Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring: Bryce Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, Cherry Jones. Suspense/Mystery. Synopsis: A small village of people living in the woods have an uneasy peace with some mysterious creatures who inhabit the woods just outside of the village but fear that the curiousity of one of the younger members of the village to stray outside the village limits might break that truce.
The first thing about The Village, as those you who have seen it will likely agree, is that it is inappropriately marketed and those of you looking to pick it up will likely find it listed in your video or online store as "horror" and, its simply not. Do not let the trailers fool you, either, this is not about monsters and horror, its about the limits of the human mind and psyche, in my opinion, also the extent to which fear is used to ease or avoid pain.
For those who have not seen the film, that first paragraph might seem kind of stuff, maybe even a little highbrow. I assure you its not intended to be. This is a Shyamalan film, so you know there is some kind of twist coming at the end, as it surely does in The Village, so I don't want to delve much deeper into what I think this film is ultimately about because I don't think I could do so without giving away the ending. But, I will say this...I think most people will see it coming, there are clues throughout, both in the dialogue of the characters and cinematically.
Our group of characters live in a close knit village in a rural area during what appears to be the latter nineteenth century. Pretty much, it seems to be fairly wholesome and uncomplicated living. But, there is just one thing: there are strict rules against venturing past the boundaries of the village or wearing the color red. Why, you might ask? Well, the ominous creatures who inhabit the woods outside the village don't like the villagers to wear red or walk in the woods. What kind of creatures are they and what are they called? Well, they're referred to as "those of whom we do not speak" by the villagers and in our brief glimpses of them they seem large, wear red robes (what is it with you and that color, M. Knight?) and move real slow.
One of the more rambunctious of the young villagers, Lucious (Joaquin Phoenix Its All AboutLove ) has a strong hankering for two things: 1) the attentions of the most comely of the unnattached young ladies in the village, the blind Ivy (Bryce Howard The Lady In The Water) and 2) to venture into the "towns" the forbidden and evidently evil place that lies just beyond the woods.Who knows? In the towns, they just might have something that can help Ivy's blindness, not to mention all kinds of other goodies.
The older generation of villagers, led by Edwark Walker (William Hurt A History of Violence) are dead set against anyone violating the truce between the villager and those of which they will not speak, not to mention avoiding the inherent evil of the towns. Lucious appeals directly to his mom (Sigourney Weaver Galaxy Quest) to plead his case, but to no avail. Things change radically when a mentally retarded citizen of the village, Noah (Adrien Brody King Kong) attacks and injures Lucious, leaving him on the verge of death. Now, someone might have to go to the towns to get the medicines that might save his life. Who, but the love of his life, Ivy?
This is a classic Shyamalan film, character driven with a heavy emphasis on symbolism. The atmospheric setup of the village is fantastic, we get the sense of creepiness, but also the hope and love the inhabitants have for their home. There was a lot of pressure on Howard and Phoenix, in my opinion, because when you have heavyweight actors like Weaver and Hurt in the cast and they are not your primary male/female leads, the ones who are better bring it.
And, they do, especially Howard who does well in convincing us that is she is actually without sight and is really the heart of the film. Though she is blind, in many ways she sees more clearly than anyone else in the film. I also need to mention Adrien Brody, who is an amazingly talented actor in my opinion. His character, Noah, has almost no intelligible dialogue, yet Brody brings him to life very well with his non-verbal actions and expressions, and he plays a pivotal role in the story. Wonderful job by Brody.
Like I said, there is a major twist at the end and, frankly, I think many will see it coming, which doesn't mean, in my opinion, that it ruins the flick or that it is not well done. I think Shyamalan will always be judged by the Sixth Sense standard, and that is a hard standard to meet since we all go into his films expecting it.To me, this is a very good film in terms of what it is saying, symbolically, about our fears as well as the pain of loss. Good stuff.
Very good movie.
The first thing about The Village, as those you who have seen it will likely agree, is that it is inappropriately marketed and those of you looking to pick it up will likely find it listed in your video or online store as "horror" and, its simply not. Do not let the trailers fool you, either, this is not about monsters and horror, its about the limits of the human mind and psyche, in my opinion, also the extent to which fear is used to ease or avoid pain.
For those who have not seen the film, that first paragraph might seem kind of stuff, maybe even a little highbrow. I assure you its not intended to be. This is a Shyamalan film, so you know there is some kind of twist coming at the end, as it surely does in The Village, so I don't want to delve much deeper into what I think this film is ultimately about because I don't think I could do so without giving away the ending. But, I will say this...I think most people will see it coming, there are clues throughout, both in the dialogue of the characters and cinematically.
Our group of characters live in a close knit village in a rural area during what appears to be the latter nineteenth century. Pretty much, it seems to be fairly wholesome and uncomplicated living. But, there is just one thing: there are strict rules against venturing past the boundaries of the village or wearing the color red. Why, you might ask? Well, the ominous creatures who inhabit the woods outside the village don't like the villagers to wear red or walk in the woods. What kind of creatures are they and what are they called? Well, they're referred to as "those of whom we do not speak" by the villagers and in our brief glimpses of them they seem large, wear red robes (what is it with you and that color, M. Knight?) and move real slow.
One of the more rambunctious of the young villagers, Lucious (Joaquin Phoenix Its All AboutLove ) has a strong hankering for two things: 1) the attentions of the most comely of the unnattached young ladies in the village, the blind Ivy (Bryce Howard The Lady In The Water) and 2) to venture into the "towns" the forbidden and evidently evil place that lies just beyond the woods.Who knows? In the towns, they just might have something that can help Ivy's blindness, not to mention all kinds of other goodies.
The older generation of villagers, led by Edwark Walker (William Hurt A History of Violence) are dead set against anyone violating the truce between the villager and those of which they will not speak, not to mention avoiding the inherent evil of the towns. Lucious appeals directly to his mom (Sigourney Weaver Galaxy Quest) to plead his case, but to no avail. Things change radically when a mentally retarded citizen of the village, Noah (Adrien Brody King Kong) attacks and injures Lucious, leaving him on the verge of death. Now, someone might have to go to the towns to get the medicines that might save his life. Who, but the love of his life, Ivy?
This is a classic Shyamalan film, character driven with a heavy emphasis on symbolism. The atmospheric setup of the village is fantastic, we get the sense of creepiness, but also the hope and love the inhabitants have for their home. There was a lot of pressure on Howard and Phoenix, in my opinion, because when you have heavyweight actors like Weaver and Hurt in the cast and they are not your primary male/female leads, the ones who are better bring it.
And, they do, especially Howard who does well in convincing us that is she is actually without sight and is really the heart of the film. Though she is blind, in many ways she sees more clearly than anyone else in the film. I also need to mention Adrien Brody, who is an amazingly talented actor in my opinion. His character, Noah, has almost no intelligible dialogue, yet Brody brings him to life very well with his non-verbal actions and expressions, and he plays a pivotal role in the story. Wonderful job by Brody.
Like I said, there is a major twist at the end and, frankly, I think many will see it coming, which doesn't mean, in my opinion, that it ruins the flick or that it is not well done. I think Shyamalan will always be judged by the Sixth Sense standard, and that is a hard standard to meet since we all go into his films expecting it.To me, this is a very good film in terms of what it is saying, symbolically, about our fears as well as the pain of loss. Good stuff.
Very good movie.
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