The Happening (2008)

Intro

The Happening is a 2008 American science fiction thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. As I already watched "Signs" and "The Village" during the class, I would like to make a comparison among and discuss the recognizable imprint on M. Night Shyamalan's movies.

Theory discuss

Auteur theory explores the notions of individual creative vision and control in cinema. An auteur is a director who displays his/her style and vision consistently across his/her films regardless of genres. Similar film style and theme exist across his films and one will deduce them to grow sophisticatedly in subsequent films. M. Night Shyamalan is an Auteur as he always leaves his signature imprint includes the mise-en-scène and the themes featured in his movies.

Synopsis

The Happening start with a mysterious event begins from Central Park, New York where people acting strange and killing themselves. After the government explained the suicidal behavior might cause by toxin of a"terrorist attack", high-school science teacher, Elliot Moore(Mark Wahlberg) decides to flee to Philadelphia with his friend Julian(John Leguizama), along with Julian's daughter, Jess(Ashlyn Sanchez) and his wife, Alma(Zooey Deschanel). Their train forced to halt before arriving at its final destination.Julian leave Jess to Elliot and Alma and looks for his wife at Princeton. Elliot suspects the "toxin" were actually produced by the plants and carried by the wind. People who travel in smaller group will have greater chance to survive.

Analysis

In The Happening, Shyamalan used the theme of a dysfunctional family. In the beginning of the movie shows the relationship of Elliot and Alma was falling apart and Alma seems to have an affair with Joey (voiced by M. Night Shyamalan). The same theme was also used in the Signs film, Graham's family is also having a dysfunctional relationship. He is having a hard time to communication with his children after his wife died in an accident. However, the family relationship will be fixed at the end of the movie as they overcome the disaster together. Elliot and Alma finally being honest with each other and confess their love after they survived the disaster. They live happily together with Jess, who lost her parent and Alma found out she is pregnant at the end of the movie.

Other than that,the character in Shyamalan's film will always give a second chance. In The Happening, Elliot is given a second chance to fix his relationship with Alma and save their marriage from the edge of falling apart. In Signs, Graham regains his faith and building an intimate relationship with his family again. And in The Village, Ivy inherit Lucius's will to go to the town and seek for medical supply for the village. Despite the terrible things happen in the movie, the characters find hope and grab the opportunity to make remedy to their mistake.

The long take was constantly used in Shyamalan's movies to reveal an ongoing event. For example in The Village, when Ivy encountered the monster in the wood, she hides behind a tree and trying to escape from her situation. The scene was captured in long take and controlled what to show to the audiences, emphasized the thrilling feeling as it almost stimulates Ivy's emotion in this scene.In The Happening, the long take was used in the scene when a police killed himself with his own gun and the next person picks up the gun and shot himself too. The usage of long shot in here lead us to travel through the trail of the gun been passing around and bringing more death.

Conclusion

In conclusion, M. Night Shyamalan indeed practice auteurism by transcends the script by imposing his style and vision, blending subjective and personalized filmmaking practices. Throughout his movies, from Signs to The Village and The Happening, similar film style and themes can be recognized and continuously develop in the subsequent film

References

1.  N. M. (Ed.). (2010). Auteur Theory. Retrieved June 26, 2016, from http://film110.pbworks.com/w/page/12610154/Auteur Theory 
2.  C. L. (2013, June 20). Looking back at M Night Shyamalan's The Happening. Retrieved June 26, 2016, from http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/26050/looking-back-at-m-night-shyamalans-the-happening 
3. Staiger, Janet (2003) ‘Authorship Approaches’, in Gerstner, David A. and Staiger, Janet (eds.) Authorship and Film, New York: Routledge, pp. 27 – 57