They are all around us.
 Aug 8th, 2007
(Sep 1st, 2008)
Advantages:
Meaningful, thought - provoking & very emotive
Disadvantages:
It is very hard to translate fantasy into reality
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to similar films?
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  Ayesha-
About me:
I love this website! Thanks for all rrcs.
Member since:08.12.2005
Reviews:96
Members who trust:50
Review rated by 48 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
Hehe.. yet another film I fancy reviewing which just came on t.v. (I hope this doesn't defeat the object of my review altogether!). I have seen this one a couple of times before & it is pretty well known, so most readers will probably already know the story, but my outline will be as always - hopefully not too patronising! The story
Having just celebrated receiving an award recognising his achievements practising in child psychology - for all the children he has helped or 'saved' - Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is ready to settle down for another night with his wife (sorry, this is not meant to be some sort of hint). However, their evening is disturbed when a past patient appears. enraged & still in a desperate state, feeling he was abandoned by the doctor when he needed help. Malcolm remembers him with some guilt, but still has no idea what to do. Unfortunately it is too late for that patient, now a grown man in a dreadful state, & he pulls out a gun, fires on shot at Malcolm, then shoots himself. Sometime onwards, Dr. Malcolm Crowe, permanently burdened by the guilt of failing that one patient, is approached by a boy (Haley Joel Osment) that somehow reminds him of that patient. This child appears to be the victim of some sort of bullying or abuse. After spending some time with this very disturbed child, looking at his drawings, the distant, distracted expression he shows in all his photographs & listening to him, he is keen to help. He soon discovers that the boy believes, to quote the world-famous, often joked-about cry for help:
"I see dead people". Of course he is not talking about funerals, graves, horror movies or witnessing a crime, but something a lot more sinister. We believe him, but of course for the doctor it is not so easy, because, like most of us, he does not have this sixth sense. The sixth sense is something many have suggested may really exist. In this film, rather than starting out by saying the child has an amazing gift that becomes hard to manage, we begin in a more realistic sense - that this child feels cursed by his ability to see the dead - or the ability of the dead to be seen by him. It is traumatic & causes him deep psychological problems, but he must first convince his doctor that the psychological problems are not what are causing him to see the dead. As the doctor learns to understand the boy, he finds ways to help him cope. The 'curse' could be used positively - hence becoming a gift, albeit an unwanted gift. The thing that the boy really wants though,
is to make the dead people go away...
Acting Bruce Willis is his usual self, but more serious. I wasn't too convinced by his character, but as a kind doctor he was not so bad. I generally quite like Bruce Willis, but I've been too convinced that dramatic or emotive films like this are really his style. For some reason I'd rather he just stuck to action & comedy.
Haley Joel Osmont was. of course, the real star of the show. He has this one terrified-precious-child look & a whisper that he uses several times throughout the film to move the audience. At least the first time I saw this I really felt for him - the thought of being all alone with his secret, knowing people would never believe or understand him & constantly tormented by the dead so that he struggles to sleep at night. That very look makes you feel more than sympathy, though as you find yourself a little nervous to turn off the light the next night. You find yourself wondering what it must be like when you have your family (mother in his case) close by & yet stlll feel completely alone. That in itself is, for me, a really scary thought. A lot more scary than a few ghosts, in fact. Finally the mother, Lynn Sear, played by Toni Collette was a special character I have failed to mention until now. Collette is not just beautiful, but beautiful in a mother 'tears-to-my-eyes' way. Watching her son suffer in turmoil, act strange, do things that upset her.. tears her up. Lynn tries again & again to show that she respects him & wants him to feel safe & happy, yet she can't get through to him. Like any good mother, all she wants to do is protect her child but she is treated as a potential child abuser, left frustrated with no idea how to stop her son being hurt. It is not hard to symphathise with this character & she is played really well by Collette... this is not a chick flick but you could be forgiven for crying with her.
Graphics etc. You get to see lots of very realistic walking dead - very detailed 'injuries' & fish out of sea. By this I mean given that all the people the boy sees are dead, some of them lived in other decades & even other centuries. This makes the film all the more fascinating & slightly more convincing. In my opinion, it does not defeat the fact if a person could see dead people they would feel like they were permanently stuck on a rush hour underground train. I also think, irrespective of how horrific the deaths are, if you were born & grew up with it, surely you'd get used to it? Sorry - I am spoiling the film a little so I will now move on!
Soundtrack There isn't one, really. I barely noticed the presence of music & instead sound effects are used as in many horror movies, when something happens that is meant to scare you, a sound plays that makes you almost jump out of your skin (not recommended). The first time I watched this film, I think the music really enhanced the fear factor & a few times I did almost jump - especially an encounter with another young lad who offers to show the boy where his dad keeps his gun..
