*WARNING _ CONTAINS SPOILERS*
When this first came out on the cinema people were begged not to disclose the ending. It was supposed to be this great secret and would spoil the film if you knew it. I resisted the urge to see the film when it first came out - I wanted the hype to die down before I watched it and I then asked a friend to tell me the ending. Why? I wanted to be able to view this film completely independent from the build-up and publicity that surrounded it. The film should be able to stand on its own merits, I reasoned, whatever the ending was. I also wanted to know the great secret that had so captivated everyone.
Imagine my disappointment then: It was the oldest trick in the book... The main character was dead and didn't know it. (Jacob's Ladder had travelled this route nine years before with more aplomb) Apparently the director, M. Night Shyamalan, had left clues that would hint at this (I won't go to all the trouble to explain what these are just yet.. ); so on the second viewing you would pick up on these and enjoy the film even more...
So armed with this knowledge I watched the 6th Sense and was... disappointed, but not for the reasons you think. To me, the whole film was leading the viewer into a blind alley in the most obvious ways possible. Shyamalan seemed to delight in leaving these little clues that were so obvious that they overshadowed the narrative. To me, he was so busy saying "look how clever I am" that he forgot that his main aim was to tell the story.
Which is a shame, because the story is superb! Cole (Haley Joel Osment) sees dead people and is often attacked by them. He is then treated by Dr. Malcolm Crowe (a wonderfully understated performance by Bruce Willis), a child psychologist who manages to convince Cole that the reason the ghosts are becoming violent is that they are not being listened to. If Cole were to listen to them, and help them maybe they would then leave him alone.
The interplay between Osment and Willis is truly touching and special. Osment's acting -as in AI- is tender and emotive, and one can not help but feel caught up in his plight. But it is Willis that is the real surprise here. For those that are used to him being the ballsy, anti-authoritarian all-action hero get ready for a shock. In this he is underplaying his role, his tone muted, empathy present in every gesture and nuance - this film showed me that he could well and truly act.
So with such a great story, and such wonderful acting why was I so disappointed in this film?
For me the dénouement overshadowed the subtleties of the script and the acting. If the film had been more subtle and simply told the story of the two characters without involving the sub-plot of the wife; the cold breath and the basement door handle I feel the ending would have had more of a shock. I've not got a problem with Dr Crowe being dead, just the way it was handled - it was directing by numbers.
Let me give another example: The Crying Game. This was a film in the ‘90's that had another "please don't spoil the surprise" tagline. The big surprise was that the female lead was in fact.. a man!!! Doesn't mean a lot now, but in the context of the film this came as such a shock because, up until that point, we, the audience, had viewed the film as an off-beat romance. (It was about to get very off-beat.) However, if we had been paying more attention the clues were there. But they were incredibly subtle (or were they?). Jody (played by Forest Whitaker) was blatant when he described his "girlfriend" Dil as not being Fergus' (played by Stephen Rea) type. When Fergus finally meets Dil in the bar they are surrounded by transsexuals; lesbians and gays... but we are too involved in the story to notice. We don't take the hints even though they are there...
In the Sixth Sense the clues are in your face - the visible breath; the different colour door knob, the fact that no one but Osment talks to Willis. And this seems to be Shyamalan's stock in trade - the pay-off. All his films have followed this very formulaic treatment. It's as if he is a one-trick pony.
And this, to me, is a shame. Shyamalan is able to direct actors - Bruce Willis; Osment; Samuel L. Jackson (in Unbreakable); Mel Gibson (Signs); and William Hurt (The Village) have all given great performances -all subtle; underplayed and spot on - and this is a true gift. Some directors like Ridley Scott and Michael Mann are technical directors but Shyamalan can give the characters real credence.
I'd love to see this film remade, in the old-fashioned way, where content matters more than style. I think the end result would be far more interesting and resonate with people at a deeper level - because, at the end of the day, this is an uplifting film and very spiritual because it's about realising that there is life after death, and that there is more to life than what we think. This film could have worked on so many levels that it's a crime, to me, it was hampered by this superficial pre-occupation with the "gotcha".
But in saying that, The 6th Sense does deliver its fair share of shocks; the building up of suspense prior to the hauntings is deftly handled and it shows the true depth of Bruce Willis's acting ability, and together with "The 5th Element" and "Pulp Fiction" highlights just how gifted he is.
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