Which Night Film Meant The Most To You?

All of Night's films are brilliant and entertaining. All of them have an important message. They may even be revealing similar messages, but in different ways.

The difference is that each story is told differently with a different structure. The main synopsis of each film is different.

I refer to the MAINSTREAM films in this thread.

The Sixth Sense is about a boy who can see dead people and the doctor who can help him cope with that gift. Unbreakable is about a man who discovers himself through a stranger who's belief seems bizarre to him, and his miraculous survival of a tragic train accident. Signs is about the possibility of an alien invasion and the family that experiences it. The Village is about a tight-knit community living with the fear of creatures, that reside in the woods around them. Lady in the Water is about a Narf on an important mission, who emerges from the apartment pool, and the tenants who struggle to return her back home safely.

I want to ask, which of these stories meant the most to you, by how it was crafted and what you learned from it?

In my opinion, Signs meant the most to me, because it was crafted in a way that touched my deepest fears and emotions, and left me with a message that I found to be inspiring and amazing.

I think it won't come as much of a suprise that Lady in the Water means the most to me, and this goes for all movies I've seen.

There were so many points in this movie that touched me in a lot of different ways and, yes, I've been working on a book, and some of what was in this movie are things I've already incorporated into mine.

What meant the most to me was that a movie talked about finding purpose in one's life. We all make choices, some of them we sort of understand before we make them, others we may not really know why we really made those choices but wherever we are, right now, is the culmination of not only the choices we made, but the choices we didn't make.

I believe that the paths of certain people cross for a reason. There are, of course, degrees to this because every single moment can be a learning experience but that is a mindset that is developed.

Some people of the Cove ended up being there, by the culmination of their choices, to be in a position where they were needed and aligned with their purpose. People not just coming together, but coming together for the greater good of everyone involved and, according to the movie, the good of the planet because M Night's character is able to write the book and she goes back as the Madam Narff.

For me, Purpose is an energy, it's called Yi in Chinese. This is what I teach and this is what I do, I help people find their purpose in life because we all have dreams as children and most of the time it's adults, or peers, or schools, or life that beats them out of us. To reconnect to our dreams requires being like a child and feeling that awe, that energy, that joy, that view of the future being full of possibilities, to get our lifeforce going.

This movie captures a lot of what I teach.

Though I generally list Unbreakable as my favorite of Night's films, Signs definitely meant more to me on an emotional level. I saw it four times in the theaters and teared up at the dinner scene every time. I was practically bawling the first two times.

Perhaps this is a trite response, and not the kind for which you are looking, but The Sixth Sense means quite a bit to me, and not simply because it is my favorite of Shyamalan's films.

I saw the movie by myself on a day when I felt desperate for some kind of creative... I don't know how you'd put it... absorption.

I hopped from theater to theater, first watching the animated film The Iron Giant, then The Sixth Sense, and then Mystery Men.

Say what you will of those other two movies (I don't pretend that Mystery Men is a masterpiece, although I enjoy it quite a bit), but The Sixth Sense's placement among them will always stand out as a serendipitous occasion. Each film dealt with, in some peculiar manner, the themes of "dealing" with the supernatural... whether that means accepting it, negotiating with it, or finding a place for yourself within it. These are films about outsiders FOR outsiders... perhaps of different ages and audiences.

And it is that outsider-access point that makes The Sixth Sense such a shining example of the suspense genre in my eyes. You could just as well substitute "the supernatural" here for "personal gifts" or "spirituality" or any other heightened introspection that sets one apart from another. In the other two movies I viewed that day, the introspection is rewarded in some way or another, but in The Sixth Sense, our protagonsits' insights are not rewarded so much as they are ultimately connected, bonded, and shared. It's a strange but not altogether unfamiliar concept... that the looking inwards can be a kind of connecting outwards.

It is also, in a sense, the experience of someone suffering from a creative and spiritual lapse watching the film. I didn't feel empowered by it so much as refreshed, if that makes sense. The movie just came at an odd point in my life, and I'm very happy it did.

I have different favorites for different reasons. For me, the Sixth Sense always will be on a special list all its own. It was the first Shyamalan film I saw, of course, and it was so different and so well-crafted, it amazed me. I was fresh out of grad school at the time, having spent years in writing workshops, so I was pretty jaded about the possibility of seeing anything new and different when I went into the theatre. I was totally blown away.

Also, the plight of the little boy in Sixth Sense was so heartbreaking. He was so alone and scared, and the fact that he found someone to help him--albeit a dead guy--was a nice message. I had forgotten that the boy was able to talk about his gift/curse with his mother and that she believed him. Actually, now that I think of it, all of the main characters in MSN's mainstream films end up feeling less alone and cut off from the world, don't they? I'm twisting my noodle trying to think of someone who ended more lonely and isolated at the end of the story, but I can't come up with anyone, (except for the critic in LITW. ). But it's early. My brain may not be awake yet.

Well, I don't have one...I have 2. The first one is Lady In The Water. 1) It's a very unique movie that focuses on fantasy and how people would almost deal with it. It shows how people can cooperate when something happens. How they can be helpful to somebody who needs something important. How you can love somebody without even trying. How you can care for somebody without trying. It shows how some people would risk their lives to help someone get where they're supposed to go, just for somebody not like them, in a way. The sad parts in the movie (Bathroom scene w/ Story & M. Night) makes you feel just like them, like you want to help too. It just makes you believe in this movie. It's so great.

