Signs (Vista Series)
March 2003 Reviewed by: Anthony Di Marco Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

The central theme of Signs is familiar -- a personal tragedy causes a priest to lose his faith -- but M. Night Shyamalan’s treatment of this material makes it original. The young filmmaker has respect for his audience and is unwilling to get by on cheap scare tactics. He wants the audience to live and breathe the Hess family’s experience, and he delivers.

The plot involves an alien invasion juxtaposed with a family on the mend. There’s an effortless quality in the way Shyamalan tells a story; a natural flow pulls one in and keeps the mind working. The director insinuates through visuals and wordplay and never spoon-feeds information to his audience. Like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, it is a story where details slowly rise to the surface. We find out about Merrill Hess’s baseball history and Graham Hess’s relationship with a local veterinarian by listening to discussions, watching characters’ reactions, and putting pieces together.

Everyone in the cast is excellent. Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix are subtle and believable as brothers, while Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin illustrate the director’s ongoing ability to pull credible performances from children. Dialogue is outstanding. Long scenes of exposition don’t feel lengthy because they’re compelling anecdotes on their own. When Graham explains to Merrill his philosophy about people, you cannot help concentrating on every word.

The score brilliantly mixes ambient textures with orchestral flourishes. Like John Williams' simple theme for Jaws, James Newton Howard’s three-note motif contributes to the tension building throughout the film. The music that accompanies the concluding sequence, for example, is full of such desperation and hope that one can’t help but root for Merrill as he "swings away" at his destiny. Whether it is Malcolm Crowe’s ultimate awareness of his death and bittersweet goodbye to his wife in The Sixth Sense, or David Dunn’s heroic battle with a home invader in Unbreakable, Shyamalan and Howard know how to convey sheer elation and triumph through music without reducing it to sickly sweet confection.

Signs marks the first film in which Shyamalan employs digital effects, and it shows. I won’t spoil the ending by going into detail, but the only visual effect in the film comes off as awkward and apparent. Movements and gestures that should be carried out with liquid assuredness look like a poorly executed stop-motion effect keyed badly to a background. This was the only major flaw in an otherwise excellent film.

A handful of movies validate my home-theater investment -- and Signs is one of them. When I saw it in the theater I enjoyed it, but when I watched it at home I experienced it. While color and sharpness of the image are impressive, the sound mix is the real star. And the audio is amazing in the way it envelops and penetrates the listening space. As a viewer, you are in the middle of the action when Graham investigates noises in his corn crop. Rustling cornstalks, whispers in the air, and Howard’s minimal but pervasive score all come together to create a stunning, emotionally charged surround-sound experience.

An excellent six-part, hour-long documentary tracks the film from initial concept to premiere. The use of DVD's multi-angle feature is interesting if a bit underdeveloped. I would have liked to see more than two examples of storyboards compared to the way they finally appeared in the movie. Deleted scenes are also included, with my favorite being a scene leading up to the family’s escape to the cellar after Merrill and Graham struggle to block the attic door.

The last feature on this disc continues a Shyamalan tradition. Without concern for what people may think, the director includes one of his early "student films." Personal cringing aside, you have to respect a man who has the confidence to expose what are essentially home movies, and laugh in spite of their "rawness." I think it shows a great amount of maturity and, if you look closely, evidence of the young director’s talent.

I’ve come to expect a lot from the director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable and Signs did not let me down, continuing Shyamalan’s winning streak. Not since Hitchcock has a filmmaker used the unknown to create tension so effectively or infused the horror/drama genre with so much originality.

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