The Sixth Sense, Part II: Beginnings and Ends
A visual analysis of key scenes of M. Night Shyamalan’s masterpiece and his virtuoso use of motifs, staging and interconnectedness to achieve coherence and closure.
The Sixth Sense, Part I: Stature and Style
A stunning piece of high-precision filmmaking, formally inventive, thematically intelligent, emotionally gripping, a momentous commercial success, an almost perfect film.
Lady in the Water, Part II: Self-reflexivity and visual stylisation
A return to this severely under-appreciated film, for its discussion of storytelling, interpretation, film criticism, artificiality, stylisation, interconnectedness – and whether stories can become real.
Lady in the Water, Part I: A reappraisal
It was one of the most hated films of the 2000s, but with the trauma now at a distance, it is time to appreciate M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water for its very real qualities.
My Sweet, Frigid Little Girl: Some Thoughts on Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan
Ruminations on sex, narcissism, mirrors, thematic reflections, melodrama and patterns in Black Swan.