superhero
drama film
written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan
. The film stars Bruce Willis
and Samuel L. Jackson
. Unbreakable tells the story of Philadelphia security guard
, David Dunn, who slowly discovers that he is a superhero
. The film is a study on the dimensions of comic books; it explores the analogies between the real world and the mythology of superheroes.
Shyamalan conceived the idea for Unbreakable to parallel a comic book's traditional three-part story structure.
I had met a lot of people like you in my work, people who tell you a story, a fantastic story, and then say it can be true, and in all of these fantastic things, and somewhere in there they say it, all I need is your credit card number.
Do you see any Teletubbies in here? Do you see a slender plastic tag clipped to my shirt with my name printed on it? Do you see a little Asian child with a blank expression on his face sitting outside on a mechanical helicopter that shakes when you put quarters in it? No? Well, that's what you see at a toy store. And you must think you're in a toy store, because you're here shopping for an infant named Jeb.
You could have been a tax accountant. You could have owned your own gym. You could have opened a chain of restaurants. You could've done of a thousand things, but in the end, you chose to protect people. You made that decision, and I find that very, very interesting.
So many times I questioned myself. So many sacrifices, just to find you.
Your bones don't break, mine do. That's clear. Your cells react to bacteria and viruses differently than mine. You don't get sick, I do. That's also clear. But for some reason, you and I react the exact same way to water. We swallow it too fast, we choke. We get some in our lungs, we drown. However unreal it may seem, we are connected, you and I. We're on the same curve, just on opposite ends.
[After proving Dunn's superhuman abilities]...Now all I need is a credit card number. [Dunn stares at him, pauses] The last one was a joke.
It's hard for many people to believe that there are extraordinary things inside themselves, as well as others. I hope you can keep an open mind.
It's alright to be afraid, David, because this part won't be like a comic book. Real life doesn't fit into little boxes that were drawn for it.
Do you know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world, to not know why you're here.