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COPYRIGHT 2002 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.
An interview with M. Night Shyamalan, by David Denby
This is only a stab in the dark, but could it be that M. Night Shyamalan--the maker of "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable"--harbors, in the depths of his heart, the ambition to be an auteur? I only wonder because the opening credits of his latest film, "Signs," which is about crop circles and alien invasion, rise to a fine triple whammy: "Written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan." The movie, incidentally, is set in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which happens to be where he lives, and there is a cameo by one M. Night Shyamalan. I take it for granted that he made the crop circles himself, using a long rope, a pair of compasses, and an elephant on a tea tray, and none of us should be amazed if he turned out to have donned a verdigris catsuit and slipped into the role of the Thing from outer space.
In short, this is a Shyamalan project. It boasts the peculiar strain of anxiety that he has cultivated with such delicate, if sadistic, care over the last few years. His films are greenhouses, where the air is hung with a brew of unsettling aromas. Only rarely do fearful things jump out at you, preferring to grow and writhe at their own pace. There is shock, but no surprise, as if each unwelcome...
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