The Sixth Sense: Refreshingly Original review
After watching The Sixth Sense, I could not help take bow to the creative genius of this amazing moviemaker, writes Hitesh Joshi
M. Night Shyamalan was critically acclaimed for his 1999 suspense thriller The Sixth Sense. The movie was a path-breaking endeavor, revealing a style of story telling that has now come to be recognized as Shyamalan’s unique trait. It was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Picture, & Best Screenplay, apart from being nominated for various other awards.
The Sixth Sense is a story of a troubled child named Cole Sear ((played by Haley Joel Osment - who also won an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role)), who is able to see spirits of dead people that don’t know they have died. Cole is being helped by a child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe ((played by Bruce Willis)), whose life has drastically changed after a tragic incident with one of his ex-patients.
The movie begins rather subtly, with Dr. Crowe sharing a quiet private evening with is wife Anna Crowe ((Olivia Williams)), when they are suddenly confronted by an intruder in their house. This disturbed man turns out to be Dr. Crowe’s ex-patient Vincent Grey ((Donnie Wahlberg)), who is blaming him for not helping him as a child. In a fit of rage, Vincent shoots Dr. Crowe in the stomach, & then kills himself by blowing a bullet through his head.
Dr. Crowe’s life is not the same after this traumatic incident. He starts counseling Cole after a few months, in the hope of helping this child to make up for his past mistakes in some way. After some prodding, he is able to establish a comfort level with Cole, who eventually reveals to him his “secret” of being able to see dead people.
The story evolves slowly but grippingly into an intricate plot, where Dr. Crowe tries to help Cole as much as he can and in the process also allows the child to open up to his mother Lynn Sear ((Toni Collette)), who is a single mother. And Dr. Crowe is also trying to mend his relationship with his wife, which has got severed after the incident with his ex-patient.
The narrative of Shyamalan is slow, yet fluid, keeping the viewer’s interest alive right until the fantastic ending. What I like the most about Shyamalan’s story telling style is that he starts with something that seems like a simple plot, throws complications & questions at you that keep you guessing, and manages to answer all questions with utmost satisfaction by the time the movie is over.
The movie is part of the thriller / horror genre and has some spine chilling moments without going into excess gore or violence. The story is based in Philadelphia, a town that has a history of ghost stories over many years.
Haley Joel Osment is simply brilliant in his portrayal of a child who is chided as a freak, but still has tremendous maturity to realise what is happening around him. Bruce Willis also gives a great performance - a far cry from his earlier movies where he was a fast paced action star - a great actor who has done full justice to his character. The other characters play their part but don’t deserve any special mention, as Osment & Willis take the cake, by far.
Shyamalan’s screenplay is refreshingly original, with many layers and small sub-stories that become part of the whole, especially when you see the movie again and re-visit some of the scenes & realise their relevance in the movie.
The only weakness of the movie is its tendency of becoming slow at times, with seemingly irrelevant scenes & characters. But one needs patience to sit through the entire movie, at the end of which you will not question the integrity of the director or his narrative.
The Sixth Sense is one of the all time great movies of our times, one that launched Shyamalan as a splendid storyteller, a fact also justified by his latter work - Unbreakable & Signs.
After watching The Sixth Sense, I could not help take a bow to the creative genius of this amazing moviemaker.
