i didn't get the meaning behind showing the "window" with the curtains flailing about
anyone got any theories?
(was it simply that the curtain was moving but the window was closed?)
btw, awesome movie, don't really understand all the bad reviews, it has good acting and an interesting story (essentially, the message is about finding out who you are, and not being alone in it)
people will be people I guess...
I didn't bother watching through until after the credits of the film so I have no idea about that scene, but as for why people are being so critical of this film?
I believe that they're tired of every film in the thriller/mystery/supernatural genre "needing" to have a Shamalan-esque twist, especially as he can no longer pull it off convincingly without being ham-handed; it's almost a joke now to see what the "twist" will be in each new film. M. Night Shamalan seems (or perhaps seemed) to be a very competent director, but it's as though he feels he has to top the twist ending of The Sixth Sense every time. Bryan Singer doesn't pull a "Keyser Soze" at the end of all his films, so why does Shamalan? It is likely that he was simply a one trick pony, but worse is that he's polluted the entire genre (as can be seen in Red Lights).
This film, as you said, had a lot going for it; it certainly had tremendous potential: an incredible cast, it appeared to be well written and directed, and it played out well up until the third act. There it simply began to fall apart and the film became directionless and the denouement felt completely forced and lazy. It was all rather unnecessary and contrived; the film was either the victim of lazy writing (or the writer had simply painted himself into a corner) or there was just that perceived need for, again, the Shamalan twist.
That's just my opinion as to why people are being so critical of the film.
something terribly clever.
I'm unsure of its' meaning, but I can tell you this:
1: The window scene at the ending appears to be just a replay of the exact same scene earlier in the film when the main character (psychic) returns from running outside searching for Silver; when he and his girlfriend enter his apartment, they find that everything in his apartment has been thrown all over the place, and the television then powers on by itself. Just before the TV powers on, we see the same scene: his yellow window curtains blowing slightly. So it's probably an indication or symbol of his unknown psychic power; but what it means is cryptic.
2: Or maybe it's not supposed to be cryptic; I can't confirm this, but the window appears to have some sort of red sticker or stain or something on it. Red Lights? I dunno. But perhaps it's blood on the window. Just before he returns inside his apartment from outside searching for Silver, he steps on broken glass. His foot is now bleeding, and he pulls a piece of glass from the bottom of his foot. What this means is unclear. However, perhaps, when we return inside to see that everything in his apartment is now all over the place, it's to show psychic proof that it was himself who messed up his own apartment. Perhaps he had another out-of-body experience--as we saw in his "dream"--and he can exist psychically in two places at once, just as he did when hovering over his bed. So perhaps that red stain on the window is blood from his foot.
3: The movie has a lot of symbolism about him figuratively and literally trying to find himself. He thinks he's searching for Silver when he's running outside of his apartment; but he's really searching for himself--because he's the one who's causing all the psychic phenomenon he can't explain. He's the one calling himself when he asks on the telephone "Silver?" and no one responds. He's the one floating over his bed when he sees himself. And so on.
4: Before his mentor died, she appeared on the talk show in the interview and said something like "She would believe in invisibility if someone could explain how light and photons could pass through the human body; until that happens, then it can't be proven." Perhaps the red on the window is a physical indication that even during psychic ability, certain physical laws of nature remain; that while he was outside searching for Silver, he was also inside throwing everything around his apartment psychically--entering and exiting psychically through the window, leaving a red mark on the window. And so when he returns, he also steps on broken glass and cuts his foot. This doesn't make much sense to me either...but when I look at the window, I see red "blood" and what looks to be holes in the window that are missing fragments of broken glass. But I can't be sure.
The short answer is that I simply don't know; but hopefully this will help you come to your own conclusion. If the director adds commentary to the DVD, then someone can review it and see how the director explains it. The problem is that directors often provide a far less interesting and worse description of what something meant than fans who come up with better-written, more logical explanations. So I hope we're not too disappointed :-)
It was partially shown to reflect on what had transpired previously. There are papers scattered and something that appears to have tipped over. But the big message may be:
The red on the glass is from the bird(s) his emotion was attracting to hit the window. Perhaps symbolic of the fact that his negative energy needs to be harnessed properly...as he may've inadvertently killed the scientist for whom he worked (Weaver). After all, his emotions were intense at the the theatre where he first went to debunk Silver without her being present. It was during that time period, that she had a deadly "vascular" issue.
In a way, it's kind of ironic. He spent time trying to debunk psychics while he was, in fact, sort of a fraud himself. Although briefly, he ended up being the most dangerous person in the end...with god-like powers and knowledge of the afterlife (being a psychic - actually a psychokinetic in this case - does not prove an afterlife whatsoever.)
I think the writer/director was trying to do too many things while trying to surprise us...so the protagonist quickly became a god to be feared, with knowledge of all.
@rotatorkuf:
The right-side curtain was simply fluttering in front of the window's active air conditioning. I think its interesting that you may've perceived it as moving somehow in a supernatural way. Shows how easy it is to miss something (e.g. the scientist's glasses) that would render the event as completely explainable. :)
See my other post in this thread about the symbolism.