonist David it is exactly the opposite; they change from the cold blue to this lively yellow. In this way, the juxtaposition of David and Elijah is underlined. The director likes to work with the symbolism of water . In Signs - or The Girl from the Water - the element stands for salvation, purification and a new beginning, in Unbreakable - Unbreakable it is, so to speak, the Achilles heel of the protagonist David Dunn.

In addition to the water symbolism, the color symbolism also occupies an important place in Shyamalan's work. With the colors, the filmmaker primarily expresses the juxtaposition of good and bad, which runs like a red thread through his oeuvre. Yellow (The Village) and green ( The Sixth Sense , Unbreakable ) stand for life, hope and protection, while the prominent red ( The Sixth Sense , The Village ) and the various shades of purple (Unbreakable) symbolize fear and danger.

Formative influences

Shyamalan calls Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg his two most important role models. When asked why he was so fascinated by Hitchcock, he replied:

“I adore Hitchcock for his style, his compositions. Today films are developed differently: with the help of technology, we can collect anything and later consider how we can make a film out of it. It is easier to change something afterwards, for example if the audience wants to see more action in test demonstrations. So you no longer have to plan everything in advance and develop scene by scene. But that's exactly what it's about to me: to let a film arise in my head, down to the smallest detail. Hitchcock is my great role model in this regard. "

He also says he's drawn to previous film methods. "Instead of showing the killer with the bloody knife in his hand, I rely on sounds and lighting, or on something that moves, which makes the victim realize that someone is there," says Shyamalan, describing his method of creating tension. In some passages of the film, the influence of one of these directors or methods can be clearly felt. According to his own statement, The Happening should be the film that best shows the film-historical influences on his work. Furthermore, like Hitchcock, Shyamalan can be seen in his films in a so-called cameo . In an interview he says: “I'm trying to make the films a little more personal for myself. It just gives me a sense of independence - the feeling that I'm the only one making my films. A quirk. "

reception

Movie	Rotten tomatoes
	overview
Praying with Anger (1992)	k. A.
Wide Awake (1998)	40%
The Sixth Sense (1999)	85%
Unbreakable (2000)	68%
Signs (2002)	74%
The Village (2004)	43%
The girl out of the water (2006)	24%
The Happening (2008)	17%
The Legend of Aang (2010)	6%
After Earth (2013)	11%
The Visit (2015)	64%
Split (2017)	75%
Glass (2019)	36%

criticism

Shyamalan's films

The reviews of Shyamalan's films are often divided. The judgments of many critics, who were previously enthusiastic about Shyamalan's work, are much more negative after The Village at the latest ; this is the case, for example, with the Pulitzer Prize winner Roger Ebert . The film magazine Cinema writes on its website that no film has been able to build on the success of The Sixth Sense and that Shyamalan has reached the real low of his career with the "wet fairy tale" The Girl from the Water . The table on the right shows the falling US reviews barometer for Shyamalan's films on Rotten Tomatoes . It was only with The Visit that the downward trend that began in 2006 seems to have stopped - with 64 percent positive reviews, Shyamalan is approaching the values ​​of his first films again. In the critical consensus, based on 197 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes also states that the film is " a welcome return to old form ".

Another classic criticism of Shyamalan is that he's a better director than a screenwriter. Some critics write that he would be more successful if he hired a writer to help bring his ideas to the big screen.

Franz Everschor , editor of the film magazine film-dienst , has analyzed the American reviews, which are becoming more and more negative from film to film. He concluded that Shyamalan's films are always built on the spiritual and the mystical and that they have two sides - one disturbing and one contemplative. The story that can be retold is always only half the film in Shyamalan. And since Americans have little sense for it, the films would therefore often encounter a wall of rejection, such as his film The Legend of Aang in the summer of 2010 , which was unanimously condemned.

Allegations of plagiarism

M. Night Shyamalan was also known as a plagiarist . It was noticed that The Sixth Sense similarities to the novel Lost Boys of Orson Scott Card had. In addition, the screenwriter Robert McIlhenny accused him of having largely taken over the plot of his own unfilmed script Lord of the Barrens for his film Signs . Margaret Peterson Haddix , author of crime and science fiction novels, threatened to go to court when she discovered that The Village contained several passages from her youth novel Running Out of Time .

