"Old" director M. Night Shyamalan reveals the secret behind his rapidly aging beach production and the last movie he wants to see in his life [Director's Interview Vol.137]

Japanese movies that influenced me...

Q: This time, Ishana (second daughter) is the director of the second unit, and Saleka (eldest daughter) is providing the music. How do you evaluate their talent?

Shyamalan: They're born artists. Since I was a child, I have talked about art and learned how to utilize it in my work, and I am now showing the results of that experience. I'm already an old generation vampire, and they're like a new generation (lol). He boldly tries everything, and tells us about the latest artists, trends, and expressions, saying, ``This is what it would be like now in 2020.'' When I look at them, I realize that if an artist becomes defensive, it's over. By not being afraid of taking risks and continuing to take on challenges, you can stay as young as a vampire forever.

“Old” © 2021 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Q: Time moves rapidly on the beach where the story takes place, so a variety of effects were attempted with the "changes" of each character.

Shyamalan: It's relatively easy to separate the younger and older versions of a person when casting them, as seen in The Godfather series (1972-90) and Moonlight (16). , which was satisfying.

The only difficult part was the special makeup. If you overdo it, it takes time, and as a director, I was often confused about how to connect with the actors under the makeup. So I changed my makeup to something as light as possible. In addition, especially when depicting the growth process of children, I intentionally did not show their faces, only capturing their arms and legs in the video, in an attempt to make the audience imagine what was ``outside'' the angle of view. I think this point went very well.

Q: I heard that you showed the staff and cast of this movie a movie in advance. Which works did you refer to when directing?

Shyamalan: I had them watch Nicolas Roeg's `` The Beautiful Adventure '' (1971) and Peter Weir's `` Picnic at Hanging Rock '' (1975). I myself rewatched these two films and tried to draw inspiration from the free movement of the camera and the experimental sense. Furthermore, he was influenced by the Japanese film `` Black Cat in the Bush '' (1968) in its use of music. The effect is that the ethnic percussion instruments create a beautiful yet frightening mood. I am intellectually stimulated by `` Angel of Extermination '' (62). If you haven't seen it yet, I definitely recommend it.

An ending inspired by the mood of the original work (no spoilers)