Signs, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, could be my favorite movie of all time.
I'd like to talk about it, but before I do, I need to be clear that I will completely wreck watching this movie for you if you've never seen it, and as my favorite movie, I don't want to rob you of that. Watch it.
Ultimately, this movie is a long discussion of two complementary ideas; faith, and restraint.
Faith is obvious. Mel Gibson portrays Father Graham Hess, a preacher who's lost his wife and his faith in the same moment, and is struggling to continue to raise his family while dealing with all of this. My own wife would at this moment comment on my prediliction in my own fiction towards loss of loves; I tell you and her now that it's because you write about things that create strong emotion, and that's the most horrible thing I can think of.
Moving on, Gibson explains the moment that cost him his faith; his wife's final words. He can't believe that God is there because of the randomness, the nonsense of them. As it turns out, however, it is those exact last words that will simultaneously save his family, and his faith, when the context behind not only those last words, but so many open threads are knit together. It's a beautiful moment.
Gibson's performance is a study in holding back. Very, very few times does he even raise his voice, and if you aren't playing close attention, his delivery seems wooden. In context, however, it's a perfect character study of Graham, and what a man in his circumstance might be like. Gibson's performance is mirrored in the writing; it's beautiful both in spite of, and in many cases, because of that restraint. The scene in the car with the baby monitor, as the brother Merrill first mocks anyone who might believe in meaning beneath the odd sounds on the baby monitor, and then shifting to defend losing that signal, all the while with Caroline's dead pan delivery of sidebars like "Why don't they have girlfriends" channels Monty Python levels of absurdity.. still restrained.
He lets go only once. And that moment can't be forced; he tries to become angry as he and Merrill plot on chasing the intruders outside the house, and even then, Gibson shows us that Graham can't even fake it. No, the only moment is dinner, when Graham refuses to pray over what's to be their last meal. His anger, his lack of restraint, is only seen as he denies the Lord, and this is telling. Graham still believes, else who is it that caused him such anger? As is true of so many people, he does believe, and chooses to say otherwise. For spite.
However, there's also Joaquin Phoenix's role, the brother Merrill, who lost out on a career in pro ball for a lack of restraint; he can't keep himself from taking a swing when the ball's before him. This is not a gift, this skill of his; it has caused him pain. And you can see his attempts to change this behavior.. his failed attempts.
Both Merrill's failed ball, and even Colleen's death, are a statement on faith that I believe is both beautiful and true. And it's this; there is a God, and He is watching over us, which is not the same thing as saying that we will not suffer. We inhabit an entropic universe, a fallen world, and there will be pain. There will be loss. We will die.
However, the Lord will not allow such things arbitrarily. Bo, the daughter, who reminds me so much of one of my own, has a quirk about leaving glasses of water about the house, so much so that Graham can't even begin to clean them up. The scene in which Graham points to each glass asking "what's wrong with this one" is where my daughter Macy is most clear to me; she tells Graham, clearly, believably, what's wrong with each glass, all without ever even looking at them, without changing her tone. This is a strong minded young lady who is absolutely certain of her convictions. Each seems arbitrary. Each will prove not to have been.
There is meaning, there is a pattern, to all things, and in a universe that seems built on any signal degrading, or pattern being marred, the fact that any such signals exist at all is telling. We may never see what that pattern is, however M. Night gives his characters the gift of seeing the pattern, the meaning, and the film ends with the only action that any of us can take on seeing it. It ends in faith restored.