Visual overview of the box office results for Shyamalan's films (blue) in relation to the respective budget (orange) (as of April 2017)

Income and audience numbers

Shyamalan's films from Wide Awake (1998) to The Village (2002) and Glass (2019) grossed around 3 billion US dollars worldwide . In Germany , the films saw around 15 million moviegoers. The following table illustrates the box office results for the various films by M. Night Shyamalan. DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales are not included.

Movie	country	Box office	budget
Wide Awake (1998)	worldwide	$ 0.31 million	$ 6 million
	United States	$ 0.31 million
The Sixth Sense (1999)	worldwide	$ 672.8 million	$ 40 million
	United States	$ 293.5 million
	Germany	4.1 million visitors
Unbreakable (2000)	worldwide	$ 248.1 million	$ 75 million
	United States	$ 95 million
	Germany	2.4 million visitors
Signs (2002)	worldwide	$ 408.3 million	$ 72 million
	United States	$ 227.9 million
	Germany	2.5 million visitors
The Village (2004)	worldwide	$ 256.7 million	$ 60 million
	United States	$ 114.2 million
	Germany	1.8 million visitors
The girl out of the water (2006)	worldwide	$ 72.8 million	$ 70 million
	United States	$ 42.3 million
	Germany	0.1 million visitors
The Happening (2008)	worldwide	$ 163.4 million	$ 48 million
	United States	$ 64.5 million
	Germany	0.5 million visitors
The Legend of Aang (2010)	worldwide	$ 319.7 million	$ 150 million
	United States	$ 131.7 million
	Germany	1.25 million visitors
After Earth (2013)	worldwide	$ 244 million	$ 130 million
	United States	$ 60.5 million
	Germany	0.5 million visitors
The Visit (2015)	worldwide	$ 98.5 million	$ 5 million
	United States	$ 65 million
	Germany	0.52 million visitors
Split (2017)	worldwide	$ 278.5 million	$ 9 million
	United States	$ 138.7 million
	Germany	1.21 million visitors
Glass (2019)	worldwide	$ 245 million	$ 20 million
	United States	$ 110 million
	Germany	0.9 million visitors

Awards (selection)

M. Night Shyamalan received various nominations for important film awards in the categories of best director and best screenplay, including two Oscar nominations , in particular for The Sixth Sense . He won the Empire Award in 2000 . In the Power List of the most influential people in Hollywood the famous film magazine Premiere to Shyamalan in 2002 was ranked 64, 2003 at No. 21 and 2004 23 at No. And on the list 51 Most Influential Entertainers of Entertainment Weekly was to find Shyamalan 2002 to 9th place . In 2006 he was presented with the ShoWest Award for best director of the year, in 2008 the fourth highest Indian civil order, the Padma Shri . In December 2012 he was awarded the Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement from The Pennsylvania Society . In 2007 and 2011 he received the negative award, the Golden Raspberry, for his films The Girl from the Water and The Legend of Aang .

The following list gives an overview of the most important awards and nominations.

Academy Awards 2000

• Nominated:
  • Best Director for The Sixth Sense
  • Best Original Screenplay for The Sixth Sense

Bram Stoker Award

• 2000: Best Original Screenplay for The Sixth Sense
• Nominated:
  • 2001: Best Original Screenplay for Unbreakable
  • 2003: Best Original Screenplay for Signs

British Academy Film Awards 2000

• Nominated:
  • Best Original Screenplay for The Sixth Sense
  • Best Director for The Sixth Sense

Empire Awards

• 2000: Best Director for The Sixth Sense
• Nominated:
  • 2003: Best Director for Signs
  • 2005: Best Director for The Village

Saturn Award

• 2000: Best horror film for The Sixth Sense
• Nominated:
  • 2000: Best Screenplay for The Sixth Sense
  • 2016: Best Horror Film for The Visit

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

• 2000: Best Screenplay for The Sixth Sense
• Nominated:
  • 2001: Best Screenplay for Unbreakable

Golden raspberry (negative price)

• 2007: “Worst Director” for The Girl from the Water
• 2007: “Worst Supporting Actor” for The Girl from the Water
• 2011: “Worst Film” for The Legend of Aang
• 2011: “Worst Director” for The Legend of Aang
• 2011: “Worst Screenplay” for The Legend of Aang
• Nominated:
  • 2007: “Worst Film” for The Girl from the Water
  • 2007: "Worst Screenplay" for The Girl from the Water
  • 2009: "Worst Screenplay" for The Happening
  • 2009: “Worst Director” for The Happening
  • 2009: “Worst Film” for The Happening
  • 2011: "Worst remake or sequel" for The Legend of Aang
  • 2014: "Worst Film" for After Earth
  • 2014: “Worst Director” for After Earth
  • 2014: "Worst Screenplay" for After Earth
  • 2016: “Raspberry Redeemer Prize” for The Visit

