After people have first seen the Sixth Sense, nine times out of ten you will hear them comment on how the ending had them rather perplexed as to how they didn’t realise what was happening, right until the closing scene. But the question you really have to ask yourself is, was the ending really that much of a surprise?
The basic storyline of the film is about a psychiatrist (Malcolm Green – Played by Bruce Willis) who begins in the film by being shot by one of his ex-patients, after the patient breaks into his house. The next scene shows the same setting (but six months later), and shows Green watching another one of his patients (A young boy called Cole -Played by Haley Joel Osment) from a bench outside the boys house. This is important as it has immediately answered the viewers question from the last scene of ‘did he survive the shooting or not?’, with what the viewer assumes as a indefinite yes.
Cole’s problem is that he can see dead people (actually most people will be aware of this before viewing the film, this is no surprise).
So as you’d expect, the rest of the film is based around Cole’s ability to see dead people, with certain parts dedicated to showing how Green has cut himself off from his wife, choosing to spend more time addressing Cole’s problem instead.
In the end Green realises that he has been dead ever since the shooting, and the only person that has been able to see/talk to him has been Cole, which would also explain the lack of interaction he has had with his wife. Straight away this will try to get the viewer to think of an exception in which Green has interacted with another person other than Cole, to clear this up Green experiences flashbacks to moments in which he thought he had interacted another person, only to realise he was never there.
It is clear to me the film has convinced the viewer into thinking that Green is a regular person all the way through it, and that clues contradicting this have been dropped all the way through it. I mean the clue that really should of given it away was into the opening sequence itself, this will leave the viewer rather stunned they didn’t notice straightaway, but this also acts as a reason for the viewer to watch the film a second time, giving the viewer the power that they spotted the twists in the plot, even if not the first time.
In a film in which the beginning and end are key to understanding the film, I think it is vital that the viewer is interested at both points (especially the end). So it is not enough for Green just to realise he was dead all along, this would still be clever, but wouldn’t captivate the audience as much as it does when they find out the clues have been littered all over the storyline. This technique gets the viewer much more involved in what has been going on, as if they’ve been there, just haven’t spotted what’s been going on, just as been happening to Green, so the viewer can relate to the plot.
Its not just the clues that were obvious to the viewer on the first time of watching that giveaway events, certain elements are used to indicate what was about to happen. For example, the colour red is numerous situation throughout the film, always when something crucial is about to happen. For example, when Cole is locked in the cupboard he wears a red sweater and is drawn up the stairs by a red balloon. Also the church (which most of the important dialog between Green and Cole takes place), has red doors, and Cole steals the red statue from inside of it. Of course, no-one would have noticed this before they were told, but it could be argued that this does signal to the viewer that danger is lurking, even if only subconsciously in the fact red is believed to represent danger.
As far as the acting is concerned, all actors put in performances that will do their reputation no harm at all. Even Bruce Willis, most known for his action hero roles in earlier films in his career, manages to convince the audience of his role as understanding psychiatrist ready to take a risk.
For me, the film didn’t quite live up to the billing other people plastered on it, and it certainly wasn’t the most chilling film ive ever seen! But if you take away all the elements other people tagged on it, you’re left with an imaginative, cleverly-worked and well acted thriller. So maybe it won’t be a film you’ll want to watch over and over, but it definitely gives the first time viewer a feeling of surprise, and astonishment that they didn’t beat the film makers, also the film comes across as original, which for me was important as not many thrillers seem to focus on that aspect of a film. Lets hope other thrillers shall follow suit.
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: John Duigan - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, Penelope Cruz
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Feb 17th, 2005
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