Signs: A Movie For ALL Reasons

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2004)

Let me begin by saying that I really enjoyed this movie. _______________________________________________________________________ Mr. Shyamalan's conceptual and, to date NOVEL, use of the phenomenon of crop circles as a sign is thought-provoking. The manner in which Mel Gibson's character, Graham Hess, is presented: a minister having lost his faith, due to the death of his wife, is really quite good in terms of the "slow tease". The children's characters are intelligent, emotional and convincing. This film shows a real sense of a "familial connection" and interaction in the way the characters all relate to one another.____________________________________________________ M. Night's measured revelation of the several seemingly-unrelated "coincidences" in THIS film, contrasted to the manner in which he presented and revealed the characters in "Unbreakable" and in "The Sixth Sense," is coupled with information about each character in the first few scenes of the "back story." It establishes of the individuality of each character (Graham's brother, son and daughter), yet gives the viewer merely a glimpse of each of their "quirks". Myself, having studied the works of Dr. Carl Jung, noted psychologist and recognized "father" of the foundations of most of Behavioral Psychology, I can see - throughout this film - the many instances of Jung's "Synchronicity Principle" in action. Just as in real life, an individual can only "see" what THEIR OWN INTERNAL "settings" permit them to see. So, too, does M. Night reveal this story: by gradual alteration of the VIEWERS own "filters of perception". **Watch this movie AT LEAST one time, just for the overall story (simply because it is very well written, well-paced and "snapshot" of single-parent family life in this ERA).** Then, watch it again and this second time around, LOOK for the revelations AS THEY ARE REVEALED: tell me that you have never experienced an incident of SYNCHRONICITY! You may have been unaware at the time of its occurrence, as to its meaning, but through time, distance, and/or a re-orientation of your own thought processes: "NOW it all makes sense".
Thank you, M.Night, and please keep up the good work! It is my hope that you are ALWAYS able to fulfill your "NEXT VISION," and that you will continue doing what you LOVE to do (and which you do so well). It's also my personal belief that your abilities (whether or not you are TRYING to), tap into the UNDERLYING currents of Humankind: OUR Collective Consciousness and the Collective UN-Conscious. (...because this movie wasn't REALLY about the aliens...-wink-) AND it IS good Movie-making!