 |
| But every blessing is a gift |
mode. I believe that's what should make a good horror flick. It should be able to produce some form of psychological response or, strictly speaking of producing good horror films, a mild degree of psychological trauma. As much as technology has advanced in this day and age to make blood and gore look realistic, it simply does not do well in leaving a lasting impression that most films should strive for.
Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist in Philadelphia, returns home one night with his wife, Anna, after having been honored for his work. Anna tells Malcolm that everything is second to his work, and that she believes he is truly gifted. Just then, a young man appears in their bathroom, and accuses Malcolm of failing him. Malcolm recognizes him as Vincent Grey, a former patient whom he treated as a child for hallucinations. After Malcolm realizes he did fail him, Vincent shoots his former doctor before killing himself. The next fall, Malcolm begins working with another patient, 9-year-old Cole Sear, whose case is similar to Vincent's. Malcolm becomes dedicated to the boy, though he is haunted by doubts over his ability to help him after his failure with Vincent. Meanwhile, he and his wife seldom, if ever, speak or do anything together. Malcolm feels he must help Cole in order to rectify his failure to help Vincent and reconcile with his wife. Cole's mother, Lynn, who truly loves him, worries about his social stamina, especially after seeing signs of physical abuse. Cole eventually confides his secret to Malcolm: he sees dead people, who walk around like the living unaware they are dead. At first, Malcolm thinks Cole is delusional and considers dropping him. Remembering Vincent, the psychologist listens to an audiotape from a session with Vincent in 1987, then a child. On the tape, when Malcolm leaves the room, and then returns, Vincent was crying. Turning up the volume, Malcolm hears a weeping man begging for help in Spanish, and now believes that Cole is telling the truth and that Vincent may have had the same ability. He suggests to Cole that he should try to find a purpose for his gift by communicating with the ghosts and perhaps aid them with their unfinished business. At first, Cole is unwilling since the ghosts terrify and sometimes even threaten him, but he finally decides to do it. Cole talks to one of the ghosts, Kyra Collins, a young chronically ill girl who recently died. He goes with Malcolm to her funeral reception at her home, where Kyra directs him to a box holding a videotape, which he then gives to her father. The tape shows Kyra's mother putting a cleaning fluid in her soup. By proving she was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, Cole has saved Kyra's younger sister, the mother's next victim. Learning to live with the ghosts he sees, Cole starts to fit in at school and gets the lead in the school play, which Malcolm attends. The doctor and patient depart on positive terms and Cole suggests to Malcolm that he should try speaking to Anna while she is asleep. Later, while stuck in a traffic jam, Cole confesses his secret to his mother, saying that someone died in an accident up ahead and he knows because the person is right next to him. Lynn does not see the recently deceased, but Cole sees a woman cyclist with blood dripping down her face. Although his mother at first does not believe him, Cole proves his ability to her by talking about how his grandmother visits him. He describes how his grandmother saw his mother in a dance performance, even though Lynn thought her mother was not there. He further relays the answer to a question his mother privately asked at her mother's grave. When Cole says that his grandmother feels proud of Lynn, his mother tearfully accepts the truth and they hug each other. Malcolm returns home, where he finds his wife asleep with their wedding video playing. While still asleep, Anna asks her husband why he left her, and drops Malcolm's wedding ring, which he suddenly discovers he has not been wearing. He remembers what Cole said about ghosts and realizes that he was actually killed by Vincent that night, and was unknowingly dead the entire time he was working with Cole. Because of Cole's efforts, Malcolm's unfinished business, which was to rectify his failure to understand and help Vincent, is finally complete. Malcolm also fulfills the second reason he returned, which was to tell his wife that she was never second, and that he loves her. His goal complete, he is finally free to leave the world of the living.
Analysis & Reflection :
The mechanics behind The Sixth Sense that gives the film its unique form of horror is that many times throughout the film it manages to lead you on into believing that some grotesque horror scene is coming up next, only to disappoint. On the other hand, sometimes it makes it seem as though the worst is over only to jump out at you when you least suspect it, which is exactly what gives the movie its charm. The inconsistency of scene endings are what keep people in a state of tension (and to a certain extent, anxiety) as the audience would be kept in a constant state of fear and anticipation, trying to predict the next scene. We are, in a way, trying to fight the urge to be lulled into a sense of security by all the false alarms. In a way, we, as the audience, have been classically conditioned by the film. For example, the horror scenes (UCS) evokes fear (UCR) and eerie music (CS) has been paired with some horrific incident that can now elicit fear (CR). However, when horror scenes (UCS) are removed from the equation, our natural instincts would tell us that the relationship is weakening and is no longer a cause for fear, hence, extinction. Yet just as the extinction process occurs, the horror scenes reappear again. Because we can no longer predict when the aversive stimulus will appear, we set ourselves in a constant state of arousal.
 |
| OMG will this movie chill, I'm trying to eat something |
A major theme in the film, of course, is fear. Fear is usually derived from experience, and can be classified into two stages; biochemical, and emotional. When fearing something instinctively due to experience or knowledge, the biochemical reaction of our body provides a fight-or-flight response, which has helped us survive as a species in an evolutionary aspect. The emotional aspect is where we remember the fear and generate them the next time we encounter the stimulus, which is referred to as a phobia. For example, the fact that Cole can see dead people has become a phobia for him, hence the need for him to see a psychologist.
 |
| Another Fear : Not being believed |
Conclusion :
As indicated above, an example of fear would be the fact that throughout the movie, the audience was kept in a constant state of arousal, fear, and anticipation, which were created from elements in the movie. In general, it means that this film has classically conditioned the audience into a state of fear, but yet is still able to provide a sense of surprise, indicating a work of a genius on director M. Night Shyamalan's part. However, the implications of this style of filming are that although terrific when watched for the first time, the movie loses its appeal when rewatched again, as there is then a lack of suspense and surprise, which are the essential elements of what makes this such a great movie.
 |
| Only the first time, because people still don't believe him yet |
Rating : 8.5/10
 |
| A film worth dying for |
No comments:
Post a Comment