Reconciling "art and commerce is something complicated", said the king of supernatural thrillers, also author and producer of his films, during an interview in Paris for the release of "Knock at the Cabin ".

In Hollywood today, "speaking in general terms, there are movies that are just incestuous, that are just masturbatory, that just talk to themselves. Hollywood talks to itself," he said. spear.

"And then there are movies that say they're made for the audience, and (think) the audience is dumb. So they take all the soul out of it and just make their movie by calculations," he said. for follow-up.

"These are signs that our industry is completely dysfunctional."

For him, the American studios have completely changed from the time of the release of "Sixth Sense", his first big public success with Bruce Willis, released in 1999, the year of "Matrix", of the "Blair Witch Project ", "In the Skin of John Malkovich" or even "Magnolia", all of which have become "classics".

The American director, president of the jury of the 72nd Berlinale, M. Night Shyamalan at the opening of the festival in Berlin, February 10, 2022 © Ronny HARTMANN / AFP/Archives

"The industry was different then, it was about finding the best storytellers to tell stories to the greatest audience, and everyone was working towards that goal."

Hire a wrestler

To maintain his freedom, the 52-year-old American director explains that he found the only solution "to leave the system": I pay myself and make films as small as possible each time by taking big risks".

In "Knock at the Cabin", M. Night Shyamalan takes up his favorite themes, with an isolated family in a cabin deep in the woods, who see four strangers disembark, explaining to them that the end of the world has come and that the only way to to avoid it is to sacrifice one of their own.

The question that the characters in the film ask themselves is "do we trust each other, do we trust society, do we trust what we see?" , explains the director to AFP.

The film seems to want to echo contemporary concerns about "fake news", in which the most far-fetched theories can end up provoking violent acts.

In any case, being independent allows the director not to have to ask permission to "put a gay couple at the center of the story", as is the case with this same-sex family, or if it's "a good idea of ​​hiring a wrestler" like Dave Bautista, the actor with the build of a mirror cabinet ("Guardians of the Galaxy", "Glass Onion"), and who plays the leader of the Knights of the Apocalypse threatening the family.

American actor Dave Bautista in London, October 16, 2022 © ISABEL INFANTES / AFP/Archives

The key is knowing how to speak to the public, continues M. Night Shyamalan, who explains that it is his "way to stay healthy in this sick industry".

Added to this recipe is the art of the "twist" specific to the director of Indian origin, who made him famous, and which the viewer will seek in "Knock at the Cabin", adapted from an American novel by Paul Tremblay .

© 2023 AFP