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Adam_S · 07-31-2004, 08:29 PM

out of four, great movie

I love or really like all of Schymalan's films that I've seen; The Village is no exception. I wasn't at all really surprised by the twist, it didn't even feel like a twist to me. Instead, it felt like a natural progression of the story, one of the only ways it could have gone. Of all Schymalan's films, this may be the most emotional and community/familyi oriented; it has such a quietness to it and a sense of peace disrupted only by the others, the necessary intrusion of the outside world that will never leave us alone. The pacing of the film was simply superb, the acting was incredible, and the script... at first I felt that the script was only mediocre, that Schymalan was slipping on the unimportant scenes allowing stilted dialogue and phrases. Old fashioned diction is fine, but people don't speak in the florid way of 19th century diaries and novels (see mark twain), and the romantic underpinnings of the background and supporting characters' dialogue really bothered me. Until the ending explained why their manner of speech is just a little bit off, not really coming natural to people like Sigourney Weaver's or Brenden Gleeson's characters (or the other elders). Then I realized just how incredible a job Schymalan did, writing on the edge of the razor to balance between the dialogue that needed to be real and believable for all the important scenes but making it sound just a little bit off for certain characters some of the time. A truly brilliant job that will undoubtedly be overlooked.

And Roger Deaken's photography was incredible, as was Howard Shore's glorious score.

And as an added benefit, Schymalan's pretty muched grown out of the occasional obvious and overt stylistic directorial florishes, and as a result we get one of the best films of the year--because he's focused entirely on telling the story and entertaining an audience, he's never showing off or distracting anyone from the story. A wonderful film, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people didn't like it, though I can hardly comprehend disliking it, the beliefs and longings that make up this film's heart adhere almost too closely to my own.

Adam

07-31-2004, 08:29 PM	#8 of 26
Adam_S *Adam_S* Member Location: Marina del Rey, CA Join Date: Feb 2001 Local Time: 08:09 AM Local Date: 12-01-2008 Posts: 5,065	out of four, great movie I love or really like all of Schymalan's films that I've seen; The Village is no exception. I wasn't at all really surprised by the twist, it didn't even feel like a twist to me. Instead, it felt like a natural progression of the story, one of the only ways it could have gone. Of all Schymalan's films, this may be the most emotional and community/familyi oriented; it has such a quietness to it and a sense of peace disrupted only by the others, the necessary intrusion of the outside world that will never leave us alone. The pacing of the film was simply superb, the acting was incredible, and the script... at first I felt that the script was only mediocre, that Schymalan was slipping on the unimportant scenes allowing stilted dialogue and phrases. Old fashioned diction is fine, but people don't speak in the florid way of 19th century diaries and novels (see mark twain), and the romantic underpinnings of the background and supporting characters' dialogue really bothered me. Until the ending explained why their manner of speech is just a little bit off, not really coming natural to people like Sigourney Weaver's or Brenden Gleeson's characters (or the other elders). Then I realized just how incredible a job Schymalan did, writing on the edge of the razor to balance between the dialogue that needed to be real and believable for all the important scenes but making it sound just a little bit off for certain characters some of the time. A truly brilliant job that will undoubtedly be overlooked. And Roger Deaken's photography was incredible, as was Howard Shore's glorious score. And as an added benefit, Schymalan's pretty muched grown out of the occasional obvious and overt stylistic directorial florishes, and as a result we get one of the best films of the year--because he's focused entirely on telling the story and entertaining an audience, he's never showing off or distracting anyone from the story. A wonderful film, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people didn't like it, though I can hardly comprehend disliking it, the beliefs and longings that make up this film's heart adhere almost too closely to my own. Adam top 20 films 2008 film list My DVDs; S&S List 62...212 AFI lists: - DONE!