Ghostly Trickery

In looking retrospectively at the many films that resulted into my own upbringing and when these features were specifically released, it’s not hard to fathom that the year of 1999 was a rather impactful year for cinema-going. Indeed, with the likes of  The Phantom Menace (the first Star Wars film to appear in cinemas since the release of Return of the Jedi 16 years ago) gracing the silver-screen for fans and general audiences alike and The Blair Witch Project which, at the time, had a monumental effect on audiences due to its found-footage technique prompting people to think the films events actually happened, it’s arguable to presume that the year of 1999 had its fair share of enjoyable yet thrilling moments in regards to the films that were released. As much as a select few people will look in hindsight and view The Blair Witch Project to be the quintessential thriller of that year, one of the other bigger surprises that came into fruition in the same year that equally thrilled people to audiences content was M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural-horror of The Sixth Sense; a film that paved its way to become one of the highest-grossing films of 1999 due to its twisted and original style. For an unknown film-maker, at the time, to construct a film with a Hollywood star in Bruce Willis that became an instant phenomenon, in being nominated for 6 Academy Awards and Shyamalan’s script being sold for millions, it’s a bit unheard of but isn’t completely surprising since the film in question displays contextual and formal approaches that strayed away from the horror norm…

The Sixth Sense centralises its story around a successful child psychiatrist Malcolm Crowe, who takes on the task to a help a terrified boy who is horrifically plagued by visions of ghosts and the un-dead. As Crowe’s relationship with the helpless Cole deepens, with the two of them understanding each other and learning of their personal frustrations, he learns some very disturbing truths about not only the boy’s visions, but certainties about his own well-being…

As much as it’s feasible to observe that the film in discussion has a reputation of being a thriller that is overshadowed by its ever-renowned twist ending, and the fact that the director who directed the feature has had his fair share of trials and tribulations in relation to his own film-making, what is easy to fathom over M. Night Shyamalan’s most acclaimed filmic piece of The Sixth Sense, a film that catapulted his career into the spotlight, is the way in which it’s formally constructed. While it’s effortless to perceive the surprise convolution of this particular film by viewing it over and over again and noticing the way in which a specific character interacts with the space presented to him, what is impressive to recognise within The Sixth Sense, at first viewing, is how the cinematography projects the mise-en-scène in a manner that feels real and progressive. Unlike other similar films, like the Saw franchise of features, that only employ the use of a contextual twist as a crutch to dismiss the plots lack of development or meaning, what is evident to see within the many intricately placed sequences of The Sixth Sense, is the notion that it never once cheats our viewing experience by providing lingering hints or scenes that are meant to be imaginary. Other than the select few who carefully keep a track of Bruce Willis’s interactions within every scene he’s in and notice the ‘magicians trick’ instantaneously, with him actually being dead all along and noticing the fact that he’s subtly placed within a certain space without touching anything around him, everything that we see and comprehend in relation to the Malcolm Crowe character being placed among other characters is, at first glance, presumed to be real and only our assumptions, once the twist is revealed, fool us. Although the astute yet meaningful moments between the characters of Malcolm and Cole are inevitably reinterpreted by what is shockingly revealed in the later stages of the film, it’s a concept that effectively and ultimately works on a basic level. In an imperative scene of the film, Malcolm asks Cole what he wants most out of these therapy sessions, and Osment’s character answers, “I don’t want to be scared anymore.” It is not always clear as to what Cole is truly terrified of. Yet, because the film establishes the fact that he’s always undergoing a scary experience, as seen in moments where he’s looking into a blank space or hides within his red safety tent filled with religious embellishments, by the time we reach the climactic moment of Cole revealing to Malcolm and the audience what frightens him the most, our emotions towards the young individual are more invested and the terror that he’s going through is very real for us. Other than Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others, this is an approach that most horror films purposefully neglect; instead opting for a formulaic and streamlined pattern that adopts meaningless jump-scares right the way through. With all this being said, it elucidates how much Shyamalan’s 1999 psychological-horror differentiates from the norm; inviting us to scope the space presented to us rather than hinder our experience with stagnant generic stereotypes. Furthermore, other than the crux of the narrative focusing primarily on the supernatural aspect which naturally provides the horrific nourishment to the proceedings, what’s alluring to take note of within The Sixth Sense is how it maturely explores this idea of faith; how it can not only be a tool used solely to banish paranormal things away, as seen with the religious ornaments that Cole has with him, but is a deceptive device that can make us face truths we don’t want to face. This is specifically seen within the twists of the narrative where Cole tells Malcolm his secret of seeing ghosts and how Malcolm, in return, is unsure whether to believe these words that are thrown upon him which inevitably transpires into said character facing the harsh reality that he’s one of these ghosts that Cole consistently see’s. Indeed, this one of the only few horrific-thrillers which thoroughly delves into what makes us human instead of a tense film that’s following a linear structure. It’s clear to see that Shyamalan successfully maintains these ideas of pain, sorrow and loss in a film that’s also amalgamating the obvious fantastical aesthetics. No other scene in the film exemplifies this more than the sequence in which Cole decides to help a particular spirit and presents a video-tape to a grieving father in which he discovers that his wife was keeping their now-dead daughter sick on purpose. Besides the odd jump-scare here and there, this specific scene is probably the most horrific scene in the films entirety. It manages to cleverly interweave the aforementioned themes with the catalytical moment of the scene, where everyone’s watching this knowledge come into fruition, to create a terrifying and disturbing precedent that could actually happen in reality. 

