What Is It?
M. Night Shyamalan's Signs is a huge hit film by the writer director often favorably compared to Spielberg and Hitchcock. It’s the story of a family living on a farm. The dad, Mel Gibson, is a former pastor who is holding a grudge against God due to his wife’s accidental death. He has two young children and his brother lives with them to help out now that it’s a single family house hold. That seems like enough to be a great film, but we pile on top of that the fact that crop circles have been found in the family’s corn field. (Do you know how hard it is to break down corn?) The family, and the world, wrestles with the question “is this for real”. Then the next avalanche of questions comes quick and over shadow the first. “Is there a God?” “Will he help?” “Does he care?” This inquiry becomes the cattalos to move the film from B-movie plot, to emotional drama and creepy (maybe) Sci-Fi uneasiness.
How Was It?
This is a great peace of film making. The uneasiness of the possibility of alien’s just drives into the open, fears and family unrest that seems to have been lurking since the death of the father’s wife. The acting is great, the cinematography is beautiful and the creepy veneer works through the whole film. Shyamalan does some amazing things here. Like including touching stories from Graham about the days his two children were born, in the middle of one of the most perilous scenes in the film. As an aside: I have spoken to a few people who were really disappointed with this film. It seems the common denominator was that they thought it was an “Alien” film. They missed all the great family drama waiting for it to be “War of the Worlds.”
Is It Good For Kids?
It is dark and spooky. There is some violence that does not promote violence, but is heavy on the emotions. There are also a couple of cuss words (that are shown as bad). All in all I think younger kids would miss the point and just get fodder for nightmares. You can check www.ScreenIt.com for a complete break down of elements shown on the screen.
How about Spiritual Issues?
The title of the film is not referring to aliens, but from a conversation where Mel Gibson’s character, Rev. Graham Hess, asks if you are the kind of person that “Sees coincidence, or sees miraculous see signs” Though out the film you see Morgan (Rory Culkin) try to deal with the distance between himself and his earthly father Graham Hess. This serves as a picture of Graham’s struggle with his heavenly father. You even hear Graham quote lines from his son said to him when he is talking to God. Graham acts in his own strength doubting that God will “bother” to act. This film is filled with ideas about faith and how life is 100% different if God is actually involved in the lives of the people who trust Him. . (DON’T READ THIS PART IF YOU DON’T WANT ME TO SPOIL THE END) At the end, Graham sees that all the odd little things about his family were orchestrated by God so that God himself could literally save the life of Graham’s son. The closing shot of the film show’s Graham back in his Priest outfit and the cross on the wall is back. (During the rest of the film you could only see a “clean” spot where the cross had been.)
What Is Your Recommendation?
If you can handle something a little on the creepy side, this is an excellent film! From the beautiful camera work, the subtle performances, the great script and the well crafted presentation of very important messages, this is something to encourage the believer and share with those still unsure of God.
