The dark true story that inspired Night Shyamalan's 'Sixth Sense'

08/12/2021 7:01 AM

• Clarín.com

• International

Updated 08/12/2021 7:01 AM

M. Night Shyamalan

shocked the world with

Sixth Sense

, a psychological horror thriller that featured

one of the best twists in film history

where a child communicated with the dead.

The film, starring the talented

Haley Joel Osment

and Bruce Willis, unfolded

the story of Cole

, a boy with adjustment problems and with the dark ability to communicate with the dead.

Due to this situation,

the

young man

suffered harassment and rejection from his schoolmates

and from everyone who approached him, something that worried his mother, led by the actress

Toni Colette

, who decided to take him to a child psychologist.

The "Sixth Sense" poster.

Film that marked the career of Night Shyamalan.

Photo / file

However, little Cole

is not depressed but is terrified by the visions he has had since childhood

and only with the help of his psychologist does he discover that

the spirits that appear to him are actually seeking his help

to conclude their passage through this world.

For his great acting work and the power of his story,

Sixth Sense

won

six

Oscar

nominations

, among others, "Best Picture", which he lost to

American Beauty

, and Best Director for Shyamalan.

In addition,

Sexto Sentido

added nominations to the BAFTA awards, to the Screen Actors Guild.

Above all, it determined a very particular way of understanding

terror and handling suspense.

Beyond all the accolades over the years,

Sexto Sentido

fans

wondered

, is Sexto Sentido fiction or is it based on real events?

The terrifying story was based on "Sixth Sense"

In the film's bonus content on its DVD edition,

M. Night Shyamalan

shared that he was inspired to create this story by

a series of terrifying fears and stories from his own childhood.

"

In every movie you want to tell a little bit about who you are, a part of your life

," Shyamalan said.

"My first film was about going to India and learning about my

heritage and the second was about my experience in Catholic school

.

Shyamalan

added that in his childhood "he

was a very shy child

and the fear of what was in the other room or down the hall was terrifying to me."

Night Shyamalan's dark experience with "Sixth Sense"

For the creation of the film, Shyamalan said that he

was inspired by a dark moment that he lived as a child

, after his father told him that he found that the door, which had just closed, was completely open. 

Night Shyamalan.

Director of "Sixth sense".

Photo / AP

"

This is an example of what I consider fear

. One day I went with my family to the shopping center, we got home, we

parked in the driveway and the front door was open

. It was night and the car stopped and everyone stopped. he is silent and I say

what happened

? ", explained the director.

Shyamalan added that "I

was probably about 12 or 13 years old and the front doors were wide open

. My father acted as if someone had entered the house.

We were all silent and he, for some reason, entered the house like if it was Rambo or something.

But he came in and I was very scared. I was very scared. "

The supernatural in "Sixth sense"

Over the years,

Shyamalan discovered that there was nothing supernatural or dangerous about this childhood experience

, but of course he did not know at the time.

Besides,

his father decided to scare him a little.

After that event with the open door,

he showed him an old photo in which a terrifying figure was seen

and told him that it was a madman who was waiting for him to come home to hurt him, sitting next to his bed. 

Bruce Willis with Haley i Osment.

Trying to decipher the message of the dead.

Photo / Archive

"I always had nightmares with that story of my father and the scene of Vincent, a patient of the psychologist played by Bruce Willis, in

The Sixth Sense

was about someone who comes home and someone is waiting for you there. I

was tortured by these kinds of images for a while,

"concluded the director.

Shyamalan may not have seen ghosts as a child, but without that "madman" waiting for his father at home,

the idea of ​​Vincent waiting for Malcolm Crowe would not have occurred to him

, and we would never have seen the psychologist working with Cole.

And as terrifying as that tale of his father was, Shyamalan was able to reverse it to transform it into something extraordinary as 

Sixth Sense.

Film that definitely marked a before and after in his career

. 

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