Signs
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Abigail Breslin, Rory Culken
Father Graham Hess loses his faith in God after his wife dies in a brutal car accident. When crop circles start to appear in his family's cornfields, Father Graham dismisses them as mischief done by local miscreants. After hearing strange noises and watching news coverage on crop circles appearing all over the world, the family grows suspicious that aliens might be the culprit. Now they must stick together as a family and believe, to survive and escape the ordeal.
Faith is a very powerful theme in this movie, and nowhere does it shine more brightly than in the character of Father Graham, (Mel Gibson) himself.
When the aliens are invading, Father Graham’s brother, Merrill, seeks comfort in his brother’s counsel because he is afraid this invasion marks the end of time. The comfort the good Father offers is by telling Merrill that there are two kinds of people…People who have faith and believe in things like fate and miracles…or people who just believe these things to be pure happenstance with no deeper meaning at all. Ironically, while Graham used to be a pastor, it is actually Merrill and the children, Bo and Morgan, who belief this terrifying event to be a sign…a miracle of God. Father Morgan has a more cynical approach, refusing to acknowledge that the aliens presence was a sign. I think his fear stems from his wife’s death when she was hit by a car. While the man who hit her claims that tragic night to be a sign…like it was his fate to fall asleep and take her life…this moment shattered Father Graham’s faith and caused him to leave the church. The moment when Father Graham journeys to his cornfield at night and tells the intruders that he is refusing to acknowledge their presence or tell anyone about them, signifies Father Graham’s denial of his faith…of the sign that the alien’s presence means something more than mere happenstance.
When Father Graham finally sees the alien in the pantry, he comes home to his family (all wearing tinfoil hats and huddled together on the sofa). Initially, while he is now forced to acknowledge the alien’s presence as truth rather than science fiction, he sits apart from his family on the stairs with the bannister blocking them…still unwilling or perhaps unable to accept this insanity as truth. Finally, when Father Graham joins his family on the couch, this symbolizes his willingness to accept the truth that the aliens have violated their home. His doubt creeps in once again at dinner, but finally he breaks down (literally, in tears) and acknowledge the truth of the aliens...and of his wife's death. It is in this very moment that the aliens literally arrive with a bang and the Father Graham must rise up to protect his family. When his young son, Bo, has an asthma attack following the alien attack, Father Graham faces the same tragic dilemma that took his wife’s life. His son cannot breathe and he, as a father, does not have the medicine needed to heal his child. Desperate to avoid the same fate that befell his wife and the pain that lingered after that tragedy, he cries out to God, pleading with Him to have mercy on the child as he holds his son, speaking words of comfort to try and save his son’s life. When his son finally wakes up in his arms…almost as a living sign…I believe this is the moment that the good father found his faith again.
I will be honest and say I do not really care for most of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies. Honestly, the only ones that have really impressed me have been Unbreakable, Split and Glass. I have not seen Signs since I was a teenager, but I gave it another chance tonight, and suffice it to say, I was surprised by what I saw this time. I think age and wisdom and a bit of faith have allowed me to genuinely appreciate this movie’s message.
© 2021 Keriane Kellogg
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Abigail Breslin, Rory Culken
Father Graham Hess loses his faith in God after his wife dies in a brutal car accident. When crop circles start to appear in his family's cornfields, Father Graham dismisses them as mischief done by local miscreants. After hearing strange noises and watching news coverage on crop circles appearing all over the world, the family grows suspicious that aliens might be the culprit. Now they must stick together as a family and believe, to survive and escape the ordeal.
Faith is a very powerful theme in this movie, and nowhere does it shine more brightly than in the character of Father Graham, (Mel Gibson) himself.
When the aliens are invading, Father Graham’s brother, Merrill, seeks comfort in his brother’s counsel because he is afraid this invasion marks the end of time. The comfort the good Father offers is by telling Merrill that there are two kinds of people…People who have faith and believe in things like fate and miracles…or people who just believe these things to be pure happenstance with no deeper meaning at all. Ironically, while Graham used to be a pastor, it is actually Merrill and the children, Bo and Morgan, who belief this terrifying event to be a sign…a miracle of God. Father Morgan has a more cynical approach, refusing to acknowledge that the aliens presence was a sign. I think his fear stems from his wife’s death when she was hit by a car. While the man who hit her claims that tragic night to be a sign…like it was his fate to fall asleep and take her life…this moment shattered Father Graham’s faith and caused him to leave the church. The moment when Father Graham journeys to his cornfield at night and tells the intruders that he is refusing to acknowledge their presence or tell anyone about them, signifies Father Graham’s denial of his faith…of the sign that the alien’s presence means something more than mere happenstance.
When Father Graham finally sees the alien in the pantry, he comes home to his family (all wearing tinfoil hats and huddled together on the sofa). Initially, while he is now forced to acknowledge the alien’s presence as truth rather than science fiction, he sits apart from his family on the stairs with the bannister blocking them…still unwilling or perhaps unable to accept this insanity as truth. Finally, when Father Graham joins his family on the couch, this symbolizes his willingness to accept the truth that the aliens have violated their home. His doubt creeps in once again at dinner, but finally he breaks down (literally, in tears) and acknowledge the truth of the aliens...and of his wife's death. It is in this very moment that the aliens literally arrive with a bang and the Father Graham must rise up to protect his family. When his young son, Bo, has an asthma attack following the alien attack, Father Graham faces the same tragic dilemma that took his wife’s life. His son cannot breathe and he, as a father, does not have the medicine needed to heal his child. Desperate to avoid the same fate that befell his wife and the pain that lingered after that tragedy, he cries out to God, pleading with Him to have mercy on the child as he holds his son, speaking words of comfort to try and save his son’s life. When his son finally wakes up in his arms…almost as a living sign…I believe this is the moment that the good father found his faith again.
I will be honest and say I do not really care for most of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies. Honestly, the only ones that have really impressed me have been Unbreakable, Split and Glass. I have not seen Signs since I was a teenager, but I gave it another chance tonight, and suffice it to say, I was surprised by what I saw this time. I think age and wisdom and a bit of faith have allowed me to genuinely appreciate this movie’s message.
© 2021 Keriane Kellogg