But Crowe on the other hand, is still unable to communicate with his wife. One night he suddenly realizes the truth; he is actually dead himself! He died when he was shot. This explains why his wife and everyone else apart from Cole have been ignoring him for the past 2 years. This is a stunning finale with a shocking twist. The resolution of this story depends on this surprise. The revelation casts a new light on the entire story
Mr Night Shyalaman creates a tale that completely absorbs the viewer. As a result, the audience goes through many emotions: fear, sadness, joy and confusion, each one a compliment to the other.
As this is a chilling psychological thriller, fear is to be expected.
Cole is a silent, withdrawn boy, with a constant air of sadness around him. With eyes that always look like they’re on the verge of tears, he convincingly portrays a child who needs to cry, but is too scared - and there are very few things as heart-wrenching as that. He’s just a human being, like anybody else, who randomly possesses a sixth sense, and because of it, his life has been turned into an utter hell. It’s not fair, and it is this strong sense of unfairness in The Sixth Sense that gives it such a powerful air of sadness.
Crowe is always happy and cheerful around Cole, which explains why he never gets frosty breath, as this only happens when ghosts get angry. At the very beginning of the film, everything seems light hearted and relaxed. There is a sense of relief when Cole tells his mum his secret, and they communicate well for the first time.
Cole is confused and frightened at what he is able to see, and it pulls you into feeling confused yourself. The ending happens quickly and is confusing. The sense of confusion in the film helps bring across a sense of fear.
There are some key features which confuse the audience; At the start of the film when Dr Crowe is shot, you don’t find out he’s died until the end of the film.Early in the film Cole is left alone in the kitchen for a split second. When his mother returns all of the cupboards have been opened. This makes the audience, and Cole’s mum, wonder how it has happened. Cole dead Grandmother gave Cole’s mum a pendant, which keeps going missing. Cole is blamed but denies it. At the start of the film, Vincent, the former patient, comes to Crowe’s house and attacks him. The audience doesn’t find out why. When Cole’s mum is cleaning, she comes across an old picture of Cole. There are white specks visible and he is watching them. In history class, Cole knows that his school used to be a hanging ground, when even the history teacher doesn’t know. This confuses the audience.
The director achieves this effect with different technical devices, such as camera angles, lighting, and sound and camera shots.
The sixth sense creates many types of fear in his audience. The director uses shock, horror and tension to scare his audience. The camera moves from person to person to show their emotions changing as a scene takes place, for example when Dr Crowe finds the suicidal ex – patient in his bathroom. The fear created in this film is in shocks, for example when Cole gets up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and a ghost walks behind him past the camera. Things in the storyline make you jump unexpectedly-when this happens it is called a twist. The main twist is at the ned, when Dr Crowe discovers that he is dead.
The way the music and lighting are used also creates fear in the audience. The music becomes louder and more violent when a shocking moment happens, like when Dr Crowe’s wife is in the basement at the beginning, and the lighting is used to make shadows which create a creepy atmosphere.
Fear is the second emotion presented in the film.
Another important part of the film is the relationships between the key characters. The main relationships in this film are between doctor Crowe and his wife at the beginning of the film is very close. As the film goes on they begin to drift apart. He becomes angry as she’s seeing another man and she becomes depressed. At the end of the film the main twist is that Crowe had been dead all along and his wife was grieving. Their relationship makes the audience feel for them as they have stopped communicating.
The relationship between Cole and his mother is again a very loving one. Cole’s mum is trying hard to protect him and understand his problems. She loves him more than anything else but can’t really talk to Cole properly as he has hidden his secrets to protect his mother. At the end of the film Cole and his mother open up to each other and become closer. The audience feels involved as their relationship is the centre of the film. It brings out many emotions so it has a noticeable impact on the audience.
Presentational devices play a big part in the film. Presentational devices are things such as special effects or make up. Make up is an important factor in creating fear as the frightening characters wouldn’t make you jump if they looked everyday like Cole or Crowe.
Where the film is set is important as Cole’s flat is gloomy, and gives off a feeling of creepiness. There are many shadows where ghosts could be lurking in wait and it is quite poky and small with a long corridor. Every detail is important to making the film what it is.
In conclusion I think the film is very successful. Shyalaman got the balance of confusion and fear right. The camera angles and the way it jolts around from person to person in dramatic scenes works well. I feel this film is a success.
