Blind State

Rating: 7/10 (12 September 2008)

Some people in the industry are just lost causes. I really have given Shyamalan chances, many more than any other on/off director has gotten. That's because he seems to have pretty solid ideas about giving a movie that special personal touch, which is always an appreciable trait. And because he DOES have ideas that, now and then, are more valuable than your average episode of Outer Limits.
The main problem is just that as a writer, he is horrible, and perhaps because of his "slight" egoism, there seems to be no one to tell him when he crosses the line. I think 'Unbreakable' is his only good movie, and that's because there was a narrative trick that was too simple to be screwed up by what was actually happening in the script (Bruce wasn't the main character!).
This is his second best, I guess. It IS flawed, but has some interesting stuff going on. I actually felt bad for a while for Shyamalan, because the marketing section falsely decided to advertise this as a horror movie - which it is not, as many have pointed out. But that's not the issue here: the idea in this one is all about seeing the structures that build up a society. Terror as a way to control. Tragedy as a trigger for change. Secrecy for 'greater good'. Outcast as a monster. All 'seen' by a blind girl as our lead. Of course the blindness here is just poor symbolism, but it's important that SHE doesn't see. In the end, she still can't be sure if the threat exists. Has the lie lived so long that it has become real?
But it's constructed poorly. Shyamalan wants his twist, so the entire narrative builds just for that moment, and after that, it dies completely. And before that, all commentary is lost because we just want to know the catch. I wonder what it would have been like if WE had known the truth from the beginning? Not scary at all, of course, but maybe a bit more meaningful. Compare, for instance, 'From Hell' the graphic novel to its movie adaptation.
Actors do okay with their paper-thin characters. Shyamalan's use of camera and cuts, which I considered refreshingly original in his earlier movies, is already becoming boring here. Afterwards, in 'Lady in the Water', it's just stupid.
But nice try, anyway. At least here he didn't cast himself as the writer who saves the plot.