"Mr. Heep, it is time we showed people that some stories are real." - Young-Soon ChoiI am a very, very, very huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan. His stories are absolutely transcendent and earth shaking. But I wasn't always this big of a fan. We all know 'The Sixth Sense' and to most of us and everyone as a whole the movie is in the pantheon of all-time greats. It is a great movie but it becomes a member of the pantheon because of the ending. With 'The Sixth Sense', we were all blown away and then with 'Unbreakable' we all took a step back and were wondering if he reached his zenith with a little kid telling Bruce Willis he sees dead people. In all honesty it was unfair to expect Unbreakable to match The Sixth Sense in all components, especially in a mind-blowing ending that left the whole theatre gasping. None the less, Unbreakable is a good movie (the 2nd time around). So it was with much skeptisism we approached 'Signs' and then at the end we were ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY!!! It was at that point I understood a Shyamalan movie needed to be watched from a spiritual view/angle. Not from a basic human need for entertainment. Not the basic, ok you need to suspend reality to get the movie. There's spirituality in all of his movies. An underground current of something greater is going on and we all have our part in it. There's a story being played, that is greater than ourselves, and we have our role. And it is a very specific role.
Up until 'Lady in the Water', all of his movies had that "twist" ending. The ending that you never saw coming that blew everything away. It's the reason you sat through 2 hours of crazy, supernatural, goofy, "where in the heck is this going" story telling. To be blown away at the end and leave the theatre enjoying the fact that your mind was twisted and turned and you walked out discussing all the scenes with your wife and wondering why you never noticed it before.
An element of that all changed with 'Lady in the Water'. The whole movie is the twist; the whole thing is crazy and blows your mind. This may be his most underrated movie. I thought the same thing of 'The Village' as well but Lady in the Water was lambasted and I think I know why. But before I get to that a little disclaimer....
This isn't a post to describe the movie to you or rehash the chronology of the movie. It is assumed you've seen the movie and know what has already happened. Obviously there are SPOILER ALERTS, but if you've never seen the movie, none of this will make sense to you and may actually make you more confused than ever.
All the characters in this movie are very real, very down to earth. They provide the comical element but the bigger fact is that almost all of them remind you of someone in your life. Paul Giamatti plays the lead character, Cleveland Heep, the apartment complex repair man. Not a great name for someone to grow up with, but in the context of a book or movie, a great name. Paul does a phenomenal job pulling off the character. It's a difficult character to portray. Playing someone who has a speech impediment and someone who is understated so much in his role but yet is the central character within the context of this story which is really the part of a much, MUCH larger story. Cleveland discovers that beyond the veil of his supposed mundane, dreary life is something much bigger behind that veil. A spiritual context that goes beyond the hum-drum routine of this life and world.
He is opened up to this world of Narfs and Scrunts and a whole vocabulary (The Blue World e.g.) that is odd and just plain sounds absurd to say them. Yet within the context of the movie you just roll with it. The fact that these everyday, comical, sometimes odd people in this one ordinary looking apartment all play a part in this cosmic narrative that's going on seems odd as well. To further put this story in our faces, the actual "Lady in the Water" is named 'Story' (a minor stoke of genius if I do say so). This Story is the revelation of the meta-narrative.
So, while the story is about the apartment complex and its renters, the real story is not about them. That is to say it's not about "man" it's much much larger than that. It isn't man against his environment as say in the movie 'Crash' or 'Babel' - which ends with no resolution to the problems and ills of the world. But a movie like this peels back a layer and exposes that there is something transcendent and cosmic going on that intersects with our ho-hum world and shows a lot of meaning and purpose to our ho-hum life.
And it all starts with a fairy tale. The world use to be this way and man went his own way and there's been a disconnect. And now things have been set in motion to get man back, to get it back to how it use to be. But the film doesn't end the story, what it does is provide a promise that things are set in motion and a savior is coming and the reconciliation of humanity. That's the story that we see. Not the actual salvation but the story up to. Even at the end, we see the eagle soaring above, but only from the reflection of the pool with the rain hitting it, so you do not actually see it. A stark reminder of the human perception, even in the Christian experience (1 Cor. 13, "Now we see but a poor reflection...until our reconciliation with God").
But this fantastic, mythical story/fairy tale becomes very real to Cleveland and the others. It becomes reality. At one point Cleveland comes face-to-face with a Scrunt. It is very traumatic as he comes face to face with something that can kill him. An actual being from this story. His eyes have been opened and all the cards are on the table. 2 Kings 6 gives a similar story. Elisha's servant is traumatized by the fact that the enemy has surrounded them. He assumes they are doomed. Elisha prays for God to peel back the veil and show him what is really going on. God opens his eyes and the servant sees the hillsides covered in angelic warriors on horses and chariots of fire ready to do battle on their side. There's more to this life this servant was living than what he could see.
And that is what this movie inspires. Is their a meta-narrative to our own life? Is their more than the mundane and does it have a deeper transcendent meaning? Is there a spiritual purpose? And a big part of the movie is that they have to swallow this story they are a part of. It's all real. They know there is more to this than just their life. So what logically follows this fact is, "What's my role?" in this meta-narrative? Do we have a cosmic meaning? And where the comedy comes into play is when the characters try to figure what their role actually is? Are they happy with the role they've been given or do they want to be something else?
We'd all like to be the hero, the protector, the guardian. Maybe we want to be Vic. Write something that changes the world. Maybe more than that, be the person who comes and speaks it, says it all. Changes the world. But that is the problem. We accept the story, we accept we have a part, but we want to be the center, not the sidekick, not the comedic relief. Or maybe we want to pick the part. And we see this played out in the film. They all try and fulfill what they think their roles are the first time, to an almost fatal conclusion. But if the narrative is to play out and happen, all parts have been determined and are equally needed and as important. And this we chafe at. We do not want to accept that things are already figured out. That the role we are to play has been determined. Even so far that's it been pre-determined when our death will happen. Most of us do not want our life defined for us. But when we submit and humble ourselves to that it actually gives us an empowering sense of purpose, duty, relationship, and love. Even Cleveland has to accept that his original thoughts of his role are wrong.
And all of these roles work together. They aren't for each themselves. These roles work together in a spirit of family. It isn't compartmentalized. They all need to work with each other and you can see the wonder within the characters as they realize their role and work together helping each other out. Who is the healer, who stares down the Scrunt, etc. As they figure these things out and realize their role, you see them become empowered, together. This is the tension in the second half of the movie. Who has what role? Are they going to figure it out in time? Will they all accept their roles?
So when we boil this all down, it is a very far-out, silly story. With silly names, silly characters, and a far-out plotline. Almost foolish.
Similar to the story of the gospel. God is the story teller and we've been given the Story. The Story of the gospel. We're stewards of this Story and all have our roles to be played to bring about the redemption and salvation of man. The Story provides the job description, what is needed to be done. We must recognize our role and accept what it is. And it all seems foolish. But when we realize the truth, when our eyes are opened, and we accept that truth, the empowerment that follows can take us out of the ho-hum and into the transcendent. Life holds no more vagaries. But only in the essence of the story of our life. The great big story will become clear when we behold God face to face.
M. Night Shyamlan definitely plays to the fact that their is a hand of providence over life. I am not sure of his religion or spirituality within himself. But I think that his constant element of meta-narrative, life has purpose and meaning and that our role is very specific to all of this is unsettling to most people. His stories and allegory are so far out there (dead people, comic books, aliens, narfs, etc.) that it becomes near foolishness to us. People dismiss his overtones and "message" because of how almost comedic his story-telling is. But it has to be, because it almost is.