Further

• 1999: Nebula Award "Best Script" for The Sixth Sense
• 2000: Nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay for The Sixth Sense
• 2000: Nominated for the Annie Award for Best Screenplay for Stuart Little
• 2000: Nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay for The Sixth Sense
• 2000: Nominated for the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards for Best Screenplay for The Sixth Sense

Filmography

• 1992: Praying with Anger (director, producer, writer and actor)
• 1998: Wide Awake (director and screenwriter)
• 1999: Stuart Little (screenwriter)
• 1999: The Sixth Sense (director, screenwriter, and cameo)
• 2000: Unbreakable ( Unbreakable , director, screenwriter, producer, and cameo)
• 2002: Signs ( Signs , director, screenwriter, producer and actor)
• 2004: The Village ( The Village , director, screenwriter, producer and cameo)
• 2006: The Girl from the Water ( Lady in the Water , director, screenwriter, producer and actor)
• 2008: The Happening (director, screenwriter, producer and cameo)
• 2010: The Legend of Aang ( The Last Airbender , Director, Writer, and Producer)
• 2010: Devil - Elevator to Hell ( Devil , Story and Producer)
• 2013: After Earth (director, story and producer)
• 2015-2016: Wayward Pines (TV series, director and producer)
• 2015: The Visit (director, screenwriter and producer)
• 2016: Split (director, screenwriter, producer and actor)
• 2019: Glass (director, screenwriter and producer)
• since 2019: Servant (TV series, executive producer)

Fonts

• I Got Schooled: The Unlikely Story of How a Moonlighting Movie-Maker Learned the Five Keys to Closing America's Education Gap . Simon & Schuster, New York 2013, ISBN 1-4767-1645-5
• Lady in the Water: A Bedtime Story . Brown Young Readers, London 2006, ISBN 0-316-01734-5 .

literature

Books

• Michael Bamberg: The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale . Gotham Books, New York 2006, ISBN 1-59240-213-5 .
• Hugues Derole (ed.): Contes de l'au-delà: Le cinéma de M. Night Shyamalan . Vendemiaire, 2015, ISBN 978-2-36358-157-0 .
• Andy Green: Unbreakable: Are You Ready For The Truth? Burgschmiet-Verlag, Nuremberg 2001, ISBN 3-933731-57-7 . (Based on the script by M. Night Shyamalan)
• Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock (Ed.): Critical Approaches to the Films of M. Night Shyamalan: Spoiler Warnings . Palgrave MacMillan, 2010, ISBN 978-0-230-10408-2 .
• Bernd Zywietz: Seeing dead people: M. Night Shyamalan and his films . Volume 1. Edition Screenshot, Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-00-025297-6

Magazine and newspaper articles

• Hervé Aubron: Shy en miroir avec man . In: Cahiers du cinéma , No. 614 July – August 2006, pp. 14–16 (Shyamalan's style)
• Samuel Blumenfeld: M. Night Shyamalan, Hollywood Parano . In: Le Monde 2 , No. 131, August 19, 2006, pp. 20–23 (a portrait of Shyamalan)
• Gérard Delorme: Héros du mois . In: Première No. 330 August 2004, pp. 22–29 (portrait of Shyamalan and style)
• Franz Everschor : Like a spoiled child . In: film-dienst , No. 18/2006, pp. 48–49 (Shyamalan's break with Disney)
• Franz Everschor : Comeback for Shyamalan . In: film-dienst , No. 19/2015, p. 27 (Shyamalan's Comeback)
• Jeff Giles: Out of this World . In: Newsweek , No. 6/2002, pp. 48–55 (portrait of Shyamalan)
• Wolfgang Höbel: Wunderkinds belly splash . In: Der Spiegel . No. 35 , 2006, pp. 166–167 ( online portrait of Shyamalan and break with Disney).
• Tobias Kniebe : Shock on a gentle level . In: Focus , No. 52 December 27, 1999, pp. 144–145 (biography of Shyamalan and review of The Sixth Sense)
• Harald Pauli: Philadelphia's Power Flowers . In: Focus , No. 52 December 22, 2000, pp. 70–73 (portrait of Shyamalan)
• Heiko Rosner: The Happening . In: Cinema , No. 361 6/2008, pp. 56–59 (background information on The Happening)
• Rüdiger Sturm: tears of genius. Director M. Night Shyamalan stages his separation from Disney as a public spectacle . In: Die Welt , August 29, 2006, p. 24 (Shyamalan's break with Disney)
• Bernd Zywietz: The sense and soul of the fantastic. The director and screenwriter M. Night Shyamalan . In: film-dienst , No. 12/2008, pp. 6–8 (portrait of Shyamalan)

