Night Shyamalan continues to impress

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2002)

I have waited eagerly for Shyamalan's next effort, having been slightly disillusioned with "Unbreakable" and its similarities to "The Sixth Sense". In "Signs", however, Shyamalan has moved on and delivered on the promise of the depth of his talent.
In trailers, the film presents itself as an invasion movie along the lines of "Independence Day"; a farmer notices crop circles and then disbelievingly discovers that they are appearing all over the world in similar fashion. Sounds pretty run-of-the-mill. Was Shyamalan about to succumb to the big-budget blockbuster and sacrifice the intricacy in plot that he has become known for? Not a chance. He weaves the alien story into the background as we witness a man's struggle with his faith. Don't get me wrong; there are moments when you can see daylight under people's seats; it's just that Shyamalan has made this film into so much more.
He has rediscovered Hitchcockian suspense. This is not a film about blatant horror; it touches you in a deeper way and fills you with dread. This is the essence of this type of cinema. The audience is far more capable of scaring itself; only you know your real fears and only you can truly scare yourself. Shyamalan simply pokes the fire a little, with elegant simplicity. The result is a film that has moments of terror only dreamed of by the guys with the big effects budgets.
He has managed to tell the story with characters that react the same way many of us would, and with scattered moments of very subtle humour, come to life. Here lies the strength in Shyamalan's work; his character development. He understands which aspects of his characters' humanity are important, and which are unimportant, and weaves the audience into their lives in a way few others can.
I thought the aliens were well done. Not knowing myself what an invading alien should look like, I was more than willing to accept Shyamalan and ILM's
interpretation. It worked for me.
As for comments about black screen and nothing but sound effects and dark lighting (by Tak Fujimoto, ASC, one of the most well-respected living DPs in cinema), these things are the keys to suspense cinema. The deprivation of information is far more effective than the proliferation of effects. If you still have to ask, you just wouldn't get it. Buy yourself a copy of ID4 and watch it with all the lights on.
This is a remarkable piece of filmmaking by one of Hollywood's truly talented emerging directors. Congratulations on some very good work. You too, everyone in the cast. Your performances deserve recognition.