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Lady in the Water

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mojobonbon (talk | contribs) at 16:52, 13 April 2007 (not sure why "variety" is an "accepted" source, where "real people"...the people who actually make $ for a movie, are not. but boston globe should be...). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Lady in the Water
Lady in the Water Theatrical Poster
Directed byM. Night Shyamalan
Written byM. Night Shyamalan
Produced bySam Mercer
Jose L. Rodriguez
M. Night Shyamalan
StarringPaul Giamatti
Bryce Dallas Howard
Jeffrey Wright
Bob Balaban
M. Night Shyamalan
Music byJames Newton Howard
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release dates
July 21, 2006
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75,000,000

Lady in the Water is a 2006 thriller/fantasy film written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and also produced by Sam Mercer and Jose L. Rodriguez. It was released in the United States on July 21, 2006, distributed by Warner Bros., and rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some frightening sequences. It was listed by Variety as one of the "ten biggest bombs" of 2006.[1] Ironicallly, civilian reviews show appreciation for the film, as well as that by Cinemablend reviewer Scott Gwin, who gave it 3.5 of 5 stars, [2] and that of Boston Globe reviewer Wesley Morris, who gave it 2.5 of 4 stars. [3]

Plot

Template:Spoiler Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep (Giamatti) is rescued by someone he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. He discovers that she is the real-life embodiment of a character from a bedtime story, who is trying to make the journey back to her home. Fighting disbelief, he rallies his tenants to help protect his new friend from the mysterious creature that is determined to prevent her from returning to her world.

Detailed plot summary

After falling and knocking himself unconscious on the slippery pavement beside a Philadelphia apartment-house pool, the building manager Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) finds himself rescued by a delicate and mysterious young woman named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard). Cleveland informs Story that she must then return home and takes her outside (while asleep) to get some fresh night air; but suddenly Heep sees a lump moving around in the bushes. It growls, wakes Story up, and starts chasing them. So frightened are they that Story screams all the way to the door, but they escape. Come morning, Heep calls in a local animal control officer, who is puzzled by his description of the lurking animal: a large wolf with a coat that looks like grass. While alone in Cleveland's apartment, Story discovers his journal, and in it his horrible secret; he was once a medical doctor but gave it up and lost his sense of purpose in life after his wife and child were murdered. While talking to a young Korean tenant, Young-Soon Choi (Cindy Cheung), Cleveland asks her the meaning of "narf", a term Story uses to refer to herself. Young-Soon tells him about an old east-Asian fairy tale her grandmother told her and her mother before her about such a creature. Since it was so long ago, she has forgotten it completely. With the help of Young-Soon's mother and Young-Soon herself as translator, Heep finds out that narf is a term for a rare type of nymph or water-faerie. Story was sent from the "Blue World" to "awaken" a human (called a "vessel") who will help change the world. He also discovers there are lupine creatures that try to kill any narf that leaves its world, called "scrunts." The creatures are strong, vicious, and smart. Furthermore, they appear to be covered with grass and can flatten themselves to hide completely from human view. In order to control these and other spirits, there are laws in this world upheld by three bloodthirsty, monkey-like creatures called "tartutic", the only things that a scrunt fears. After discovering this, Heep asks Story for the description of her human vessel so he can help find it, but Story only knows that her vessel is a writer (see Muse) and once she finds her vessel, she can be returned home by a large eagle called "The Great Eatlon".

Heep asks tenants if they are writers, and he eventually finds out that Vick (Shyamalan), a young man who lives with his sister, Anna Ran (Sarita Choudhung), is presently writing, but suffers from writers' block. Believing that this tenant is Story's vessel, Cleveland arranges a meeting between the two. When he meets Story, Vick feels an "awakening" that clears his mind and allows him to complete his book, which is a compendium of his apparently clear-sighted political philosophy. Since Story's task is accomplished, she is free to return to the Blue World.