Conversations with M. Night Shyamalan

• Delorme, Gérard: Le Frisson Shyamalan . In: Première No. 376 June 2008, p. 122
• Hammelehle, Sebastian: “I want films with content and depth” . In: Welt am Sonntag August 27, 2006, p. 62
• Zander, Peter: Under the spell of the uncanny. Director M. Night Shyamalan on fears, mistrust and the film The Happening . In: Berliner Morgenpost June 12, 2008, p. 35

Web links

Commons : M. Night Shyamalan  - Collection of Images

• Literature by and about M. Night Shyamalan in the catalog of the German National Library

General texts and pages about M. Night Shyamalan

• M. Night Shyamalan Homepage - official website of M. Night Shyamalan (English)
• M. Night Shyamalan in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• M. Night Shyamalan , American fansite (English)
• M. Night Shyamalan , detailed biography on hollywood.com (English)
• M. Night Shyamalan in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
• Visual Style in M. Night Shyamalan's “Fantastic” Trilogy - Analysis of Shyamalan's Films by Donato Totaro (English)

Conversations with M. Night Shyamalan

• Patina of blindness - Interview of the Süddeutsche Zeitung (2004)
• Belief instead of knowledge - Interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung (2008)
• "I tortured everyone in my family" - Interview by Focus Online (2008)
• M. Night Shyamalan also loves his flops - Interview by Die Welt (2008)
• 10 Questions for M. Night Shyamalan - Interview by Time Magazine (2010)
• Shyamalan takes you into the master world of India - Interview der Welt Online (2010)
• I Really Just Don't Know Who Could Possibly Want to Pick Up This Book. - Interview of New York Magazine (2013)
• "Don't tell the viewer anything!" - Interview by epd film magazine (2015)

