Everything I heard
and read about this movie told me I would hate it. They were
all wrong. After the disappointing Signs and the
complete failure of The Village, I had lost all faith
in M. Night Shyamalan's directing and storytelling abilities.
Surprisingly, Lady in the Water restored my lost
hope, and rekindled the flame of one of the most talented
directors of the newer generation.
The plot of the
film centers around a bedtime story which turns out to be
real, and involves not only Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti),
but the rest of the apartment complex for which he is caretaker.
The premise sounds about as lame as they come, but Shyamalan
expertly draws you in and makes the tale truly come alive.
This is done through the same traditional storytelling tactics
he used in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable,
both in the script and his mise-en-scène. I have always
been impressed by how Shyamalan's scripts can be so transparent,
and often predictable because of this, yet still engaging.
This power can often be attributed to the thoughtful placement
of objects and symbols within the film that strengthen the
structure of the script. It's a very "by the book"
approach to directing, but he is adept at it, and it has become
a distinguishing trait of his style.
In this case,
the narrative contains more symbols than the visual elements
of the film. For example, the pivotal character is a narf
(a water nymph) whose name is none other than "Story."
And around her she weaves an intricate plot involving Heep
and over a dozen of his residents, including Bob Balaban,
Jeffrey Wright, and young Noah Gray-Cabey. These eccentric
characters, as well as Asian college student Young-Soon Choi,
are the greatest assett to the film, both for their creative
roles and their spot-on performances. Bryce Dallas Howard,
daughter of actor/director Ron Howard, is not quite as good.
While her character is the center of the tale, she falls short
of the necessary wonder of the character, and ends up looking
more like a deer in the headlights than she probably should.
The bedtime story itself is an indispensable character. The
ever-deepening and intricate story is the backbone of the
film. And Shyamalan knows this. He hides nothing in the most
post-modern of ways--the characters tell the plot of the movie
by discovering and describing the story. And while these moments
are a bit too self-aware for their own good, they are also
the most exciting moments of the film. It brings back the
same sense of meta glee that one feels as Jamie Kennedy describes
what will happen in the Scream trilogy, based on
horror genre conventions.
Even with all
its post-modern transparency and predictability, it wouldn't
be a Shyamalan movie without a twist at the end. Here he moves
away from the expected plot twist and throws an emotional
curveball at the audience. I can't say I've ever been moved
by his earlier works, possibly because I was always good enough
at reading the language of the film and seeing his hints at
the eventual outcome, but this film didn't ask me to do that,
and this was more effective at reaching me on a deeper level.
At the conclusion of the film, for the first time in the 110
minute feature, I felt that tug at my heartstrings and realized
that the twist had worked this time.
If you have only
seen the trailer, read a review, or heard from a friend
about this movie, but liked the director's first few films,
give yourself a trip into a childhood fantasy with a touch
of magic and an intelligent approach. It's still a far-from-perfect
work of cinema, but Lady in the Water will remain
one of the successes on M. Night Shyamalan's resume.