As she attempts to go home that night, something goes wrong: the scrunt attacks her, breaking the law, and badly injures her. Heep rescues her, and the two of them escape into the apartment building. Judging that taking Story back outside to his house (with the possibility of facing the scrunt once more) is not worth the risk, Heep instead takes Story upstairs to the apartment of Vick and his sister. When Story falls ill, Mr. Heep again turns to Young-Soon. He learns that a scrunt carries a poison with the potential to kill a narf. A mud called "Kii," given to a narf before she leaves the Blue World, will neutralize the poison. Cleveland then dives to the bottom of the pool, where he presumes that Story had been living, and finds the Kii, almost getting himself trapped in the small room she had excavated, due to the faulty handle she had constructed. The Kii does as it is meant to do, and Story survives to attempt her departure again.

Heep questions Young-Soon's mother for more information and finds that there are humans with powers capable of helping a narf. The specific roles of the human helpers in the bedtime story are a symbolist, a guardian, a guild, and a healer. Needing to find these people to help Story, Heep consults someone he believes to be an expert on story-writing, a movie critic, Mr. Farber (Bob Balaban), who has just moved in as a tenant. Farber's comments on the probable casting of each role and the unoriginality of film-making lead Heep to his conclusions as to the identities of the helpers. Heep assumes that Mr. Dury (Jeffrey Wright) is the Symbolist because of his ability to decipher crossword puzzles, that Mrs. Bell (Mary Beth Hurt) is the Healer because a butterfly was attracted to her and that he, himself, is the Guardian. He also assumes that a group of smokers (played by Joseph Reitman, Jared Harris, Grant Monohon, John Boyd and Ethan Cohn) are the Guild because they always hang out together and seem to have no other role in life. All of this turns out to be incorrect.

The group of men (tenants who are heavy smokers and shoot the breeze all day) that Heep thinks is the guild throws a party that the movie critic Farber believes is in his honor, with which the tenants are to be distracted while Story's friend the Great Eatlon comes for her; but things go wrong. The guild members are unable to have the band start their music on time, and they leave their posts to help a sick party guest. Vick's sister, who is watching for the scrunt with a handheld mirror, gets bumped into. Her mirror breaks, leaving her incapable of seeing the monster. This leaves Story completely vulnerable to the scrunt, who strikes when everyone is momentarily distracted by a popping balloon. Heep saves her from being dragged away by the scrunt, but Story is badly wounded. Story is now unconscious and near death from the attack of the scrunt. The helpers, identified by Heep, doubt that they are the ones meant to help Story because nothing is working out right. When they ask Heep why he sought them out for their specific roles, he tells them the film critic Farber guided him, telling him how to identify these types of people or group of people. The tenants question how a person could be so arrogant as to assume that he was able to accurately predict the thoughts and actions of another human being. The scrunt enters the building during the party because the supposed guild members watching the door fail to make sure it is closed. Shortly after this, the movie critic, Farber, walks into a hallway occupied by the scrunt. He sees it and makes a speech to it to the effect that in a film like this, in which no one has died, a disliked side-character (himself) is not going to be killed: he will narrowly escape. As Farber turns to run the scrunt attacks and kills him.

Heep realizes that he has not properly identified Story's helpers. The supposed symbolist, Mr. Dury, realizes that his son Joey is the true symbolist. His son, in turn, identifies the real guild; seven "sisters"-- so called because each one is someone's sister, regardless of her relationship with the other six. They are Vick's sister, Young-Soon (whose older sister married a dentist), and the five daughters of a neighbor, the Torres Sisters (played by Maricruz Hernandez, Carla Jimenez, Natasha Perez, Monique Cornan and Marilyn Torres). With the observations of Mrs. Bell, whom Heep thought was the healer, Heep comes to the realization that he is himself the healer. With the help of the true healer and guild, Story is healed and revived. They then take her out to the poolside. As they approach it, the scrunt attacks, but is held a captive by the eyes of Reggie (Freddy Rodriguez), a strong-armed athlete now revealed as the Guardian. Urged by Cleveland, Reggie advances toward the scrunt, which backs away from him. Abruptly the Tartutic emerge from the nearby hedgerow, pounce on the scrunt, beat it, and drag it back into the bush. The Great Eatlon successfully carries Story back to the Blue World.

