A hero in a time of great ordinariness, 6 Mar 2002

I didn't much care for The Sixth Sense, a major success which seemed to me cold and manipulative, its characters mere puppets to be whisked away, and proof that the best way to get ahead in Hollywood is to pull a few strings. Nonetheless, one had to admire Shyamalan's commitment to his narrative: The Sixth Sense was a slow-paced movie, but it showed the signs of a director who was paying acute attention to each facet of the production, and saying damn you to the popcorn-eaters who wished he'd just hurry things up a bit.

Unbreakable is a much better film, entering into the realms of comic books and myth-making with notable success. Like The Sixth Sense, this is a softly-spoken, low-key film, finding more interest in Willis rooting through his airing cupboard than in putting the train crash up on screen, but every moment that unfolds here has something new and interesting to look at and think about, with Shyamalan's tendency for bold colours and camera angles not only approximating those found in comic books, but also giving us a different perspective on events - and it is a perspective we may have lost, that of a child's.

The Sixth Sense offered many examples of primal fear - of the dark, of what's under the bed, of being locked in cupboards - and granted us with its camera the chance to take the Haley Joel Osment character's point of view, and thus see dead people. In every scene in Unbreakable where a child features, the camera takes on this juvenile point of view. The opening sequence, for example, has Willis stumbling through a conversation with a young woman on the train, watched by a kid through the gap in the seats in front of them. This could be seen as the apotheosis of modern American cinema - we're all infantilised by mainstream studio releases, going goo-goo over movie stars, dribbling at love scenes and wetting ourselves during shoot-outs - but also lends the drama an emotional charge, so that the audience, too, starts to look up at Dunn and consider him as a great man. It also allows us to rediscover a very childlike sense of wonder in the world, with its bright hues and strange darknesses, its small battles between good and evil made much bigger.

At any rate, this is a director who knows how to use the camera, and his framing is rarely less than perfectly worked out. One scene of dialogue, as a doctor breaks the news to Willis that he might be the only survivor of the train crash, is partially blocked by a bandaged body which begins to bleed into its swabs just as Willis, and - through him - the audience, starts to realise what it is that has taken place; Elijah's early scenes are shot as reflections in shop mirrors and television sets, so that any movement into the frame comes as disconcerting, a sucker-punch threat from a different direction to that one was expecting. Shyamalan is also, clearly, a great director of actors: Willis, allowed to be more physically present here than in The Sixth Sense, is an inspired choice given the actor's track record for playing superheroes who always have a weakness, and Jackson, with a stare to take to the grave with you, gets comic-book obsessiveness spot on, a purple-cloaked shadow of reclusive, crippled menace. For me, the film's major acting triumph was in the rediscovery of Robin Wright Penn - radiant here, her blue eyes finding their own place in the director's colour scheme.

This is a stranger, less clear-cut movie than The Sixth Sense, and stronger for it, for its ambiguity is that of the real world, where we tend not to see dead people. Jackson's Elijah, Shyamalan's curious prophet, has a powerful speech about the "mediocre times" we live in, and we have certainly lost a lot from post-modernism's battle cry of death to myths. By asking us to look at life through a child's eyes, this filmmaker has, in his last two films, professed a touching idealism - a faith in storytelling - which is as fragile as Elijah's bones or a glass cane in an era when we tend to laugh at the mythical and serious, the mystical and sincere. People have responded well to both films, which is a promising sign in such cynical times - a sign that we still possess a desire to be wide-eyed and strung along, even if only occasionally. Where The Sixth Sense had its audience coming out of the cinema only to go back over the film, to try and spot where we were twisted around the storyteller's finger, Unbreakable should - once you've debated the strange-but-not-quite-true ending - have you looking over your life, trying to spot any extraordinary features which will make you a hero in a time of great ordinariness

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Engrossing, 8 Oct 2003

Firstly, there is something very archetypal about Bruce Willis's screen persona. He perfectly captures the picture of 'ordinary guy caught up in extraordinary circumstances', which allows you to relate to him. This is enhanced by his inarticulacy, which while often frustrating, probably comes closer to reality than the one-liner-packed performances we often see from other actors. To summarise, he was perfectly cast for this role.

Another parallel is in the slow-moving, quiet feel to both films. Unbreakable does not rely on loud dance music to create an atmosphere. There are many quiet moments, which is good for me, as I like to have time to ponder what's happening.

But Willis's functional but slightly dull character (I reiterate, I don't see that as a bad thing in this context) could not carry it alone. Sam Jackson is on fine form, suceeding in portraying a character who is both creepy and compelling. I particularly love the scene where he lectures the guy who wants to buy some 'serious art' for his kid. Those kind of serious, intense characters are great fun to watch!

I've not said much about the storyline, and that's because I think that the plot, while decent, does not make this film. If anything it's the way the plot develops, and the reactions of the characters to the unfolding events which makes this film so compelling. If it's flawed in one department particularly, it's that the plot development feels kind of uneven. Things creep forward slowly throughout most of the film and then, bam! Everything changes! It leaves you feeling a bit disorientated.

Still, it certainly is well worth the effort. 4 Stars to try and be as fair as possible, but for my own personal enjoyment, 5 stars! I'm looking forward to the next time I get around to watching it. It's definitely a break from the usual slick, fast-paced but hollow Hollywood shennanigans we've come to expect! I think I can say fairly confidently that MOST people will be well pleased with this purchase.

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my skin gets chills right till the credits, 16 Jun 2003

i rented this movie becuase i was too broke when it was at the cinema, i was interested in the story-a little complex i thought something about some guy who survives a train crash and doesn't even have a scratch on him... maybe it'll be like a modern day superman...

i wasn't expecting what i got

from the start i knew i wasn't watching some big blockbuster action superhero movie from the cries of the baby born in the first scene... the camera action-the cinematography and that chilling soundtrack... this movie blew me away, just the concept of introducing the idea of super-human power to this guy whos life was not what you'd expect to be superhero, his wife is sleeping in a seperate bed, he works a menial job (no newspaper side job here!) making him almost like a comic book character is outstanding, it could have been a messy job but the director makes it poetry.
slow paced at times but for good reason, you not only get to know this ordinary guy struggle to understand what he might be but you also see an outstanding performace by Mr Jackson who plays a man who breaks easily-moulding the unwilling Mr Willis trying to help him understand his importance...

i swear i never get bored watching this piece of art
the soundtrack will soon be in my cd collection
and i will never look at comic books quite the same

please watch it

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