SIXTH SENSE

1999

This is a kind of film that has appeared recently which I will call “gimmick films”. These are films in which the audience is expected to “solve” a problem in a film which is not the main object of anyone on the film. In this sense it is distinguishable from the “detective” story where the audience is invited to try to “solve” the case along with the detective. Detective stories like And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express, Murder at the Gallop and even Agnes of God are films in which a problems is presented to a character in the film (the detective, analysts or what have you) and the audience is allowed to try to solve the case before the detective.

In the “gimmick” film Fight Club, Identity, etc) the author has “twist” or “gimmick” which is virtually the point of the film. In Fight Club the audience is given clues that the two main characters are alter egos of the same person. Once we know this, is the film interesting? Would it have been more interesting if the film focused on why people join the club? The removal of the “gimmick” leaves us with a film that is not very interesting.

One of the purposes of the gimmick film is to get people to come back to see the film again and see if they can now find all the clues they missed in the first viewing – not a bad market idea, but not necessarily the grounds for a good film.

AFTER THE FILM

Sound design