Before she leaves, Story foretells the writer Vick's future: his work, tentatively entitled The Cookbook, will inspire a boy, who will one day become President of the United States, who will then be able to help the world. This boy will not be able to meet Vick, who will have been killed by someone who will be angered by his book. Vick's sister will have seven children, and Vick will live to see two of them. Heep refuses to hear his own future from Story. Template:Endspoiler

Production

The movie was originally planned for Disney. Shyamalan left the studio after production president Nina Jacobson and others became highly critical of his script, and brought it to Warner Bros.[1][2]

Shyamalan, who shoots in and around his hometown of Philadelphia, established a production facility at the Jacobson Logistics warehouse site in nearby Levittown, Pennsylvania, where sets for the apartment complex and a half city block of row houses were built. Occasional footage was shot inside the overflow area of the warehouse. Most of the filming was completed after Jacobson work hours.

Cast

Actor Role
Paul Giamatti Cleveland Heep
Bryce Dallas Howard Story
M. Night Shyamalan Vick Ran
Sarita Choudhury Anna Ran
Cindy Cheung Young-Soon Choi
June Kyoto Lu Mrs. Choi
Bob Balaban Harry Farber
Jeffrey Wright Mr. Dury
Noah Gray-Cabey Joey Dury
Freddy Rodriguez Reggie
Bill Irwin Mr. Leeds
Mary Beth Hurt Mrs. Bell
Tovah Feldshuh Mrs. Bubchik
Tom Mardirosian Mr. Bubchik
Jared Harris Goatee Smoker
John Boyd One-Eyebrow Smoker
Ethan Cohn Glasses Smoker
Grant Monohon Emaciated Smoker
Joseph D. Reitman Long-Haired Smoker

Soundtrack

Untitled

The soundtrack for The Lady in the Water was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise and garage rock revivalists Silvertide.

Track Listing

  1. "Prologue"
  2. "The Party"
  3. "Charades"
  4. "Ripples In The Pool"
  5. "The Blue World"
  6. "Giving The Kii"
  7. "Walkie Talkie"
  8. "Cereal Boxes"
  9. "Officer Jimbo"
  10. "The Healing"
  11. "The Great Eatlon"
  12. "End Titles"
  13. "The Times They Are A-Changin'" – A Whisper In The Noise
  14. "Every Grain Of Sand" - Amanda Ghost
  15. "It Ain't Me Babe" – Silvertide
  16. "Maggie's Farm" – Silvertide
  17. "Lei Zuxin" -Lei Zuxin

Reception

Lady in the Water was critically panned around the time of its release. Variety magazine wrote a scathing advance review that appeared on July 16, 2006. Common complaints about the film were that little effort was put into getting the viewer to believe in the world, that few moments of the film could be taken seriously, and that Shyamalan was using the film as a form of self-indulgence (instead of having a minor cameo, as in most of his films, Shyamalan cast himself as a visionary whose writing changes the world, and a film critic character -- portrayed as stuck-up, arrogant, and lifeless -- who is hated by the other characters, one commenting "what kind of a person could be so arrogant to presume to know the intentions of another human being?" shortly before the critic is ultimately killed in violent fashion). Many reviewers attacked this self-indulgence: Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote of the story, "Apparently those who live in the water now roam the earth trying to make us listen, though initially it’s rather foggy as to what precisely we are supposed to hear — the crash of the waves, the songs of the sirens, the voice of God — until we realize that of course we're meant to cup our ear to an even higher power: Mr. Shyamalan."[3] Frank Lovece of Film Journal International said, "Fans of actor Paul Giamatti or of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan may get something out of Lady in the Water, a fractured fairy tale about a water nymph who comes to a Philadelphia apartment house to deliver an important message. Anyone else is likely to be perplexed by the muddled mythmaking or actively astonished at the self-indulgent ego of a writer-director-producer who casts himself in the role of a visionary writer whose martyrdom will change the world."[4] Michael Medved gave Lady in the Water one and a half stars (out of four) calling it, "... a full-out, flamboyant cinematic disaster, a work of nearly unparalleled arrogance and vapidity", adding that, "... Lady in the Water is all wet..."[5] Also panned was the fact that the film was based on a bedtime story Shyamalan told to his children; Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat commented: "If Shyamalan is going to use his kids as a focus group for future projects, maybe he should start making movies for Nickelodeon already and stop wasting our time."[6] (Ironically, one of his upcoming movies is a live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon cartoon "Avatar: The Last Airbender") [4] CNN's Tom Charity, among many others, has called Lady in the Water the worst film of 2006.

