Throwback Thursday: ‘Unbreakable’

“How many days in your life have you been sick?”

An anonymous letter delivered to unemployed father and husband David Dunn, addressed only with “Limited Edition”. This is how we are first introduced to Mr. Glass, long before we see or hear the enigmatic villain-to-be, we are introduced to his intellect and his inquisitive nature. For those of you who have seen ‘Unbreakable’ you know all abut the intricate relationship between Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) and David Dunn (Bruce Willis)… two ordinary men of no great consequence who, by way of fate or chance, or whatever we wish to call it, discover extraordinary truths about themselves.

Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan may have made a few stinkers in his career, but no matter what dribble he may create in the future, Shyamalan will forever be remembered for creating this instant classic amongst comic book fans. ‘Unbreakable’ isn’t based on any actual comic book, but instead is based on mind of a comic book fan, the mind of a person with passion for the art.

‘Unbreakable’ (2000) is Shyamalan’s third film, but only his second serious venture into the style he would come to be known for after amazing audiences in 1999 with ‘The Sixth Sense’. His influence from Alfred Hitchcock is clearly evident in the visual style and techniques used in filming ‘Unbreakable’. In many cases, a filmmaker that used prolonged and intricate tracking shots, extreme high and low angle shots distorting perspective and the long motionless takes that linger on a character, all in the same film, it would be a critics feeding frenzy. ‘Unbreakable’ defies this logic and actually pulls this off beautifully.

Even with all the fancy camera work, this is mostly overshadowed by the film’s muted color palette and it’s sombre tone. Eduardo Serra (Defiance) photographed a remarkably beautiful picture within a relatively limited range of color and contrast. The film’s score by James Newton Howard (Defiance) is outstanding, taking the seriousness and sophistication of classical instrumentation and applying it with great effectiveness to a story that would have normally been handled quite differently.

“Do you see any Teletubbies in here?” Say hello to Jules, making his momentary cameo as Mr. Glass berating a potential buyer of vintage comic book art from Elijah Price’s Limited Edition gallery when he discovers the man is buying it for his 4-year-old son.

Elijah Price (aka Mr. Glass) is a man who has lived his life from the day he was born with his arms and legs already broken while still in his mother’s womb, has had his life work against him all this time, but yearns for something more.’Unbreakable’ is essentially an origins story, beginning with the entrance of Elijah Price into the world. We are given moments of epiphany for Elijah through stages of his childhood as his mind is molded into what would eventually become the intellectual arch-nemesis to our hero.

Elijah developed an insatiable curiosity as a child, spending the better part of his days self-secluded in his home to avoid his frail body getting hurt. He develops a fascination for comic books when his mother begins using them as motivation to get Elijah to go outside and live once in a while. What his mother saw as mere entertainment for her son, Elijah finds a whole new way of looking at the world. He sees an unrecognized truth in the comic books, one that is dealt with directly but not taken seriously. Elijah sees the dichotomy of good and evil, and more importantly the necessity of two opposing forces that will balance one another in the universe.

While Elijah suffers the repeated injuries of a weakened physical body, this is countered by a keen intellect. Likewise, David may have super-human strength and the benefit of virtual indestructibility, this is also countered by David’s fear of water that serves as his kryptonite and is suggested as the only likely way for David to die. This is an integral element within the respectable superhero lore, as a hero without a weakness is too perfect and therefor wields absolute power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This “weakness” plays a crucial role in ‘Unbreakable’ while David is tracking down a serial killer, assisted by his “sixth sense” ability, but must conquer his one true nemesis before he can conquer the killer… his fear of water.

David Dunn enters the story after Elijah, returning home by train from New York in an attempt to find work. His life is empty and without purpose, or so David believes. He is unemployed and his marriage is at risk of divorce. He has a son Joseph who thinks the world of him, but David is unable to see this, instead remaining stuck in his self-loathing rut about his life. While Elijah has endured endless hardships, he sees the world through an optimistic, if not slightly distorted lens.

David has the world at his fingertips, happiness lying right before him, but he cannot see what he has until he begins having his own string of epiphanies about his true abilities. His son Joseph also benefits from his dad’s self-discovery, finding a hero in his father. The scene when Joseph is helping his father lift weights and they discover David’s true strength is a perfect example of this renewed relationship through David’s awakening, but is in contrast to David’s continued denial that he is anything but an ordinary man. David’s true turning point occurs during an intense scene when Joseph threatens his father’s life at gun point to prove that his father is a hero.

‘Unbreakable’ intelligently moves beyond the stereotypical trap of thinking all heroes and villains need costumes. While David Dunn and Elijah Price do not don capes and body suits, therefor allowing the audience to focus much more appropriately on the humanity of the characters, Shyamalan does still honor this tradition in subtle ways. David Dunn has no alias, but Elijah does refer to himself towards the end of the film as Mister Glass. He also has two understated trademarks, the wardrobe containing an abundance of purple and a glass cane, a symbol of his body being both structural and fragile at the same time. David Dunn, on the other hand, is presented in all his heroism wearing a baseball cap and a hooded poncho, but it is distinctly worn during his climatic hero scene.

Despite the fact that M. Night’s IMDB rating has consistently dropped with each film he has made since ‘The Sixth Sense’, which is his only film to appear in the IMDB Top 250 List at #137, ‘Unbreakable’ still maintains an average IMDB user rating of over 7 out of 10 stars. The movie is just that damn good and it holds up to repeated viewings as well. ‘Unbreakable’ tells a great story and is packed with powerful scenes from beginning to end. Shyamalan may or may not revive his career and his former status of being one of the most anticipated filmmakers in Hollywood, but I can just about guarantee he’ll never top this little masterpiece.

The two-disc DVD release hit shelves on June 26, 2001. For the time, the packaging and features were pretty awesome, featuring a die-cut slip case and came with two artist prints, one of David Dunn in his hooded poncho and one of Elijah Price. ‘Unbreakable’ is also available on Blu-Ray. The DVD special features include:

• Fully produced additional scenes not seen in theaters, introduced by M. Night Shyamalan
• Behind the Scenes footage, featuring Bruce Willis
• Comic Books and Superheroes, an exclusive feature with Samuel L. Jackson
• The Train Station Sequence, a multi-angle feature
• An excerpt from an early film by M. Night Shyamalan