Special effects Dead people walking around quite a bit. People breathing cold air. I would regard those as special effects.
The classification This film does have its gory bits & given that it deals with very deep issues, it could cause more sensiive viewers a few sleepless nights. The classification of 15 seems fair, but I would say most people over 12 will know from the advertisements whether this is the kind of film they would be ok to watch. There is no overuse of strong language, sexual scenes etc. & the gruesome scenes are relevant & necessary part of the film, so it gets my moral thumbs up... though it is up to you what you are comfortable watching!
Overall This film is not, nor do I think it was intended to be, just another gory horror movie or thriller. It is in fact an emotive drama showing another perspective of life after death &, more importantly coping with death. A lot of us would like to believe there is a place that people go when their lives end, that there is some way our questions can be answered & that we can somehow make up for things we did not do when we were alive. The idea of ghosts or spirits remaining in this world is that they are people with 'unfinished business', who need to resolve something or pass on some sort of message. It is also about how any person may have a second chance to make up for their mistakes - in this case, the doctor gets his new patient as a second chance to help someone. Sometimes it seems impossible, but this film suggests it is not.
Overall, the film is pretty moving & as long as you can try to ignore the technicalities, you can appreciate it for what it is. It is obviously not an uplifting film but I like to think you can feel like you learnt something valuable - whether you believe in life after death or ghosts or not. Much of the film is very realistic as to how ordinary people would cope faced with such a child. Even the dead come across as quite 'human'. But really, what kind of child says to his mother, "I'm ready to communicate with you now"?
Update: Collector's Edition Okay, to be honest when I posted this review, because it was intended to be just another 'film only' review - I only ever do 'film only's, I didn't really look much at the type of product, I just clicked the first thing I saw thinking this was it. I generally ignore everything but the name of the film - so 'wide screen', 'two disc' etc. mean nothing to me.
This time, I have been lucky to fall upon the Collectors Edition only a short time after realising my mistake - because I spotted a special offer for free DVD rentals (got to love them!) & what do you know? They have just this one. So now I am reviewing the extras. Special Features
There is a second disc, which has the special features. These are: Reflections from the set
A chance to see the film from the viewpoint of the director & star actors & actress. This played much like a documentary. For me, this brought back to life the philosophical aspects of the film, because you are looking at the motivations behind the film. The director, M Night Shyamalan talks about how he came up with the idea & the things he wanted to portray in the film. I found him very self-crediting but nonetheless interesting. You also get to appreciate how much work really goes into acting & how hard it really can be to play these roles. In particular, there is an in-depth look at actor Donnie Wahlberg's role & the trouble he had to go to, to ensure that he played it in the best way possible. We also hear from Bruce Willis, albeit briefly, Haley Joel Osment & Toni Collette, who give each other credit for the strength of their acting & talk about the more emotional scenes filmed. It seems actors really do draw upon real-life experiences.. Between two worlds
To be honest I found it hard to be interested in this, it reminded me of my lectures to begin with. But then as the programme progressed, I started to understand that it is about spirituality, different ideas, theories of the supernatural & seeing things from the perspective of 'the other side' - or at least how we imagine it to be. This section is not really about the film as such, but the sort of thoughts provoked by such a film. This section is not something you can just sit back & watch, but if you can be patient, are willing to treat it as a discussion you are involved in, there is a lot to appreciate. People interested in religion especially should find this section intriguing, whatever your background - because this is not intended to only apply to a specific group. Moving pictures: the storyboard process
This section shows again some of the scenes in Sixth Sense as well as the original sketches showing how the story comes together to form the film. The 'script' is done using pictures, rather than beginning by writing the script then putting it into a visual form. The pictures are quite different to the final work but still show the structure of the film & the message to be conveyed. A lot of people on Ciao should find this interesting, I expect. The fact you use Ciao means you are obviously into analytical & creative work - any new method of creativity is worth hearing about! We then see some of the places where filming is done & how the directors decide on how to capture the scenes. The difficulties in putting into practice the pictures on paper is also explored. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------
Must admit I'm glad I did look at the Special bits now, because I had always written them off as a waste of time. Often when you see a film that you personally find moving, there are questions you wish you could ask, things you are curious about. This disc goes a little way to help answer those questions & bring that insight. If you really loved this film, you'll probably like this edition.
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by (2%):
09.10.2008 17:43
I really enjoyed this film, although someone told me 'the twist' before I saw it, which was annoying!
02.09.2008 11:51
Thanks for letting me know you've updated this. Happily re-rated for you, as this is a very good review on what was a very good film.
08.03.2008 17:13
You need to change this from "Film Only" to "DVD" if you've added in the bits about the extras. Let me know when you have and I'll re-rate.