Signs Tests the Power of Faith

Signs explores faith and redemption while keeping

To wit, do you believe, or not believe? And I’m not talking about aliens, but rather the presence of a higher being. It’s classic intellectual Shyamalan, albeit ensconced at times in a relatively implausible package.

Former reverend-turned-widower-turned-farmer Graham Hess (a sour Mel Gibson) comes upon mysterious crop circles in his lush cornfields, which he initially chooses to downplay much to the chagrin of his two impressionable children and his younger brother Merrill (a droll, strong Joaquin Phoenix). As more circles pop up around the world (many in India - Shyamalan’s home country), Hess stubbornly forbids television and radio, though his family is swept up in the alien hype.

But hype it’s not, as some close encounters lead Hess to finally believe (in aliens - God he gave up when his wife was killed in a car accident). This results in a frenetically scary situation where Hess and his family bunkers down in their rural Pennsylvania farm house to wait out the alien invasion.

With homage to classics like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Night of the Living Dead and War of the Worlds, Shyamalan deftly builds the suspense with powerful performances from Phoenix as well as Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin, who play Gibson’s children. It’s refreshingly low-budget work, allowing for character development and taut dialogue to move the story along. The pace is slow but barely noticeable.

Most intriguing is the discourse on faith, and how important it is to believe in a higher power. Hess gave up his faith believing his wife died for no reason. Then at a key moment, when Graham and Merrill are glued to the television watching alien lights hover over major world cities, Merrill pleads for his brother to give him some comfort. Graham tells him there are two types of people in the world: Ones who sees the lights and believe it’s a miracle - whether good or bad - and that God will be there to help them through.

The other group sees the lights as coincidences or phenomena they can’t control, and because they don’t believe, they are afraid of what is to come. For Merrill, he is without a doubt a group one member, but Graham is not, though his family desperately needs him to believe. When the family makes it through a harrowing night of barricading themselves against the aliens, Merrill demands his brother regain his faith, or at least the appearance of it, for the sake of the family.

For Muslims, this theme is but a verification of why we must believe and worship. Without belief, Graham is standing on the edge of a unfathomable abyss where nothing has meaning, nothing happens for a reason, and there’s no point to life. It’s a teetering position affecting his loved ones to an alarming degree.

The horrible circumstances thrust upon him test his decision to forsake God to the bitter end. It’s a tale of redemption wrapped up in a tense suspense, one that aptly points out the extreme necessity to trust that God is there, and that His purpose is meant to be. Although it is Christian faith that is tested in the movie, the religious implications reach across to impart meaning for Muslims as well. It’s worth it to see Signs.

That being said, there’s a definite downside to the film showing that Shyamalan still has a ways to go in his craft. He is skillful in his story telling and character development (and has a surprisingly wonderful touch with peculiar humor), but quite a few scenes leave much to be desired. Let’s just say some things (like the aliens) are better left to the imagination. The thrill is in the anticipation (Shyamalan’s forte) - the disappointment is in the results.

It’s neither “thumbs up” nor “thumbs down” work, but rather an entertaining, thoughtful piece with some big lapses in judgment. But it’s the cleanest movie to come around in a long time, with minimal foul language or other objectionable material. Most importantly, Signs presents a strong case for having reverence and respect for God, because without that there is just the emptiness of a lonely existence where fear is the cloak you wear.

Dilshad D. Ali’s writing reaches across the United States to address lifestyle topics pertinent to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Ali has covered movie premieres, film festivals, art exhibitions, concerts, and numerous other cultural stories, including the effect of September 11 on New York’s cultural landscape for IslamOnline. Ali is a 1997 University of Maryland journalism graduate. You can reach her at artculture@iolteam.com