In addition to the way in which Shyamalan perpetuates a differentiating horrific film-making practise that invites our gaze to thoroughly explore a space that coalesces supernatural elements with religious thematics, what’s evident to perceive in The Sixth Sense is how the construction of the cinematography further deceives our gaze whilst displaying metaphorical language to ponder. Unlike other horror-esque features that tempt you to look away from the events that unfold on the screen, this is a film that willingly demands our attention to focus our eyes on what is going on. Even before the reveal of the twists, it welcomes us to analyse the mise-en-scène in a subtly disturbing way. This is shown through the formality of the camera angles and how often the film opts to implement the consistent use of wide-angles that present hidden metaphorical meanings. A specific example of this shown is through Shyamalan’s intricate use of the colour red which connotes how the dead are always interacting with the characters space as seen with Cole’s red jumper, the red balloon that floats upwards and the red dress the woman who purposefully poisoned her daughter is wearing. Along with the way in which the character of Malcolm is carefully positioned in each of the scenes he’s in, the subtle application of the colour red is a distinct use of symbolism that not only draws away from the muted colour palette of other environments, but illustrates this idea that we’re always connected with ‘otherworldly’ entities; even if this ‘connection’ brings refuge and safety as seen with Cole’s red tent. It is within these formatic ques of the cinematography forever instilling a wide-frame and the mise-en-scène which both allow us to further engage with the films hidden meanings and show just how The Sixth Sense, after many years since its release and cultural longevity, still holds promise amongst other, less significant, horror-thriller flicks.

It would be criminal to do review of The Sixth Sense without mentioning the performances of both Bruce Willis, as the child psychiatrist Malcolm Crowe, and Hayley Joel Osment as the troubled Cole since the two enactments demonstrate their full-acting calibre on the screen. While it’s easy to suggest that Willis’s role ultimately foreshadows the presence of Osment, since the narrative opens and concludes with Malcolm and how he has to resolve a problem that he unreservedly forgotten about, as seen in the opening sequence of the film, what we see instead are two performances that compliment each other throughout the run-time. While Willis’s respect for the source material allows him to enact a character that is just as complex as the source material presented, Osment’s delivery as the confused yet scared Cole is more of a stand-out. It’s no wonder he was nominated for numerous awards at the time due to the fact that his ability to communicate, through a simple look or gesture, the depths of his character’s own well-being is enough to carry to the film itself. Truly, he succeeds this task convincingly and by the time his now-famous line, you not only believe him, you’re chilled by the notion that Osment himself may believe it himself. 

If there’s one thing a great film can do, is that they can help us perceive life and the world in a different way. M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological horror-thriller of The Sixth Sense is a film that exemplifies this perfectly; artistically and disturbingly demonstrating what life after death ultimately means and how the emotion of love can be easily ruptured by the loss of a significant other. As much as the film established Shyamalan as a famed film director and introduced the cinema public to his ways of film-making, most noticeably seen through his affinity for surprise endings, The Sixth Sense, even in today’s ever-changing filmic landscape, stands as a supernatural feature that offers more than just your occasional thrills. Even though the scary aspects of the film are constructed together rather well, it is intricate thematics that Shyamalan tries to convey that show’s just how much this film goes so much more in the surface in what you’d expect…

On that note, it’s time for to end this week’s film review. As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest retro film review of The Sixth Sense and I hope you’ve all enjoyed the read! 😉 If anyone has an opinion on either my review or on the film itself, please feel free to drop a comment down below. It is with great regret that you won’t be seeing a film review from me next week as I’m taking a little break. While there might be a slim chance that you’ll see something next week, don’t expect to see anything brand new next week and perhaps the week after that. With their being not many films out in the cinemas as well, I think now is the perfect time for me to take a little rest from writing a little bit. I will try to return later in the month where I hope to not only bring you a review of Netflix’s Death Note live-action anime adaptation, but also, perhaps, a YouTube video where I’ll be going through the best films that I’ve watched so far in 2017. Besides this however, thank you once again for reading this week’s Blog Post and I’ll see you all as soon as possible! Have a nice day! Adieu! 😊😎✌

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte