More than a coincidence
 Jan 26th, 2006
Advantages:
Hitchcock style drama with a meaning
Disadvantages:
None
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to similar films?
more
Review rated by 30 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
The Storyline
----------------- Six months ago, Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) was the Reverend of a church in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, but one day a freak accident caused the death of his wife, this intern caused Graham to question his faith and in doing so quits the church. Now he lives a peaceful life on his farm with his brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), and his two children, Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin).
Then one day he wakes up to find a crop circle in one of his fields. He dismisses it as local pranksters, but as more and more crop circles start to appear, he realises that something unusual is about to happen. His brother still thinks it is pranksters, but the children believe that it may be the work of extra terrestrials. As more and more strange occurrences happen, the whole Hess family start to believe that maybe, just maybe, there is something out there. Okay, I'm not going to say anything else about the story, as I don't want to spoil it for anyone.
This film is a fall back to the days of the good old Hitchcock thriller, where the film is primarily set in one location, being the house. Plus instead of showing us everything, we are aloud to use our own minds to scare ourselves. One example of this is when they hear noises outside the house, instead of seeing what is there; we are led on a chase around the house in search of it. This leads us to use our own imagination to scare ourselves. There are also some excellent scenes where you get so wrapped up with what is going on, that when a sudden noise like a phone ringing makes you jump out of your chair. The reactions and emotions of the Hess family as they start to realise that this is bigger than what they first believed is truly outstanding. One scene which springs to mind is when Merrill is watching a broadcast on the happenings, and he sees something he didn't expect. In sheer horror he falls back towards a rack of coats in disbelief, but then moves back as he deals with what he has just seen.
Another scene is where they are sitting down for a meal, the pressure of all the surrounding events are getting to them and finally Graham can't take it anymore, the whole family break down in tears of emotion, totally breathtaking.
Another great part of this film is all the little events and coincidences which have happened to the Hess family make sense in the last scene. Why were the last words Graham's wife said so important, why when the young boy went to the bookstore looking for a book on aliens was there just one book their that had been ordered several months before specially for someone who never went back for it. There are several more coincidences and visual signs that all tie in. Although this is primarily quite a serious drama, there is some subtle humour as well. When Graham goes to get his sons medication, the young girl serving asks if she can confess. Against his wishes she starts to confess, the facial expressions and reactions by Mel Gibson are purely comical but within the dramatic boundaries of the film.
The music to this film has been purely used to help set the tension and if you listen carefully you will notice that it is done only using 3 notes on a repeating cycle. There is no use of main stream songs, but again. Signs harks back to the good old days of movie making where an orchestra is used to convey tension and emotion. M. Night Shyamalan, who wrote, directed and also acted in this film, makes an excellent job pf it. He makes you feel for the characters in this film as each of them realizes what is happening. It is also nice to have watched a film where old fashion techniques are used to convey suspense and horror; I wish more directors would follow his example. Also, Shyamalan uses a lot of clues and symbolism around the film which you don't pick up on straight away, but each time you watch it you will pick up on more of them and find yourself going, 'oh, so that is why that happened'. His use of flash back sequences allows you to understand as to why Graham has lost his faith but also contribute to making you feel for him as a real person.
The Cast
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Oh no another Culkin brat I hear you scream. Fortunately, Rory Culkin is one of the Culkin Brood who is a very good child actor, for a child of 13 he does a very good job at acting out the required emotion in this film. Along with this you get Mel Gibson who brings years of experience to this film which really shows, I cannot think of another actor who would have been so believable in this part. Then you get Joaquin Phoenix, who although has been in some very big budget movies, really Excel's himself as the Merrill, who has basically stopped his life to go and help his brother bring up the family.
Mel Gibson .... Rev. Graham Hess
Joaquin Phoenix .... Merrill Hess
Rory Culkin .... Morgan Hess
Abigail Breslin .... Bo Hess
Cherry Jones .... Officer Paski
M. Night Shyamalan .... Ray Reddy
Patricia Kalember .... Colleen Hess
Technical Details
-----------------------
Certificate: 12
Length: 102 mins
No. of DVDs: 1.
Widescreen
Packaging
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Comes in a standard DVD case, with a picture of a crop circle on the front. Inside is a leaflet which describes the bonus material.
Bonus Material
-------------------
You get the usual scene selection which consists of 21 different scenes. The language selection allows for English or Russian and the subtitles are available in English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Estonian and Russian.
There is a brilliant making of documentary which is split into several chapters. It deals with what this film means to Shyamalan, how he went about getting the performance he wanted. How they dealt with the time constraints of working with child actors. The events which happened before and during the filming of Signs, the first scenes to be shot were the ones where Graham got to speak to his wife just before she died; these scenes were actually shot the day after the September 11th disaster in America. This is the first time I have found a Making Of feature to be really beneficial as quite often they don't add to the substance of the film. There are also several deleted scenes which help you understand the characters more as well as giving you more clues, there is one with a dead bird which is very symbolic once you have watched the film. There are others but they would spoil the storyline.
Then you get a feature which allows you to use the angle button on your remote control. You are presented with 2 scenes from the film and by using the angle button you can view the storyboard sketches to see how it corresponds. This is the first film I have come across that actually facilitates the multi angle button on your remote control. Although this was a little disappointing it was still very interesting to watch the film against the storyboard. Finally there is a feature called "Night's First Alien Movie", this is actually a film that Shyamalan shot when he was a teenager at home with a video camera, and although very short it will make you smile.
The Message & Christian View Point
-----------------------------------------------
The first message of this film is about faith. The story is about a man who has lost his faith in God due to events in his life, but by the end of the film he has regained his faith through the signs and miracles which happen before him. The interesting thing is that, after he had lost his faith, he still seemed to be searching for something to believe in. Can you actually lose your faith, or will it always be there and at some point you will call out to what you ever believe in for help. For me this is very symbolic as about a year ago I thought I had lost my faith, but when I reached absolute despair in my life I called out for help and it was answered and my faith was still there, it had never been lost, I just chose to deny it.
The second message in this film is about coincidences. Do you believe that things happen by chance, or are they part of a big plan for our lives? I believe that everything happens for a reason and that all these coincidences are actually put there to guide us on our way. As one of my favourite sayings goes "Is it odd, or is it God".
Conclusion & Rating
---------------------------
If you wanted to watch a sci-fi, alien film, then you will be disappointed as this is definitely not the focus of this film. If you wanted to watch a suspense drama which will scare you, then you will enjoy it. If you were after a film which was made in the style of Hitchcock then again you will enjoy this film. For me, this film is far more than a Hitchcock style suspense drama; it is about one man's journey in finding his faith again after disastrous events in his life cause him to doubt his beliefs. It is also provoking your thoughts on whether you believe in consequences or whether they are signs. The whole movie has been very well made and rates as one of my favourite films. I still believe that after watching this film at least 5 times, I have not picked up on all the little clues through out the film.
I would really recommend this to anyone who wants to watch a film that will make you think, but if you are after Sci-fi and action then watch War of The Worlds.
You can currently get Signs for between £6-7 from most online retailers such as Amazon and Blah. At this price the film is an absolute bargain as the bonus features alone are worth this price.
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11.10.2007 05:24
When I first saw this film, it scared the bejeepers out of me. It was so well played out, and even though I kind of knew what to expect, it still made me jump !! Nicely written piece, full of pertinent info... I didnt realise the director was the same M.Night Shyamalan as directed The Sixth Sense......... I learn something new every day !! Thanks for sharing..... xx
07.06.2006 23:23
I've still not seen this yet, but I will one day soon! x x
17.02.2006 17:06
I watched this first on DVD and really enjoyed it. A comprehensive review.