M. Night Shyamalan's new movie Old is about a family on a mysterious beach with some other people when they figure out that their lives will be sped up and reduced to one day. Night said that for him, this was a story about being present in the moment. Night said, "We only have today." When looking at his children and his parents, who were both getting older, Night said it scared him to know that he was also getting older and that the way both his children and his parents looked at that exact moment was only going to be for that one day. The next day, they would be older and closer to death. Old is a metaphor for how little time we actually have and how quick it goes by, so we must enjoy it.
A goal for Night and the creators was to show the slow turn from the beach being something safe and beautiful into something more dark and sinister. The water which had at first been so inviting was now oppressive. This symbolizes how life is fun and exciting when we are growing and learning, but when we realize our end is coming quickly, existence becomes oppressive. The crew actually built the mile-long rock wall surrounding the beach (twice since it was swept away by a hurricane the first time, all at Night's personal expense since they couldn't get insurance) to further add to the weight of that oppressive feeling. In the book, there are themes about how even if we were given one day to live, humans would still do all the things a human would do in a normal life, just much quicker.
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Animals like dogs or cats only live for about 20 years, and on a smaller scale insects live even shorter of a time—sometimes only days. Yet they both do all the normal things in life such as grow, learn, eat, reproduce, and die. This might suggest that if humans were given even more time to live (say 500 years), they wouldn't accomplish anymore, but would instead do what they would have normally done in a regular life, but more slowed down. The reviews for Old are mixed, but watching some of the behind-the-scenes work that went into the making of the film might give viewers more of an appreciation for the film.
There are a lot of people aggressively attacking this movie, and although it had some strange and stiff dialogue, it is shot beautifully—so maybe some people should slow down with all the negativity. The acting at times is a little off, but for the most part all of the performances in this movie were pretty good. In a behind-the-scenes documentary interview, the cast shared some stories about what it was like working with M. Night Shyamalan, how they felt reading the script, and how they prepared for the role.
In the interview, many of the actors discussed how M. Night Shyamalan is very assertive and precise with his movies. The way he works is very meticulous and planned. Gael Bernal (Guy) praised Night's mise-en-scène for how complex and tight it is, and for how the director trusts silences and engages with tension. Night knows exactly what he wants, and some of the actors (like Rufus Sewell) were unsure about Night when they first began filming. They were confused about some of his strict directions with camera movements and dialogue. But Sewell said that as soon as he and the other actors caught a glimpse on the monitor of some of the shots, then knew immediately they could fully trust Night's vision.
Actor Alex Wolff said that Night is very choreographed, but he found him to be open about ideas, something Sewell also agreed with. Wolff said that when he first read the script, he couldn't contain his excitement, as he is a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan. The actor said Night is very secretive with his work, and he was only given three hours to read the script. The excitement of the possibility of working with one of his heroes and only have three hours to read the story felt like Mission Impossible for Alex Wolff, and it didn't matter what the story was going to be—he was in no matter what. Wolff said that this was the most outwardly animated he had ever been just by reading something, as he found himself to be sobbing and screaming out loud as well as laughing while reading.
Thomasin McKenzie said she channeled the love she has for her younger sibling into her role to prepare for the part. She commented on how when someone is very young, they don't have to think about how to interact with their parents or siblings—they can just exist. But as one gets older, there are more colors involved in thought processing and things get more complex, and relationships become more dynamic. McKenzie said as people get older, they are learning more things, but they're still basically a child that has to navigate all the subtle nuances in life and human emotions or complexities that come from having a more developed brain.
M. Night Shyamalan had a specific language when working on Old and he often talked about "colors" as a way to describe how the young characters like Mckenzie's Maddox, although they didn't have the life experiences, still had a brain that was now developed in a way that could slow down and become more aware of all the different colors of life. A six-year-old is moving too fast and discovering too many things to be aware of subtle changes, but with an adult brain, one can notice more things like how many times a person checks their watch or what the emotions behind their words mean. Night also talks on set personalities of hunter or gatherer roles.
McKenzie said Night is a hunter, meaning he goes onto set knowing what he wants whereas she sees herself as a gatherer, or someone who gets to set and says "oh that would be nice, or this might be cool to do," so as to produce an organic performance. McKenzie said because of how direct Night was, she had to surrender to his vision and trust him completely. Many of the actors talked about how much of a family man Night is, and how they all felt very supported in their tight-knit group. Rufus Sewell said that although he eventually trusted Night, it took him a couple reads of the script to figure out how he felt about his character, whom he said was difficult to get a handle on.
And actor Aaron Pierre (who plays the comedically-named rapper, Mid-Sized Sedan) commented on how Night's work is timeless and how much of an honor it was to work on Old. Pierre said he took inspiration from some of his favorite rappers to prepare for his role. He and the rest of the cast were unable to keep a smile off their faces when discussing M. Night Shyamalan and their movie as they all expressed how special they believe the project is.
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