tive’s literal mystery while resonatingrnpowerfully with the film’s larger, if somewhatrnundernourished, ambitions.rnDirected and written by M. NightrnShyamalan, The Sixth Sense has beenrnmarketed as a horror story. But likernEchoes:, it uses its hocus-pocus to mesmerizernus in order to suggest more thanrnwe would expect from a thriller. Oncernunder its spell, we discover a story as oldrnas the Odyssey: a bo}’ in search of a father,rnand a man trying to be that father, bothrnstruggling to come to terms with the lossesrnnatural to the mortal condition.rnThe protagonist is Malcolm Crowe,rnan award-winning child pschologist,rnplayed by Bruce Willis. (There are severalrnsurprises in this film, not the least thernsubtle, intelligent performance Shyamalanrnhas drawn from the usually insufferablernWillis.) Crowe is recovering fromrnthe trauma of helplessly watching one ofrnhis former patients commit suicide. Hisrnconfidence shaken by this experience, herntakes on another patient whose difficultiesrnresemble those of the suicide. This isrnnine-year-old Cole Sear, played b’ blaleyrnJoel Osment, who is either astonishingUaccomplishedrnor a natural (probably a bitrnof both). Crowe intends to redeem himselfrnby restoring the bov’s mental balance.rnHe diagnoses Cole as depressed and perhapsrnborderline schizophrenic. Cole’srnproblems have left him the helpless buttrnof his classmates’ pranks and the focus ofrnhis school’s uncomprehending guidancerncounselors. For relief, he has retreatedrninto a fantasy world populated with anrnunusual assembly of religious statuettesrnand action figures. They are his companionsrnboth in church and in a homemaderntent he has erected in his room.rnBut the source of his troubles lies muchrndeeper. Ghosts haunt him. They bearrnthe woimds of what killed them: A womanrndisplays her slashed wrists, a boy turnsrnto reveal the gash in his skull, three 18thcenturvrnPhiladelphians appear hangingrnfrom a rafter in his school. They seekrnhelp from Cole to settle their earthly affairsrnbefore they depart altogether. Notrnknowing what he can possibK’ do forrnthem, the boy would prefer the’ just vanishrnimmediately. But, as he finally confidesrnto Crowe, they don’t know they arerndead, so thev go on haunting him relentlessK.rn”I see them all the time,” he whispersrnplaintively.rnCrowe sets out to relieve Cole of hisrntorment bv winning his trust, in scenesrnwhich masterfulh’ convey the boy’s isolationrnand sadness. These segments arernslow, hushed, and so dark as to appearrnnearly monochromatic. Wlien Cole andrnCrowe go outdoors, they are alwaysrncloaked in shadow. In one shot, theyrnwalk down a tree-shaded street, bothrnwearing subdued colors, while in thernforeground a troop of Little Leaguersrncrosses at an intersection, their red,rnwhite, and blue uniforms ablaze in thernbroad daylight. Their sunny Americanrnnormality seres to intensifv Cole’srnsomber condition.rnThe boy’s ability to see the dead is neverrnexplained. I his is as it should be; thernston,”s ghosts are allegorical. Wliat is reallyrnhaunting Cole is his father’s decisionrnto abandon him and his mother. Wlienrnwe first meet Cole, he is wearing lenslessrnglasses and a stopped watch: Both articlesrnhad been his father’s. Now the’ are hisrntalismans, but they prove powerless tornmake his family life whole once more.rnInstead, the}’ signal the confusion and obsessionrnthat have descended on the boy inrnhis father’s absence. And he wears somethingrneven more telling: the haunted expressionrnone sees all too often on childrenrntoda. It’s the look of those whornhave been left on their own well beforernthey are ready to meet life’s challenges.rnCole is a bov alerted too early to the inevitablernlosses mortalit’ inflicts on us all.rnOnce Crowe realizes that the bov’s visionsrnare more than psychotic fantasies,rnhe attempts a therapeutic exorcism designedrnnot to banish the ghosts but to accommodaternthem. It’s an unorthodox approach,rnand the question of its success orrnfailure brings the narrative to its surprisernending. If you haven’t seen the film yet,rndon’t let others tell you what this is, asrnsomeone told me. While the attentivernviewer probablv will have intimations ofrnthe conclusion, complete foreknowledgernwill undermine its impact. And thisrnwould be a shame, for it’s much morernthan a plot gimmick. The ending genuinelyrnamplifies the film’s themes.rnThe Sixth Sense is more satisfying thanrnStir of Echoes. It’s more internally coherent,rnand the rh’thm of its ghost ston andrnits allegorical intentions are more synchronized,rnbut never forced. Shyamalanrnstumbles occasionally, especially whenrnhe reaches for moments of optimism, butrnthese passages detract onl slightly fromrnthe film’s otherwise unfaltering gaze onrnmortality. Its popular success confirmsrnhis accomplishment. He’s managed tornget the mass audience to sit still and sharernhis meditation on the only morally worthyrnresponse to the inevitabilities of ourrnstate. That’s no mean achievement inrnthe age of The Phantom Menace andrnAmerican Pie.rnDo these films signal a change for thernbetter? Sta}’ tuned.rnGeorge McCartney teaches Enghsh at St.rnJohn’s LJniversit}’.rnTHE LU/ENGLISH NEWSLETTERrn” . . . hilarious spoof. . . right on the money . . . delightful parody . . . arnwork of genius”—Roger Kimball, The New Criterion, “accurate andrnsavage”—Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University, “wit, astuteness andrnsheer intelligence”—Alan Charles Kors, Universit}’ of Pennsylvania.rn”&%#*! Eurotrash”—Lulubelle Shreclikite, Lagado University.rnLU/English Newsletter, 11 Llewellyn Place, New Brunswick, NJ 08901rnOne year subscription, four issues of seven pages each. $10.00rnNAME:rnADDRESS:rnCITY: STATE:rnZIP:rn48/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn