In the programme today I'm going to be looking at different views of a new

film Lady in the Water. We'll hear from the writer and director as well as the

critic.

In 1999 the film The Sixth Sense brought the name of M. Night Shyamalan to

the attention of the international cinema audience. He was hailed as the new

Spielberg and became known for films which have magical and supernatural

elements as well as surprising twists.

M. Night Shyamalan's latest film, Lady in the Water, is described a modern

day fairy tale. It began as a bedtime story he used to tell his children and he's

adapted it to become a movie.

However the process of turning the story into a film wasn't an easy one. A film

written down is called a script and usually every script gets re-written a number

of times – things are changed, corrections are made, problems fixed and so on.

Each different version of the script is known as a draft. How many drafts did it

take M. Night before he was finished and what does he think of the completed

script?

M. Night Shyamalan

It took a lot of drafts, it took 13 drafts, which is obviously a sign that I was in the wrong

direction at first. But by the time we got to thirteen drafts we had one of those very special 

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kind of things that could exist all by itself without even shooting a movie, it could exist and

you could put it in front of somebody and they would read it and become enchanted by it, it

had it's own language, you know.

Callum: It took 13 drafts before the final script was finished but he was very happy with

the end result. He said that people would be enchanted by the script alone, they

would find it magical, interesting and enjoyable. Enchanted. And what does he

think of the finished movie?

M. Night Shyamalan

I love the movie, I love the movie. The cast and crew love the movie, the studio loves the

movie and there's a great deal of audience that loves the movie, standing ovations and stuff

like that.

Callum: He is very pleased with the movie, he loves it. But that’s not all. He says that

the cast and crew love the movie. The cast and crew is a useful expression for

the people who act in and are involved in the making of the movie, the cast and

crew. He also said that the studio – the company that gave him the money to

make the film – loves it and that audiences have loved it, giving it a 'standing

ovation'. A standing ovation is when the audience stand up at the end and cheer

and clap.

In the film Lady in the Water someone or something appears in the swimming

pool of an apartment complex. This character is not a human character but is a

fantasy character from a fantasy land who has to return to her own world.

We've heard that the author of story and director of the film, M. Night

Shyamalan thinks it's an enchanting story but what do the critics think?

Mark Kermode is a reviewer who never hides his true feelings about the

movies he sees. This is what he thought about the Lady in the Water.

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Mark Kermode

Absolutely idiotic script that nobody in their right mind would turn into a movie. It's awful, a

whole career going down in flames in the sheer awfulness of it all. It is absolute self-indulgent

waffle.

Callum: Oh dear. Not one of Mark's favourite films. The script that M Night Shyamalan

describes as 'enchanting', Mark describes as 'idiotic'. He actually likes his other

films but this one he thinks is so bad it is like a plane crash for M. Night's

career. He describes it as being self-indulgent waffle. Waffle is a noun and a

verb for when people talk or write a lot but without giving any important. By

using the adjective self-indulgent Mark shows that he believes the writer

allows himself to do exactly what he wants even if that is not necessarily the

best thing.

Listen again to Mark Kermode's comments.

Mark Kermode

Absolutely idiotic script that nobody in their right mind would turn into a movie. It's awful, a

whole career going down in flames in the sheer awfulness of it all. It is absolute self-indulgent

waffle.

Callum: Well that's all from this edition of entertainment. If you've seen this film I

wonder what you think – is it enchanting or idiotic!