Les Diaboliques
The Sixth Sense
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Happy Halloween!
Tagline- Not every gift is a blessing
Be warned this review and my thoughts on the film will contain some spoilers and some are pretty major! All right everyone ready? The Sixth Sense is a 1999 film by director M. Night Shyamalan. It follows Dr. Malcolm Crowe a child psychologist who is recovering from a gunshot wound inflicted by one of his disillusioned former patients named Vincent Gray. He takes on a new patient named Cole Sear who reminds him of Vincent and discovers that Vincent and Cole share a lot of symptoms. They both are very antisocial and can apparently "see" ghosts. Malcolm of course is skeptical at first and thinks Cole is mentally ill but further work with Cole and disturbing events slowly change his mind... It turns out that Cole can see ghosts and needs Malcolm's help to make them go away and help him not to be scared anymore.
Now on to the review. In my opinion The Sixth Sense is one of those movies that don't quite fit into a specific genre of film. It has elements of horror certainly but it is also very suspenseful and ticks quite a few boxes for both the thriller and drama genres.
The movie's score by James Newton Howard is extremely good and manages to be suspenseful, majestic, hopeful, and mysterious often all at the same time. It definitely enhances the overall mood and feeling of the film. Howard also composed for The Dark Knight. The cinematography is excellent and employs shots like Dutch angles to subtly heighten the unease of the viewer.
The cast in my opinion couldn't have been selected any better. Haley Joel Osment played Cole and at the time of filming was 11 years old and he is easily one of the best child actors i've ever seen. He emotes so well and does a phenomenal job. Bruce Willis often plays gritty action heroes in intense fast paced blockbusters like Die Hard so it was great to see him in an opposite role like this one. It really lets his acting shine. Toni Collette as Cole's mom Lynn Sear also stands out as one of the best performances in the film. Lynn Sear is an ordinary mom getting increasingly worried about her son's unusual behavior. The chemistry between the various actors feels extraordinarily real. There is plenty of facial dialogue in the movie to express emotions that can't be vocalized.
There are a couple of motifs (objects or ideas that are recurring in a work) that i noticed. One is the color red that signifies a spirit interacting with the living. Another is the rule of three whether an event happens 3 times or an object is shown 3 times this happens many times throughout the movie. There is also a lot of foreshadowing and clues to several scenes and the twist ending. For instance Cole's last name Sear is a homonym for Seer and i definitely don't think that was an accident.
Several scenes in the movie i think are very important to the plot. One is in the beginning where Malcolm plays a game where Malcolm "reads" Cole's mind. This scene is a great way to establish character motivations and sets a feeling of slowly increasing dread and mystery to the movie without unloading a lot of clunky exposition on the viewer. Of course Malcolm who's a child psychologist would want it to feel like a game so that Cole wouldn't feel pressured by the questions and refuse to talk anymore.
A major theme in The Sixth Sense i think is the act of resolution. Whether that is Malcolm and Cole identifying Kyra's (the little girl ghost) killer or indeed Malcolm himself coming to terms with his own death and moving on this is very central to the movie.
The Sixth Sense was nominated for 6 Oscars and Golden Globes including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role(Haley Joel Osment), Best Actress in a Supporting Role,(Toni Collette) Best Director(M. Night Shyamalan, Best Writing, Screenplay(M. Night Shayamalan) and Best Film Editing(Andrew Mondshein). Haley Joel Osment is one of the youngest ever actors to get a nomination. Unfortunately it didn't win any Oscars but it did win over 36 other awards like the Bram Stoker award and it tied with Captain Conan at the Cannes Film Festival located in France. It also won a People's Choice award.
In conclusion, The Sixth Sense is a very good movie in all respects that i can think of. The acting is fantastic, the plot is very interesting, the music is incredible and the plot twists are very surprising. I learn or notice something new every time i watch it and think it's a fantastic film that all of you should see.
Thanks for reading!
Till next time,
Conrad Smith
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Comments
Love your thoughts about this great movie and the points you bring to light. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteThanks Zach! I try haha. Will do :)
DeleteExcellent thoughts on a movie I've seen and pondered much. I learned a few new things from this essay.
ReplyDeleteThat's great and me too! That's definitely one of my goals for the page
DeleteI like ya cut G
ReplyDeleteAwesome review Conrad!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
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