Sixth Sense
In The Sixth Sense, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, in his third feature film, faces a difficult problem: how do you tell an utterly familiar, perhaps even cliched story, about a boy who is haunted by the dead people around him? Shyamalan's answer is to give the audience what they expect, and then to turn the tables on them, using their own familiarity with the conventions of the horror genre to lead them into a film that is far less horrific than they were led to believe, and far more intelligent, inventive, and emotionally effective than they might imagine.The Sixth Sense opens with Malcolm Crowe, a prominent Philadelphia child psychiatrist (played with refreshing reserve by Bruce Willis), who has received a commendation from the city and is celebrating with his wife Anna (Olivia Williams). The award signals the culmination of a professional career that has overshadowed everything else including his marriage, as Anna is quick to point out. Malcolm promises that this will change, but before the couple can enjoy this reassessment of priorities, he is shot by an intruder, a former patient named Vincent Gray (Donnie Wahlberg), now grown and still afflicted by the demons of his youth. The scene fades out and changes to a Philad
Throughout The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan provides us with visual patterns that both serve the plot and connect the characters to one another in interesting ways. In the opening sequence, Anna's discussion of the personal sacrifices Malcolm has made for the sake of his career is reinforced visually, as the shot of Malcolm and Anna gazing offscreen at the award is followed by the reverse shot of a large, engraved plaque, with Malcolm and Anna reflected in it. The reflection motif is continued throughout the film, both in actual reflections in mirrors, doorknobs, and the glass of picture frames, and in the delayed reflection of recorded images and sounds which help reveal the nature of Vincent's and Cole's gift/affliction. The relationship between Malcolm and Anna is notable for the opposite quality, the total absence of interaction between two people inhabiting the same space. After his first meeting with Cole, Malcolm shows up late for dinner with Anna at the restaurant where he asked her to marry him. As he tries to explain why this case is important to him, the check arrives. She takes it before he can reach it, pays and leaves without acknowledging Malcolm, other than a muttered "Happy anniversary" as she walks out. The disconnection between the two continues to grow throughout the film, as Malcolm becomes more involved with finding Cole's cure and Anna becomes more involved with a young man who works with her in an antique store. This focus on listening as the answer might seem an unsatisfying resolution, and the ultimate success of the film is tied into the sudden surprise ending, which undermines the viewer's confidence in his or her own powers of observation. While a surprise ending often seems like an attention-getting parlor trick, the ending of The Sixth Sense enhances every aspect of the film. It reshapes the nature of the relationships between the characters, as well as the relationship between the viewer and the film. It is worth experiencing once unawares to appreciate the grace with which the ending remains consistent with the rest of the film, yet uses the audience's reliance upon standard narrative and cinematic technique to maneuver us into a position where we, like Malcolm, must learn to question our own observational biases in order
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1528
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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