M Night Shyamalan, the 30-year-old writer-director of the commercially (10th-highest grossing film of all time) and artistically successful The Sixth Sense, has a knack of drawing us into a world that is so unique and mysterious, yet grounded, that we can only marvel as we are swept along a road with very few signposts.
And, because of the nature of his world, which is largely the subconscious and so-called supernatural brought slowly to light, he has created an exhilaratingly new and clear cinematic language. One that gives us fresh insights into old themes such as family values, race, violence, and so on, but one that is also confident enough in itself to let us do half the work Ã’ and enjoy it. That is, it relies on that very basic human characteristic most formulaic films and television programmes try to stifle: curiosity.
Moreover, it enters into a distinct dialogue with other works, including his own. One cannot help comparing every little detail of his new film, Unbreakable, with Shyamalan’s first brilliant work and other hollow offerings from both Hollywood and darkest Europe.
So why has Bruce Willis’s character never been ill, and why has Samuel L Jackson’s character always been sick? What have comic books of the Marvel variety got to do with it all? What exactly is unbreakable? Co-starring a beautifully mature Robin Penn Wright, this wonderfully intelligent film is not only better than The Sixth Sense, it’s also funnier. You just have to look very hard.