The Happening
OK -- I’ll admit it: I was scared to go to this movie. Not because it’s a horror movie; not because The Village kind of terrified me (shush. Cheap scare tactics for Amish children also work for me); I had read the reviews, read the epic panning that Shyamalan’s latest offering had received, and I didn’t want to be disappointed. I like his visual style, I like his stories, and I like his human touch. He writes interesting people, and even if the scare tactics are occasionally over-the-top, the jump-moments are not the point. His movies may be mixed-bag in terms of overall effectiveness, but they’re not stupid. It was striking that so many of the reviews for The Happening emphasized its dullness and its lack of intelligence.
It was heartening that this film managed to exceed all expectations. It’s not loud, it’s not slam-bang action, but it’s cerebral and more resonant than it has been given credit for. It has its flaws, and they’re not to be ignored, but the impact is not insignificant, either. Seriously -- it made me tense over the prospect of wind! and plants! By focusing on a trio of normal people, Shyamalan creates a microcosm that succeeds in keeping the focus intimate while still being easily extrapolated a larger societal scope.
The Happening includes a few of the most powerful, fascinating, scenes that I’ve seen lately -- they’re not easy to watch, but they work perfectly. As well, the camera work and sound effects manage to make plants embarrassingly sinister. Shyamalan, for as much as you may slam him for his cheap thrills, but he also has a true style when it comes to making the ordinary world uncanny. Running from a wind-front. Approaching a tree with pure terror. The idea is absurd, but with the correct suspension of disbelief, it works.
This is not to say that this movie is flawless. In fact, its flaws ultimately conspire to trivialize what could have been a very powerful piece of work. Yes, it has exceptionally strong moments, but the overall film could have been a lot stronger if not for a few elements. M. Night Shyamalan has a little problem: he knows that he’s a good storyteller, knows that he knows his stuff, but he can get a little cocky. There’s always that one extra thing that just has to be thrown into a set-up, and that’s the thing that breaks it.
However, at the same time that certain plotpoints are plagued with kitchen-sinkiness, dialogue suffers from the opposite problem. While I realize that half the point of this film is that no one knows what’s going on, would it be too much to ask for a wee bit of specificity? If all you can do is reference the film’s title and such phrases as “the event” or “it’s an act of nature”, there’s something wrong... or at least annoying.
Also, while I realize that half the strength of this movie is the acute portrayal of regular people in the face of calamity, after spending almost the entire movie making them at least respectable, why go and make them do something impossibly stupid seemingly without good reason? It’s an easy way to make the movie end quickly, but it’s still jarring and smacks of artistic laziness.
When The Happening is good (in its elegant portrayal of how people react to the incomprehensible) it’s very good. When it’s bad, it’s exceedingly frustrating. Shyamalan is an intelligent and very interesting film-creator, but he he can’t rest on his laurels too much -- that’s when things go wrong.
This movie is going to disappoint if you’re looking for action or cheap thrills; if you’re more in search of cerebral, meditative dread, The Happening is not a bad choice. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it doesn’t deserve the derision with which it has been laden.
7/10
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