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Cast: 

Hailed as the next Steven Spielberg, Indian-American filmmaker M Night Shyamalan has achieved what he set out to do, to weave in suspense and imagination into a world close to our own - a story of personal loss leading to loss of faith and how a family learns to cope with the circumstances. So near-home is the subject of ‘Signs’ that the suspension of disbelief is all the more real.

The build-up is slow; and then from anticipation to fear and dread, Shyamalan has planned it to perfection. The film begins with the camera panning on a yard complete with a swing and a picnic bench overlooking the cornfields. Slowly, it shifts to a bedroom where the lone occupant, Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) wakes with a start. The tragic death of his wife (Patricia Kalember) in a car accident six months ago has brought sleepless nights to the former Episcopalian minister who has since left the church.

His brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) has moved in to help look after the two young children - Morgan and Bo - (Rory Culkin and debutante Abigail Breslin). Then he hears his children call out to him. He and Merrill rush out to the cornfield and there are the two stunned children. “I think God did it,” is Rory’s explanation as he turns his dad’s face to the imprint on the field. The stunning sight of an elaborate crop sign!

Back at the house, they hear television reports of the 400-foot viewings from all over the world. The voice over has only this to offer, it’s either a sophisticated hoax or everyone’s in a lot of trouble! The former man of the faith chooses to opt for the first.

“Nerds,” that’s who’s responsible, says Merrill. “A bunch of 30-year-old nerds who don’t have a life.” But is he right?

Holed up in their Bucks County farmhouse, when the crop circles are attributed to alien invasions, the family dog goes berserk, the baby monitor gives off weird signals and the family chase a man who vanishes into thin air, the movie takes on a compelling turn.

Graham’s mind is in turmoil, it is up to him to protect his family but how can he do it? The only information at hand is from the TV, the book on extraterrestrials and their own reasoning. So Merrill takes stock of the news, the children wade through the book and Graham tries to keep his family safe. No portrayal of the heroic, rather a realistic depiction of a family facing danger. If the audience equates to the familiar - at the sight of the children wearing tin foil caps “so that the aliens can’t read our thoughts” - it is a victory of Shyamalan’s attempt to personalise the drama.

When wooden boards are used to seal up windows to keep invaders out, the baby monitor doubles up as a listening device, it is a drama in real life out there. And the fear is palpable. What is of interest is not what the aliens will do, but how the Hess family manages the experience.

Shyamalan’s eye for detail has brought conversation to the fore in the film. There is a great deal of witty dialogue, most of it coming from Merrill. But the conversation, be it between the children or in Graham’s bid to break through his doubts, reaches out to the sentiment. A moving scene is where Graham and Merrill, the children asleep on their laps, try to account for faith and luck - which is more comforting and how their lives have been tested by each - finding solace in laying bare their emotions.

Portraying a multi-layered character suffering from a loss of faith, Mel Gibson has played the role to the hilt. Choosing him instead of the hero of his two other films, Bruce Willis, Shyamalan has nothing to regret. His hero has done him proud. And so do Phoenix, the youngest Culkin sibling and little Abigail. Smaller but still notable roles are those of Cherry Jones, law enforcement officer and sympathetic friend Caroline Paski and Patricia Kalember as Colleen Hess. And then comes the touch of Hitchcock - where Shyamalan plays veterinarian Ray Reddy.

Well, we’ve left the monsters alone awhile. What are they up to? Too bad, we can’t reveal all, can we? So on to you, to watch the film and discover for yourself.

What Shyamalan has to say of the film: The movie is about spirituality - but not necessarily about religion. “Religion is some group saying their particular version of God is the right version, and that’s hard for me to accept. The world has become a smaller place. It makes it hard for me to believe that the guy in Nepal and the little boy in Africa and the old man in Maine, all three of them with different versions of God, and yet maybe none of them are right. I just can’t believe that. There has to be some unifying thing.”

For Gibson, it was the concept that captured his interest. “With ‘Signs’, Shyamalan creates an atmospheric fantasy picture in which extraterrestrials arrive on Earth and want to conquer the planet.

“The unknown frightens me. Knowledge dispels fear, so when you come up against something you don't know fully when you're in the middle of something, it's the expectation of what might happen that you're fearful of,” he said.

Sethulakshmy Nayar
published on 30^th August 2002

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