Hi Folks - sorry to have been away so long, but I'm glad to see this chain is still slowly but surely getting some attention. Maybe it's already assumed by now that The Hap is as brilliant as "The Birds" by the pros and industry, but the audience concensus seems to still point otherwise.
While I don't have a full-fledged analysis to provide this board supporting the notion that the Happening is indeed a serious, brilliant film posing as a silly thriller, I'll try to provide some additional "clues" that may help you connect some dots in your own mind as you watch/study or laugh at the film. Perhaps other folk on the board have fleshed out similar notions & things, haven't had time to peruse, but it looks like fair game. That said, I apologize if it seems like I'm restating anyone's analysis, discoveries, what have you. Think of it as a compliment!
FIRST - as you know this film is directed by M. Night and it's not his first, major...many greats already under his belt. You know he's brilliant. He could be a bit mad-hatter judging by the subject matter and tone...but he seems like a nice/balanced guy who has his personal and professional act together, far away from Hollywood, like some of the best directors have done/do. Besides, he's a Philly boy, and so was I, so he's gotta be redeemed!
TWO - Once a filmmaker learns to make a revolutionary masterpiece (story, form, tech) like the Sixth Sense, it's hard to phuck-up anything afterwards. Sure, he/she may try something new,weird, or avante-guard, but that's why the first break-thru worked, right? While he's famous for his twist endings, you can also put a twist anywhere in the story, plot, form - sometimes not that noticeable until you find it, and then you say, Aha!
THREE - If M. Night spent a million bucks and weeks shooting a 2hr film showing a bitten apple on a table slowly turning brown, I think there would be something to watch for, even if it's just the slow browning. Why nearly all the critics dismissed this idea scares the chit-chat out of me...they should know better, and I'm sure you can find a few critics that praised it upon release, despite the tide.
Dialogue and Exposition - I've already mentioned a bit in my first essay how that works as a tool for compressed story and form (e.g. the joke about Welcome to Jamaica on the construction guy's weenie). While there's way too much to recant (i.e. most of the script), think about and spell out some of words that are repeated, metaphors, innuendos, alt meanings, etc. I haven't watched the Hap in many months (too many films to catch up on), but here are some things that stick in my mind:
Joey (who we never see) calls Alma at home, on train, etc, and we think he's just a horn dog who wants some more attention from the beautiful Alma who he knows is married. Whose famous voice is that that keeps bugging/nagging her, I think his first screen appearance w/o being seen (help me there, not sure). Notice the big brass bug on the coffee table when she puts the phone down, still vibrating. And how about alt meaning and visualization for Hot Dogs (I love that scene, but please don't immediately think phallic). How about when Alma states "We're not a____s" when the group they can't physically see over the hill are getting shot by Mr. Army guy (or shooting themselves if following previous example)...think about that in your own life when you know someone is getting hurt, or worse. Don't get me started on the Mrs. Jones scenes, too much to slave over.
Characters: Not going to go crazy with this subject b/c it may ruffle too many notions about movies, but characters aren't always just people in movies, plays, musicals, etc. Some times they can represent whole classes, institutions, gangs, POV's etc. Think political cartoons.
Color - notice most if not all the "smart good guys" are wearing something Blue? Keep going from there, think about color use in the Village and history. Look for things that have primary colors and think dream logic (I know that sounds oxymoronish).
Math - someone else pointed this out a while back. Yep, do the Math.
Mise-en-scene - There's so much of this classic cinematic art happening in the Hap, it was hard to keep up in relation to the dialogue. Everything from set dec, locations, signs, props to costumes. Talked about the bug on the coffee table above. I think there's a painted blue bug at the school, too. Did someone say Twilight Zone?
Deleted Scene - the DVD has a long intro scene that was deleted that really helps to understand Elliot's and Alma's relationship a bit better (assuming they are characters) and I think connects it with LITW with the cereal box.
Going Crazy - I don't need to tell M. Night fans that here's a lot blatantly wrong with this world. We're all trying to keep ourselves from going nuts in an over-mis-informed- hyper-historical time. I can't speak for everyone, but I know there are certain things at my age that in order to believe, I'd have to go nuts, which is the same as killing yourself in many ways, bullet to the head. What if Ghosts and Aliens really exist...what if your parents aren't really your parents, or worse, want you to die first? Harsh realities. Harsh world. Thank god that some folk can distill it into art.
OK, I'm going to stop there before the thought police come knocking, and that was longer typing session than I thought. Please do your own homework and hopefully you too will see that there's much more than meets the eye and ears on the first couple of passes. Or keep the popular POV that The Happening sucked ass...which it indeed could have indeed, if no one ever really got it, including me, perhaps reading too much into the film.
One day, if we all live long enough, they'll study M. Nights films like we do heavy classic literature. That already happens with some of the greats like Hitch and Kubrick. That is, if all the copies aren't destroyed first. Let's pray (with anger?) it never gets that bad anywhere in the world ever again.
-Sheck
Topic: The Happening and The Birds (Read 4921 times)