Super natural directing

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2001)

Generally, I am no great fan of movies involving the occult or the supernatural, unless they are highly stylised like Nosferatu or the Indiana Jones films; so even classics like Rosemary's Baby or the Exorcist tend to leave me cold (with scepticism, not horror). But I've found myself totally gripped by both The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, even though for the most part M Night Shyamalan avoids stylisation, and both movies are set firmly in the real world.
For me, the key to Shyamalan's achievement in turning what might have been simply cult films into generally acclaimed successes has little to do with his handling of the supernatural or (in Unbreakable) comic book elements in his screenplays and directing, and has everything to do with his treatment of the characters and of the actors who play them. He successfully performs what should be a basic task of film-makers, but is so often disregarded - he makes us care about the characters. In other words, unlike most fantasy movies, his films are driven by character, not plot.
In Unbreakable, by giving David Dunn (Bruce Willis) a down-to-earth job as a security guard, Shyamalan not only exploits Willis's total authenticity in such a role, he makes it easier for us sympathise with Dunn, as an ordinary working stiff whose marriage is on the rocks. At the same time, though he, by contrast, is rich and successful, we also sympathise with Elijah Price (Samuel Jackson), not only because of his physical handicap, but because of his poor background, that the director has taken the trouble to show us. He uses the camera, too, to linger on the characters, allowing us time to listen to them, wonder about them, identify with them.

But this care with the characters does not mean that the plot of Unbreakable is neglected; on the contrary, it has one of the most original and ingenious plots of recent years. And unlike, for example, Being John Malkovich, the plot maintains its internal logic all the way through. I believe fans of the occult genre would be wrong to regard the movie's final twist as a cop-out. The ending in no way contradicts or erodes the supernatural element, but simply sets it more firmly in a real-world context.
There has been talk of a sequel to Unbreakable, and this might be interesting; but personally I would like to see Shyamalan tackle a non-occult screenplay and movie, using to the full his ability with characters and human interest.