My next movie is Signs. 1) It's also like LITW in a way. There are a few sad parts in the movie also. It also deals with love and how somebody who has lost someone they love so much deals with it. It shows it can be hard to deal with something like that. How a crisis will bring people closer together. It also brung Mel's character closer to God. This is a great movie too.

Well, that's the two movies that meant the most to me.

__________________
"'How many more of you are there?'" - M. Night Shyamalan

Signs is the best movie i've ever seen, in terms of "feelings-emotions". It just cleared up what i thought! I have a vision of Life which is particular and this vision became easier, just natural after having seen Signs. A wonderful message of hope because we all belong to a huge plan we can not easily understand but which exists! the signs in the movie( boy's asthm, water, wife accident..) hapen because there's a REASON! And all is linked, our moments of joy, love, cries and smiles and especially the persons we meet at special moments.. We can not understand but just keep faith and Wait.
Anisabel from France(so sorry for my lenguage mistakes if there are :-) )

Hey Anisabel, welcome to the Forum.. Hope you like it here.. Loved what you said. It was great.

Anisabel, this is the best post I have ever read. From anyone. I totally, and completely agree with you. My exact thoughts when I saw Signs.

If you read some of my posts and reviews on Signs, they will say the exact same things you said.

When you said:

"wonderful message of hope because we all belong to a huge plan we can not easily understand but which exists"


and:


"hapen because there's a REASON! And all is linked, our moments of joy, love, cries and smiles and especially the persons we meet at special moments.. We can not understand but just keep faith and Wait."

I must have said those exact same words. You completely read my mind lol. I'm so glad someone else saw this film the same way I did.



"I have a vision of Life which is particular and this vision became easier, just natural after having seen Signs."

I have that same vision as well. That's why Signs is my favorite film.

I'm very happy you came to this forum to express your ideas. Which are very smart. It's also so awesome that you are from France Welcome to the forum. Hope you like it. It's a pleasure having you here.

Diane,
Thanks. The forum is very interesting. I haven't read all quotes because i've not seen LITW yet. next week august 23 on the French screens.

Warpedstrawberry,
Thank you very much for all you wrote. I was very very happy to read it.
i read your quote about Love and i totally agree with you. In the village, the scene with Hands when "monsters" are in the village deeply touched me, I found this was the most intense moment of the movie.
This forum is very interesting. Thank you.

Probably because I just saw it for the second time, but the movie touched me close to the heart. M.N.S. seems to have tapped in to deep spiritual symbols and thoughts on this one, and many of which I hold close. One of the characters said it well, "Its something ancient, with a modern twist."

I love that on the surface it is a simple fairy tale. One level down it is a childlike criticism of critics. This is why soooo many critics have panned the movie, they feel like MNS attacked them in a not so subtle way (The critic misleads Heep and ends up getting eaten by the Scrunt, 'how drole').

What seems to have been missed by many are the very old ideas...
Becoming like a child in order to receive knowledge (humility in juxtaposition to the critic's, Farber's, arrogance: "Who could be so arrogant as to think he understands the heart of someone?"). Many times characters repeat the phrase, "I'm not special."
The idea of sacred oracles revealing information to mortals based on worthiness. The process of how this takes place and where it takes place is fantastically portrayed.
Heep's progression of purification through water and near-death trials which finally allows him to watch the great Eaglton take Story away.

There are so many deeper meanings that, of course, a critic would not able to see them all.
Farber: "Why do people in movies always stand around talking in the rain?"
Heep: "Maybe its a metaphor of purification?"
Farber: "No its not!"

That conversation revealed so much. What is the greatest is that MNS has succeeded in in portraying critics in one light and by responding to his movie the way they have they have fulfilled MNS' portrayal of themselves as shallow and pedantic.

I love all of his movies, but this one touched me...and the soundtrack is VERY good.

Oh, I love the soundtrack! It's beautiful!

I agree with your comments about the film, too. The critics have completely spazzed out on this one, and I don't get it. I mean, they've been so personal in their criticism. It's really weird.

Based on his track record, though, MNS seems the type to draw creative energy from the experience, so his next film should be great fun! Some writers are like that. I know I am. Piss me off and I write damn fine prose.

It's just a shame for the entertainment industry, in general, and audiences, in particular, that when someone uses a non-formulaic approach and produces something vibrant and poetic the critics go into a feeding frenzy.

Your welcome. It's a good movie. I hope you will like it. sorry to get off the subject.

I agree with a lot of what you said and I find this movie to be very, very beautiful. The music gave me goosebumps both times I saw it and, honestly, both times I shed some tears.

This is me getting a bit esoteric here, and it's probably going to get me into a little trouble here, but for anyone who doesn't believe in Purpose is not going to understand this movie.

The critics are just looking at the movie as it is put together but have completely avoided the philosiphical and metaphysical discussion of the movie, one of which involves Purpose.

Part of the martial arts training I partake in deals specifically with finding one's purpose in this life. I'm allowed to teach what I have learned and sometimes, when I go through my class preparation, or review my students, I am amazed that I can have such an impact in their lives. I've overcome a lot of physical ailments and now I'm seeing it happen in those that I teach and sometimes I'm just amazed and awed and think "this is just me, who am I to be able to do this, to know how to do this?"

It is soooooo humbling it is ridiculous and part of the path is doubting one's self. I see it in me from time to time and I see it in my students as they go through the struggles in their lives as they seek to tap into their own essence.

When it happens, though, things just flow and click like how, in the ending, all the roles were filled by the right people, everyone did what they needed to, and one person was able to soar to incredible heights whereas my students just start to click, shed the things that aren't them, and then there they go, soaring in the joy and release and freedom of their accomplishment.