M. Night Shyamalan was born in 1970, in Pondicherry (India).
Despite coming from India, he grew up in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia (USA).
At the age of 8 his parents bought him a camera Super 8M from that moment he saw his passion for cinema born, trying to imitate the hero of his childhood, Steven Spielberg.
At 17 he already had 45 homemade short films to his credit.
I study in the Tisch School of the Arts (TSOA) of the New York University and at that time he decided to change his middle name, Nelliyattu, for that of Night.
The cinema of Shyamalan It is characterized, mainly, by having arguments with unexpected twists, has a realistic treatment of terror and suspense, also the brief appearance of Shyamalan in each of his films he gives it a personal touch.
Until 2004, all his productions (except Praying with anger in 1992), have been shot in Philadelphia or somewhere in the state of Pennsylvania.
His first feature film was “Praying with Anger” and it is based, in part, on his first visit to India since his family emigrated to the USA.
Shyamalan, directed and scripted the film “Sixth Sense”, starring Bruce Willis.
The film was immeasurably successful internationally and in the US it was the second highest grossing film in the year of its release, 1999.
He went on to get six nominations for Oscar, among them the best director and the best script.
After reaping such success, and its subsequent production of great economic profit, “The protégé”, also starring Bruce.
Later came the offer to write the fourth part of the saga of “Indiana Jones”, and directing the third film of “Harry Potter”, although his admiration for Spilberg Y Hitchcock, he rejected both offers.
Later, the film that made him the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood would begin, when the Disney gave him five million dollars for “Signs” (2002).
Thanks to this film, he has returned to the top overnight, and with more force than before.
Some people staunchly support his cinema, saying that movies like “The village” (2004) and “The lady in the water” (2006) surpass the previous ones.
The truth is that the criticism was divided between these, and the rest, who say that it has gone downhill, and hope that it will go up.
His inseparable companion is the composer, James Newton-Howard (and nominated for an Oscar for his score for La Aldea in 2004), they have ended up being indivisible, achieving unique experiences in the rooms, creating captivating and surprising atmospheres.
He was recently offered to direct “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, the sixth part of the successful saga of JK Rowling.
As far as we know, he is analyzing it but has stated that he would like more to direct the seventh.
Shyamalan has promised to protect the author’s work.
Critics called it “the onion director”, because of the layers that his films have. “Sixth Sense” It is a story of redemption (he wants to save the child who reminds him of another who at the time could not achieve it), “Signs” treat doubts of faith, “The village” Like a distorted love story
We can say that therein lies the success of his cinema. In being more than what it appears to be, and this is how it manages to capture both the public looking for “beautiful” cinema and those looking for content and higher quality content.
He’s one of the most talented directors out there, and he certainly has an angel in the future.