File:Lady in the water 2006 teaser.jpg
Teaser poster for the film.

Not all reviews were negative. Harrison Scott Key wrote in World magazine that, "The plot turns into a puzzle... and it's quite fun to watch. Ultimately, the movie has us asking one of the most important questions an audience can ask: What happens next? And that makes it a good film".[7] Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe wrote that though the film is "built on too much ponderous self-regard ... [t]here is a good chunk of Lady in the Water that is simply too well made and affectingly acted to dismiss as a mere exercise in arrogance".[8]

It won two Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Supporting Actor (M. Night Shyamalan) and Worst Director (M. Night Shyamalan). It was nominated for two more Razzies including Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay (written by M. Night Shyamalan).

Box office

In its opening weekend (21-23 July 2006), the film grossed a total of $18.2 million, placing third in the United States box office results for that weekend. It was M. Night's lowest opening for any of his five major films. Due to negative reviews and poor word-of-mouth, its second week fell sharply to $7.1 million, pushing its total to only $32.2 million. Its third weekend was no better, falling another 62.1% to $2.7 million. As of September 14, 2006, its total was $42.285 million.[5] In addition, the film only made $30.5 million in the foreign box office, pulling its tally to approximately $72.785 million internationally. The movie had an estimated budget of $70 million[6] for production and a further $70 million[7] in advertising costs.

DVD releases

This movie was released simultaneously on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray from Warner Home Video on December 19, 2006.

The extras included on the DVD are:

  • Lady in the Water: A Bedtime Story
  • Reflections of Lady in the Water 6-Part Documentary
  • Additional Scenes
  • Auditions
  • Gag Reel
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • DVD-ROM PC Weblink
  • English, French & Spanish subtitles

Trivia

Template:Spoiler

  • Shyamalan's character, "Vick Ran", is a reference to Vikram Seth.[citation needed]
  • When Story is first seen popping out of the water, she has black hair.(it looks red at the fringe. Wet hair appears darker, all the more so in poor light) The very next time she is seen, her hair is red. Over the course of the movie (beginning after the first encounter with the scrunt), her hair progressively turns blonde. Although the significance of these changes is not explained in the movie, her hair color may parallel her physical state.
  • The band playing at the party is Silvertide.

Template:Endspoiler

Lady in the Water, A Bedtime Story children's book

Children's book

Shyamalan, who credits the development of the movie to a bedtime story he told his children about what happens in their pool at night,[9] wrote the 72-page children's book Lady in the Water: A Bedtime Story (Little, Brown, New York, ISBN 0-316-01734-5) to coincide with the movie. The book's illustrations were done by Crash McCreery. It was released on the same day as the film, on July 21, 2006.

The Man Who Heard Voices

The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale (Gotham Books, New York, ISBN 1-59240-213-5), by Sports Illustrated writer Michael Bamberger, recounting the making of the film, was released July 20, 2006.

References

  1. ^ The Internet Movie Database "StudioBriefing" (June 23, 2006) "Shyamalan Blasts Disney Execs in New Book"
  2. ^ Los Angeles Times (June 23, 2006) "Book Tells of Breakup with Disney"
  3. ^ The New York Times (July 2006) "Finding Magic Somewhere Under the Pool in Lady in the Water" by Manohla Dargis
  4. ^ Film Journal International Lady in the Water, by Frank Lovece
  5. ^ Michael Medved's Eye On Entertainment - Lady In The Water Review
  6. ^ Film Threat Review
  7. ^ World (Aug. 19, 2006): "A thrillertale: Middle Earth and Philadelphia collide in Lady in the Water", by Harrison Scott Key
  8. ^ The Boston Globe (July 21, 2006): "Fractured Fairy Tale", by Wesley Morris
  9. ^ JoBlo.com (June 26, 2006) - "Early Lady Review!" by Mike Sampson
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