References and comments

1. ↑ See for example the critical consensus on both works on Rottentomatoes . Regarding Wayward Pines , he said: “As scary and strange as possible, Wayward Pines is a delightful return to old strength for M. Night Shyamalan.” And the Visit said: “ The Visit provides horror fans with a satisfying mix of thrills and laughter - and also means a welcome return to old form for director and writer M. Night Shyamalan. ”(See Wayward Pines and The Visit on Rottentomatoes.com )
2. ^ Everschor, Franz : Comeback for Shyamalan . P. 27
3. ↑ See also the critical consensus on Split on Rottentomatoes : " Split serves in several roles as a dramatic tour de force for James McAvoy - and is a successful return to gripping form for M. Night Shyamalan." (Compare Split (2017) on Rottentomatoes .com )
4. ↑ Glass In: Rotten Tomatoes , accessed May 13, 2020.
5. ↑ Cynthia Freeland: Horror and Art-Dead . In: Stephen Prince (Ed.): The Horror Film . New Brunswick, New Jersey, London 2004, p. 189; Shyamalan's films are e.g. B. The Sixth Sense and Signs - signs . Other films by various directors include The Others (2002, by Alejandro Amenabar ) or Blair Witch Project (1999, by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez )
6. ↑ Westerboer, Nils: The inner view , p. 6; Newman, Kim: Signs . In: Sight & Sound 10/2000, p. 51
7. ↑ Andrea Wöger: The Visit - Shyamalan is back? He was never gone! In: Moviepilot . Retrieved September 30, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Robert Gast: Something is wrong here. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved September 30, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 141
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 14
11. ^ Pauli, Harald: Philadelphias Powerblümchen . P. 72
12. ↑ ^{a b} Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 15
13. ↑ Zywietz, Bernd: Sinn und Seele des Fantastischen , p. 6
14. ↑ Delorme, Gérard: Heros du mois . P. 22
15. ↑ For example on the DVD for The Village or for Signs
16. ↑ Family. In: Hollywood.com. Retrieved June 17, 2010 (English). 
17. ↑ ^{a b c} Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 16.
18. ↑ Kreuzer, Marco: The dramaturgy of the uncanny . P. 112
19. ↑ What are you afraid of, Mr. Shyamalan? In: image. Retrieved September 29, 2015 .  It says: "They [Shyamalan] have three daughters, ten, 16 and 19 years old."
20. ↑ ^{a b} M. Night Shyamalan , Internationales Biographisches Archiv 44/2008 of October 28, 2008, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of the article freely available)
21. ↑ Blumenfeld, Samuel: M. Night Shyamalan, Hollywood Parano . P. 22
22. ↑ About us. (No longer available online.) In: mnsfoundation.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011 ; accessed on October 28, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
23. ^ Delorme, Gérard: Le Frisson Shyamalan . P. 122, quotation: "  J'habite en Pennsylvania, dans les environs de Philadelphie. J'y écris mes scripts et j'y assure la postproduction de mes films. C'est une region idyllique, presque irréelle. […] On y trouve des bâtiments très beaux et anciens. J'ai l'habitude de my promener avec mes amis, et ces endroits paisibles m'inspirent pour démarrer des histoires terrifiantes.  »
24. ↑ Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 26
25. ↑ Giles, Jeff: Out Of This World . Pp. 51-52
26. ↑ Bamberg, Michael: The Man Who Heard Voices , p. 19 and p. 150
27. ↑ Westerboer, Nils: Der Inner Blick , p. 4
28. ↑ Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 27
29. ↑ Galore , Vol. 45 (December 2008), Interview with M. Night Shyamalan, p. 57
30. ↑ ^{a b} Wide Awake. In: Box Office mojo. Retrieved March 11, 2009 . 
31. ↑ Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 36
32. ^ Bamberg, Michael: The Man Who Heard Voices , p. 20; Zywietz, Bernd: Seeing Dead People , p. 36
33. ↑ M Night Shyamalan reveals he ghost-wrote 'She's All That'. In: NME.com. Retrieved June 11, 2013 . 
34. ↑ She's All That (1999). In: Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 11, 2013 . 
35. ↑ DVD : The Sixth Sense , Making-Of; see also the article The Sixth Sense
36. ↑ ^{a b} Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 37
37. ↑ Biography of M. Night Shyamalan on hollywood.com ; B. Stewart, James: Disney War . Simon & Schuster 2005, ISBN 978-0-684-80993-9 .
38. ↑ ^{a b c} M. Night Shyamalan: The best starting weeks. In: Inside Kino. Retrieved February 18, 2009 . 
39. ↑ Kniebe, Tobias: Shock on a gentle level . P. 145
40. ↑ ^{a b} Blumenfeld, Samuel: M. Night Shyamalan, Hollywood Parano . P. 23
41. ↑ DVD : Unbreakable - Unzerbrechlich , Making-Of
42. ↑ ^{a b} Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 59
43. ↑ Unbreakable. In: Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
44. ↑ Ann Dohahue: Indiana Jones and the curse of development hell (in the archive). (No longer available online.) In: Premiere. Archived from the original on February 24, 2011 ; accessed on February 21, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
