Review
The Village
- Director
- M. Night Shyamalan
- Year
- 2004
- Rating
- Reviewed by
- José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris
- Review date
- Wednesday, September 22, 2004
In the 1880’s we find a small village whose people live terrorized by some strange creatures that own the woods that surrender their place. The arrangement is that humans do not cross the border that divides them, and they leave them alone in return. But suddenly weird events start to happen, such as the appearance of dead animals or red markings in everyone’s doors. Amidst the chaos there’s Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard), the only one who can control slow-witted Noah (Adrien Brody). Ivy is the blind beautiful daughter of the village’s leader, Edward (William Hurt), who feels some affection for Alice (Sigourney Weaver), the mother of timid Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix).
The Village presents itself as a thriller. And it is one for sure, albeit a bit more than that. There’s tension throughout the entire movie. Shyamalan knows what’s scary and what’s not, and he certainly knows the old Hitchcock saying of ‘less is more’. There are enough unexpected chills to keep you awake, and the level of suspense remains on a high note from start to finish.
As usual, Shyamalan introduces us to a wide array of peculiar characters. You can sense from the get-go that none of the movie’s characters is normal. And that’s deeply fascinating. The atmosphere keeps hinting at hidden secrets and, layer-by-layer, we keep discovering more and more about each one of the main village’s residents. There’s also a love story thrown in there between Ivy and Lucius that I found to be breathtaking. Each scene with them together is pitch-perfect, from dialogue to acting to staging to feeling.
After certain happenings and one almost-tragic event, the movie gives a drastic turn. This is where some people felt alienated (it usually happens with Shyamalan movies at some point), but I just loved every single story thread. It is very difficult to speak about the real meat regarding The Village without going into spoiler territory. That’s why the next two paragraphs should only be read by those who have seen the movie. If you haven’t just skip them.
Spoilers begin
I was a bit skeptical about some of the actions regarding some of the characters before the truth started to be revealed. Some people might have guessed beforehand (or tried to) some of the plot developments, such as the fact that those strange creatures do not actually exist, but when we find out that the village is actually a fake place built upon the idea of getting as far away as possible from the actual civilization is not only provoking, it is disturbing.
The fact that Shyamalan had the balls to tell such a story is astounding to me. It is, after all, an art film disguised as a commercial one. But don’t be confused: Shyamalan is not saying that what the elders did was all right. The way I see it, he paints a pretty fascinating picture of how far a group of deranged people was capable to go in order to escape from the horrors of real life and protect their families in the way. Sure, it is a far-fetched idea, almost an impossible one, but not quite. And the way there’s a happy ending to all this, and how things will be back to normal after Ivy returns, is even more mind-blowing. It is a fearless portrait of what a culture of fear is, and it is more resonant now than ever. It makes you think and it makes you angry. I loved it!
Spoiler end
As performances go, Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of director Ron Howard although I don’t know why that would be relevant) steals the movie and emerges as an actress to watch closely. She brings so much to her role. Never mind the fact that she plays a blind woman, but her inner self, the feelings she brings to her character, the fearless commitment to play such a strong-willed woman… that’s what ultimately matters. And she is brilliant.
Joaquin Phoenix reunites once again with Shyamalan and the results are just as extraordinary. Adrien Brody turns his character into a bit more than he could actually have been. And William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver bring dignity and talent to the table in equal shares. The whole ensemble is excellent.
And may I not forget James Newton Howard’s brilliant score.
A thought-provoking, intense movie.
“Sometimes we don’t do what we want to do because we’re afraid that other people will know that we want to do them.”
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Review
The Village
- Director
- M. Night Shyamalan
- Year
- 2004
- Rating
- Reviewed by
- Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho
- Review date
- Thursday, September 23, 2004
The central story inside The Village is actually a romance, that between quiet Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) and blind Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard). Her father, Edward Walker (William Hurt), is the leader among the elders, a wise and inspirational man who rules the town in a peaceful manner. And while the truce has been respected for years, two things suddenly alter the peace: The town’s idiot, Noah Percy (Adrien Brody), who ventures into the woods, and finally love’s motivation, in the form of brave Ivy doing what no one has done for the sake of her loved one.
Maybe because we know who Shyamalan is, and what plot-twist-oriented films he has brought us, we look at his films as a great experience full of thrills and chills and finally a shocking revelation. I for one haven’t been convinced by his last couple of films, namely the disappointing Signs (2002), and I long for the real emotion and fear achieved by The Sixth Sense (1999). But, truth is, if we all suddenly forgot who Shyamalan is, and what he uses to do, I think we would objectively see The Village as a sad, highly deceitful thriller, whose pretensions are largely above its results, even though it’s so elegantly paced and put together that we get the feeling that we should enjoy the procedures.
Even though I walked into The Village expecting to at least have a good time before the major plot twist, I soon found myself laughing at the implausibility of the situations, the unnecessary weirdness of the characters, the over-the-top falseness of the dialogues, and the increasing moments of false suspense. I did wonder what was the explanation to what I was seeing, and certainly wanted to know the answer, but I soon predicted the ending (though not exactly as it was) and felt victim to an overly confident and pretentious filmmaker. I ended up hoping once again that Shyamalan uses his talents for a nice film of any sort (maybe not scripted by himself), instead of desperately building more scary stories around plot twists just for the sake of following his trademark. You know you’re in trouble when the director’s cameo (also a trademark) serves the purpose of absurdly covering a couple of plot holes.
The film’s score by Shyamalan’s usual collaborator James Newton Howard sounds as nicely as the film looks. The atmosphere is finely achieved and everyone involved in production and costume design deserves praise.
And while a good cast also includes Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson, and Judy Greer, the spotlight wholly belongs to Bryce Dallas Howard, the young daughter of Ron Howard whose first major role this is, and who constitutes the biggest asset of the movie. In a hard to enjoy film, she saves the day at least as much as she can.
All this assets, unfortunately, serve a bad film, which treats its audience with disrespect, and presents a plot twist that leaves an unwillingly bad aftertaste. It becomes more a waste of talent than a piece redeemed by its good elements. For all it’s worth, The Village is an awful cheat. But watch it and judge for yourself.
“They’re coming.”
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