I'd originally held out on viewing this film for as long as possible in order to savor the experience known as "The Sixth Sense" in the company of solitude. Yet thanks to the asininity of a couple of prepubescent girls who decided it would be entertaining to spoil the film at the expense of an entire classroom of high school students, I became reluctant to attend the theater and rent the movie for a number of months.
When I finally obtained a copy of the movie and inserted it into the VCR, rancor towards the aforementioned individuals returned in the blink of an eye. Upon reading in the opening credits that James Newton Howard had composed the soundtrack, however, I allowed myself to become immersed in the film, and from then on was not once subjected to straying thoughts.
In the case of "The Sixth Sense," the director had a vision--and this vision came through in such an efficient manner that the final creation was not a movie, but rather, an experience: an experience which comes together on every conceivable level, from the acting to the musical score, that leads the viewer through a first-hand perspective of what each character is seeing and experiencing on an emotional level, with the revelations that force their way onto the air evoking the same reaction from the viewer as the fictional characters on the screen.
It does not serve much of a purpose to elaborate on any specific aspect of this film; as it stands, everything is as close to perfection as it can possibly be in a movie. Perhaps the only flaw is that for first-time viewers, emotional or detached, analytical dispositions will grant an entirely different perspective on the movie and its merits as far as suspense is concerned. But since profound cynicism is required to blatantly disregard the merits of this film, there should be something to appeal to each and every viewer.
When I finally obtained a copy of the movie and inserted it into the VCR, rancor towards the aforementioned individuals returned in the blink of an eye. Upon reading in the opening credits that James Newton Howard had composed the soundtrack, however, I allowed myself to become immersed in the film, and from then on was not once subjected to straying thoughts.
In the case of "The Sixth Sense," the director had a vision--and this vision came through in such an efficient manner that the final creation was not a movie, but rather, an experience: an experience which comes together on every conceivable level, from the acting to the musical score, that leads the viewer through a first-hand perspective of what each character is seeing and experiencing on an emotional level, with the revelations that force their way onto the air evoking the same reaction from the viewer as the fictional characters on the screen.
It does not serve much of a purpose to elaborate on any specific aspect of this film; as it stands, everything is as close to perfection as it can possibly be in a movie. Perhaps the only flaw is that for first-time viewers, emotional or detached, analytical dispositions will grant an entirely different perspective on the movie and its merits as far as suspense is concerned. But since profound cynicism is required to blatantly disregard the merits of this film, there should be something to appeal to each and every viewer.