45. ^ M. Night Shyamalan had a sense that all Signs pointed to Mel Gibson ( Memento of February 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). In: SciFi Weekly . (English)
46. ↑ Zywietz: Dead People See . P. 76.
47. ↑ Bonus material on the Signs DVD , interview with Shyamalan
48. ^ The Village - Weekly. In: Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 13, 2013 . 
49. ^ The Village. (No longer available online.) In: Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009 ; accessed on February 20, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
50. ↑ Zywietz, Bernd: Dead people see , p. 96
51. ↑ Everschor: Like a spoiled child . P. 48f
52. ↑ Storm: Tears of Genius. Director M. Night Shyamalan stages his separation from Disney as a public spectacle . P. 24.
53. ↑ ^{a b} Höbel: Wunderkinds belly splash . P. 167
54. ↑ Everschor: Like a spoiled child . P. 49
55. ↑ Jeff Otto: "Potter in the Water? Shyamalan interested in magical franchise ». (No longer available online.) In: uk.movies.ign.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2010 ; accessed on February 20, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
56. ↑ Zywietz: Seeing dead people . P. 139.
57. ↑ Michael Fleming: Fox lands Shyamalan movie. In: Variety . Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
58. ↑ Cinema No. 361 (June 2008), page 57ff.
59. ↑ Allison Hope Weiner: Shyamalan's Hollywood Horror Story, With Twist. In: New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2009 . 
60. ↑ Pamela McClintock: Shyamalan's 'Avatar' also to bigscreen. In: Variety . Retrieved October 13, 2013 . 
61. ^ M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender Gets Release Date, Director Update, "Avatar" Dropped From Title. (No longer available online.) In: / FILM. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017 ; Retrieved October 13, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
62. ↑ see for example: The legend of Aang. In: Cinema . Retrieved August 9, 2010 .  or Michael Kohler: In Tierra del Fuego . In: Frankfurter Rundschau of August 19, 2010, p. 31
63. ↑ Michael Fleming: Night falls for Media Rights . In: Variety , July 21, 2008. 
64. ↑ After Earth in the Internet Movie Database (English)
65. ^ I Got Schooled. In: Amazon.com . Retrieved June 25, 2013 . 
66. ↑ Alexandra Wolfe: M. Night Shyamalan Takes on Education Reform. In: Wall Street Journal . Retrieved August 22, 2013 . 
67. ↑ Axel Schmitt: Wayward Pines: FOX gives the green light for M. Night Shyamalan's mini-series. Serienjunkies.de , May 13, 2013, accessed on May 17, 2015 . 
68. ↑ FOX Announces Fall 2014–15 Schedule. TV Series Finale, May 12, 2014, accessed May 17, 2015 . 
69. ↑ Alexander Krei: Wayward Pines: FOX gives the green light for the miniseries by M. Night Shyamalan. DWDL.de, December 11, 2014, accessed on May 17, 2015 . 
70. ↑ Rick Kissell, 'Wayward Pines' Event Series to Premiere in May on Fox. Variety, December 9, 2014, accessed May 17, 2015 . 
71. ↑ Wayward Pines: Season 1. In: Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 26, 2015 . 
72. ^ Nellie Andreeva: M. Night Shyamalan's 'Wayward Pines' Renewed By Fox For Season 2 With New Showrunner. In: Deadline.com. Retrieved December 10, 2015 . 
73. ^ Labor of Love. In: Moviepilot . Retrieved April 25, 2015 . 
74. ↑ Ben Child: Bruce Willis and M Night Shyamalan to reunite for Labor of Love. In: The Guardian . Retrieved February 1, 2014 . 
75. ^ Woon-Mo Sung: "The Visit": M. Night Shyamalan's low-budget film "Sundowning" has a new title and US theatrical release. In: Filmstarts.de . Retrieved September 1, 2015 . 
76. ↑ Trivia. In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved September 1, 2015 . 
77. ↑ Trivia. In: Filmstarts.de . Retrieved September 1, 2015 . 
78. ^ The Visit (2015). In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 17, 2015 .  : The critical consensus: “The Visit provides horror fans with a satisfying mix of thrills and laughter - and also means a welcome return to old form for director and writer M. Night Shyamalan. "
79. ↑ ^{a b c} The Visit (2015) . In: Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 18, 2016 . 
80. ↑ Helgard Haß: Joaquin Phoenix in conversation for the new film by M. Night Shyamalan. In: Filmstarts.de . Retrieved September 18, 2015 . 
81. ↑ Justin Kroll: James McAvoy to Star in M. Night Shyamalan's Next Movie. In: Variety . Retrieved October 3, 2015 . 
82. ↑ Sebastian Daniels: Split - First reactions to M. Night Shyamalan's thriller with James McAvoy. In: Moviepilot . Retrieved September 27, 2016 . 
83. ↑ Jordan Hoffman: Split review - James McAvoy is 23 shades of creepy in M ​​Night Shyamalan chiller. In: The Guardian . Retrieved September 27, 2016 . 
84. ↑ January 20-22, 2017 Weekend. In: Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 22, 2017 (English). 
