An informed critique of the film

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2002)

After reading the various comments left about this film, I can't help but wonder how all these people can think that they are so educated in film. While reading many of the reviews, I could only think, "My, this person obviously has no idea about the film making process and what is good and what isn't." Since I am majoring in film directing and producing, I would like to offer my review (hopefully somewhat informed, but obviously not perfect) of this film. First of all, it is a technically brilliant piece. Shyamalan's use of lighting and camera angles only serves to heighten the tension in certain scenes. The whole idea behind having lots of dark space and shadows is to play off of our fear of the unknown. If it resembles Hitchcock, all the more power to him. It is about time that someone gets the difference between a scares and gore correct. As for the story, many complain that it doesn't tie up all the loose ends and that it has a twist to it. It is nice to see a non-predictable film that makes us actually use our cerebrum to try to figure out how the loose ends tie themselves up. Lastly, for those who trash on the performances, I found the acting to be superb. I think that the main problem is that people lazily expect everything to be served on a silver platter and that if something is genuinely good, they don't feel as intelligent and superior if they don't trash on it; by talking it down, they somehow think that it makes them look better and smarter. So if you want to follow the advice of these people, then don't see it. But if you want to see an incredibly well-made and thought-provoking film, then I can't recommend this movie too highly.