This corpse has been picked over plenty, and while I'll stipulate that it's a bit undercooked and pretty silly, on a rewatch I think it's one of those things you just have to deliberately slide into, which makes sense given that it's all of a piece with SIGNS and THE VILLAGE in its depiction of an insular community or group united by belief. You can choose to read Bob Balaban's character as a snipe at all critics, or you can take it as a representation of blanket, unfeeling skepticism. Up to you. Anyway, Shyamalan may exhibit all manner of ill-advised creative hubris but that doesn't mask his exceptional capabilities as a visual filmmaker. It's hard to make an ugly movie with Christopher Doyle shooting, but the way everything here is either behind a visual obstruction like a tree or a shower curtain, or shot through a portal like a window or door, or the constant grid patterns that pop up in, say, the courtyard of the apartment complex or even just the design on a blanket...all this suggests that the world is porous, that there's something on the other side if you choose to see it. This isn't a great movie but it's a great example of how something unusual and even rewarding can get tossed aside just because it's uncool.
"He's hearing the voice of God through a crossword puzzle."Acho que só o Apichatpong acredita tanto no poder sugestivo da história oral como o Shyamalan. E é uma crença no sentido de uma fé mística mesmo, fé em uma mitologia fantasiosa que foi perdida, uma mitologia essencialmente narrativa que parte da infantilização de alguns elementos justamente para revelar uma essência primária e poderosa das coisas. O melhor de tudo é que o Shy faz isso com um humor tão espirituoso quanto excêntrico. Toda a deslocalização cotidiana desse filme parte de uma ridicularização meio frontal das coisas, mas é justamente a fé nesses elementos ridículos que os torna grandiosos. Fora todo um senso de união que o ambiente coletivo gera, uma união que está intrinsecamente ligado ao dispositivo do condomínio, como também estava no dispositivo da comunidade de A Vila. E o fato do filme nunca passar do portão do condomínio é muito revelador nesse sentido, um pouco como se ele precisasse se conservar, como se fosse preciso criar um mundo cotidiano-fantasioso à parte para voltar a acreditar.
84M. Night Shyamalan's penchant for isolated communities, totems of loss and tragedy, and eccentric, fantastical concepts is given its most inwardly emotional landscape in Lady in the Water. An apartment complex, 'The Cove', is situated as a battleground for Shyamalan's anger - towards the Iraq war, his bruised ego, and his critics - while manifesting as a convoluted, at times cloyingly sincere bedtime story. But there's real pain buried deep down. And Shyamalan, teaming up with famed DP Christopher Doyle, works with his collaborators to bring it all to the surface. It's such a fragile movie. Watching Lady in the Water, it seems to fall apart, again and again, while Shyamalan picks up the scattered pieces and gently glues it back together in the same instance. The film is so personal that its primary function is to be therapeutic. It's not for everyone, clearly, but Shyamalan's formal elegance is imaginative and rigorous, which is more than I can say for 90% of today's studio fare. The performances from Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard often speak louder than words. The connections aren't just physical but a bridge to spiritual reconciliation. A time for healing. "I love you all, I love you all so much."