85. ^ M. Night Shyamalan: Unbelievably, I'm spending the weekend shooting my first music video. 10 days before shooting my new movie! In: Twitter . Retrieved October 27, 2015 . 
86. ^ Daniel Kreps: Watch Andra Day's M. Night Shyamalan-Directed Video. In: Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 10, 2016 . 
87. ↑ Juliane Görsch: M. Night Shyamalan produces new editions of stories from the crypt. In: Moviepilot . Retrieved January 9, 2016 . 
88. ↑ Sebastian Daniels: M. Night Shyamalan develops animated sitcom about Indians in America. In: Moviepilot . Retrieved October 6, 2016 . 
89. ↑ Nancy Tartaglione: M Night Shyamalan Unveils 'Glass': 'Unbreakable' & 'Split' Sequel To Star Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson, James McAvoy. In: Deadline . Retrieved April 26, 2017 . 
90. ↑ Glass Movie International: GLASS - Official Trailer (German). August 1, 2018, accessed October 11, 2018 . 
91. ↑ Glass Movie International: GLASS - 2nd official trailer (German). October 11, 2018, accessed October 11, 2018 . 
92. ↑ I was concerned with the emotional truth. (No longer available online.) In: kino.de. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008 ; Retrieved February 20, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
93. ^ Faulstich, Werner : Basic course in film analysis . Munich 2002, p. 44
94. ↑ Kreuzer: The Dramaturgy of the Uncanny in M. Night Shyamalan . P. 48
95. ↑ ^{a b} Jens Hinrichsen: The Happening . In: Film-Dienst 13/2008 p. 38
96. ↑ Westerboer: The Inner Look . P. 97
97. ↑ Westerboer: The Inner Look . P. 98
98. ^ Götz, André: The Village - The village. The strange in the woods: The new film by M. Night Shyamalan , In: epd Film 9/2004. P. 32
99. ↑ Kreuzer: The Dramaturgy of the Uncanny in M. Night Shyamalan . P. 98
100. ↑ Zywietz: Seeing dead people . P. 148
101. ↑ Zywietz: Seeing dead people . P. 20
102. ↑ Westerboer: The Inner Look , page 72ff.
103. ↑ ^{a b} Zywietz: See dead people , p. 19
104. ↑ Tim Slagman: Amazingly listless. Spiegel Online, June 5, 2013, accessed June 6, 2013 . 
105. ^ Christian Witte: THE VISIT. Cereality, September 7, 2015, accessed September 30, 2015 . 
106. ↑ ^{a b} The Village: M. Night Shyamalan about playing with fear and supernatural powers. (No longer available online.) In: Spielfilm.de. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008 ; Retrieved February 20, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
107. ↑ See Faulstich: Basic course film analysis p. 44
108. ↑ Seeßlen, Georg : Kino des Fantastischen. History and mythology of horror films , Hamburg 1980 p. 40
109. ↑ ^{a b c} Kreuzer: The dramaturgy of the uncanny in M. Night Shyamalan , p. 52
110. ↑ ^{a b} Westerboer: The inner view , p. 44f.
111. ↑ Totaro, Donato: Visual Style in M. Night Shyamalan's “Fantastic” Trilogy (www.horschamp.qc.ca) quoted in: Zywietz: Dead People See , p. 23
112. ↑ Zywietz: See dead people , p. 22
113. ↑ Rahayel, Oliver: Unbreakable - Unbreakable. In: Film-Dienst 26/2000 p. 24
114. ↑ Kreuzer: The dramaturgy of the uncanny in M. Night Shyamalan , p. 50
115. ↑ Bernd Zywietz: M. Night Shyamalan's mishap THE LAST AIRBENDER. In: Screenshot-Online. Retrieved January 15, 2013 . 
116. ^ Greg Vellante: The Visit: Review. (No longer available online.) In: Sound & Picture. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015 ; accessed on September 29, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. There is no film music in The Visit , the eerie atmosphere is created solely by sound effects.  
117. ↑ Delorme, Gérard: Heros du mois . P. 28. Quotation: “  J'y consacre beaucoup de temps et d'efforts, also bien pour des scènes importantes que pour celles qui paraissent insignifiantes, Vous pouvez changer la texture d'un dialogue simplement par les effets que vous ajoutez dessus, lingerie, avant ou après. […] C'est un outil extreme puissant, l'un des moins bien utilisés dans le cinéma. Ca peut changer complètement le cours de l'histoire.  »
118. ↑ ^{a b} Sixième Sense. (No longer available online.) In: Film et Culture. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009 ; Retrieved February 20, 2009 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
119. ↑ Westerboer: The Inner Look . P. 96; Zywietz: Seeing dead people . P. 62f
120. ↑ Kreuzer: The dramaturgy of the uncanny in M. Night Shyamalan , p. 106
121. ↑ Westerboer: The Inner Look , p. 97.
122. ↑ Westerboer: The Inner Look . P. 80
123. ↑ ^{a b} M. Night Shyamalan: Unbelievable how far I've gone. In: Focus. Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
124. ↑ Bonus material on the DVD Signs - Zeichen (Making Of ( character search - screenplay ))
125. ↑ Thomas Schultze: I was concerned with the emotional truth. (No longer available online.) In: Entertainment Media Verlag GmbH & Co. KG (Kino.de). Archived from the original on December 31, 2008 ; Retrieved February 28, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
126. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` Wide Awake ''. In: Rottentomatoes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2013 . 
127. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` The Sixth Sense ''. In: Rottentomatoes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2013 . 
128. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` Unbreakable ''. In: Rottentomatoes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2013 . 
129. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` Signs ''. In: Rottentomatoes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2013 . 
130. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` The Village ''. In: Rottentomatoes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2013 . 
131. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` Lady in the Water ''. In: Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved January 11, 2013 . 
132. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` The Happening ''. In: Rottentomatoes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2013 . 
133. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` The Last Airbender ''. In: Rottentomatoes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2013 . 
134. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` After Earth ''. In: Rotten Tomatoes .com . Retrieved June 2, 2013 . 
135. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of `` The Visit ''. In: Rotten Tomatoes .com . Retrieved October 24, 2015 . 
136. ↑ Split (2017). In: Rotten Tomatoes .com . Retrieved June 13, 2017 . 
137. ^ Glass (2019). In: Rotten Tomatoes .com . Retrieved January 18, 2019 . 
138. ↑ From hit to flop - Shyamalan's films. In: Cinema. Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
139. ↑ On Rotten Tomatoes collected US reviews of all films.
140. ^ The Visit (2015). In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 9, 2016 . 
141. ↑ Is M. Night Shyamalan a genius or an egomaniac? (No longer available online.) In: Dailybulletin. Archived from the original on February 1, 2009 ; accessed on February 20, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
142. ^ The Village (2004). February 20, 2009 ( Memento from January 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
143. ^ Everschor, Franz: mazes of fantasy . In: film-dienst 10/2010, p. 48
144. ↑ Uncle Orson: Infringement, Watts, Plum, Ringworld, and Even More Books. In: Hatrack.com. Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
145. ↑ Zywietz, Bernd: Seeing dead people . P. 97
146. ↑ M. Night Shyamalan under suspicion. In: kino.de. Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
147. ↑ Disney and Shyamalan Face Plagiarism Lawsuit. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 31, 2008 ; accessed on February 20, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
148. ↑ As of April 17, 2017
149. ^ Box Office of The Village . In: Box Office mojo. Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
150. ^ Box office by Lady in the Water . In: Box Office mojo. Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
151. ^ Box office by The Happening . In: Box Office mojo. Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
152. ↑ The Last Airbender . In: Box Office mojo. Retrieved November 21, 2010 . 
153. ↑ The Legend of Aang . In: filmstarts.de. Retrieved October 21, 2015 . 
154. ↑ ^{a b c} After Earth . In: Box Office mojo. Retrieved August 16, 2013 . 
155. ↑ After Earth . In: filmstarts.de. Retrieved July 30, 2013 . 
156. ↑ ^{a b} The Visit (2015) . In: the-numbers.com. Retrieved September 5, 2015 . 
157. ^ The Visit (2015) . In: jpboxoffice.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015 . 
158. ↑ ^{a b c} Split (2017) . In: Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 13, 2017 . 
159. ↑ Split Charts. In: Blickpunkt: Film . Retrieved May 7, 2017 . 
160. ^ Glass (2019) . In: Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 18, 2018 . 
161. ↑ Top 100 Germany 2019. In: insidekino.com . Retrieved February 17, 2019 . 
162. ↑ Awards. In: Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 21, 2009 . 
163. ↑ Premiere Magazine's 100 Power Ranking (2002). In: amiannoying.com. Retrieved September 6, 2015 . 
164. ↑ Premiere Magazine's 100 Power Ranking (2003). In: amiannoying.com. Retrieved September 6, 2015 . 
165. ↑ Premiere Magazine's 100 Power Ranking (2004). In: amiannoying.com. Retrieved September 6, 2015 . 
166. ↑ Entertainment Weekly's 51 Most Influential Entertainers [2002]. In: amiannoying.com. Retrieved September 6, 2015 . 
167. ↑ M Night Shyamalan to visit India, will receive Padma Shri. In: bollywoodhungama.com. Retrieved February 20, 2009 . 
168. ↑ Bonnie Squires: Pa. Society in the Big Apple is always exciting. In: mainlinemedianews. Retrieved January 12, 2013 . 

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on October 26, 2012 .