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By Veronica Mixon
July 29, 2002
"Signs," writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's
latest feature film that opens August 2nd is about
a tormented man who has recently lost his beloved
wife and his religious faith. In the midst of
this human tragedy, the unbelievable happens.
Aliens invade the earth and the man played by
Mel Gibson, his two small children and his brother
("Gladiator" star, Joaquin Phoenix) must defend
their isolated farmhouse.
Shyamalan, whose previous box-office hits include
"The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable," doesn't flinch
when it comes to mixing popular themes like ghosts,
comic books action figures and aliens with genuinely
serious topics like family loyalty and spirituality.
He knows that audiences come to be entertained.
Nevertheless, as actress Cherry Jones, who plays
the crafty sheriff in "Signs," states, "as an
artist you feel the need to help the masses spiral
upwards." Some would argue that Shyamalan's work
does that and more.
He was born Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan (pronounced
SHAH-MA-LAWN) in India but grew up in the comfortable
suburban community of Penn Valley outside of Philadelphia
where both his parents practiced medicine. When
he was eight, he received a Super 8 camera and
started making movies like his hero, Steven Spielberg.
Shyamalan always wanted to be a filmmaker.
"I sent my first script to Disney," he recalls,
laughing. "They don't even know this - and it
came back with a note: send him back when he's
a writer!"
After directing two smaller films after college,
in 1999, Shyamalan wrote the screenplay for "Stuart
Little" and then directed the phenomenal "The
Sixth Sense." The tale of a terrified boy who
talks to dead people and his doctor who doesn't
know that he is dead grossed $294 million. Of
course, this meant that Shyamalan could right
his own ticket and work on only those projects
that he was truly interested in. This is still
true despite the fact that his follow-up film,
"Unbreakable," which cast Samuel L. Jackson as
psychotic serial killer was considered a disappointment
because of it's low $95 million box office.
"Signs" is a scary, spine-tingling horror film
with some genuinely heartfelt moments including
one provided by Shyamalan himself. Like Hitchcock,
the director likes to appear in his films.
"It's not meant to be a gag. My voice is all
over my movies. Mel tells the story of my kids
birth," he explains. "Also, the world that these
characters live in should have Indians in it because
my world does. It just feels more right with the
picture in my head."
As one of a growing number of Asian directors
working in Hollywood and as an American, I asked
him would he eventually write a story with a person
of color as his hero. "Well, yeah," he laughs.
"I would never do anything for an agenda. I didn't
hire Sam because of his skin color. I hired Sam
because he's charismatic, amazing and eerie and
all that stuff. That's the best actor for the
role. I think one day Denzel will be the lead
in one of my movies because I just think he's
astounding."
Life is good for the 32-year-old married father
of two. He still lives quietly outside of Philadelphia
and for the first time, he's not quite sure what
he'll do next. But, that's OK, too.
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