The Village (2004) (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

The recent issue of "Entertainment Weekly" included some discussions/interview with Shyamalan that said the "vibe" was intentional.

 

[JonZ]

http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/mo...llage2004.html

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Anyone care to answer my question?

~Edwin

 

[Elizabeth S]

There certainly is a bit more, and I personally would want to know "the revelations" without waiting for DVD. My curiosity wouldn't let me wait that long! That being said, I am in the "letdown" camp regarding how it goes.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Well, I guess I'll have to "sneak in" to this one when I go to the multiplex again. Thanks Elizabeth.

~Edwin

 

[Matt Stone]

I'd see it, but if you didn't like the part of the film that you saw...seeing the ending probably won't change your mind.

That being said, the more I think and talk about it, the more I like it.

 

[Matt Stone]

BTW, am I the only one curious to hear what the emergency that pulled you away was

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Matt: PM to you.

~Edwin

 

[Guy_K]

I really enjoyed The Village, but I went in knowing it wasn't a scary-monster movie. Some notes / nitpicks:

Nitpicks:
*The big reveal at the end could've been more effective. Perhaps if it showed her walking onto the street to a car driving by THEN cut to the explanation / black box, it would've been more effective. Instead what we get is an explanation, followed by the visuals.

*The director cameo, when he explains that the government was paid so that they don't fly planes over this reserve. What was this? Why would he suddenly bring it up? Maybe it was just his horrible delivery, but it was as if he was talking right to the audience. Too obvious, but the problem is there's no way to address that 'plot-hole' without being obvious. Shyamalan is a master of ambiguity, but there's nothing subtle the scene. How can you blame him though? Film-goers these days want every single plot-point and detail spelled out for them, there's no room for imagination and interpretation (I'm thinking of Signs here, where people are applying human logic to aliens.)

*The film kind of shot itself in the foot with its marketing campaign. The problem is, how else could they sell the film? It was kind of doomed from the start of the writing process, the whole monster aspect obviously being the main draw of the story, but haven't little to do with it. M Night was cornered, trying to deliver on what's expected of him, but also trying to have some artistic integrity. It's 'type-directing.' What he should do is adapt a book next and work his original scripts a bit more.

Notes:
*I'm not sure what Shyamalan was thinking, telling us the monsters aren't real then having her being stalked by the monster, but it worked for me. It wasn't Hithcockian because both the audience AND her knew it at that point. Some people say the scene lost all suspense because we knew it wasn't real, but I was still in suspense because of the psychological aspect. These people were conditioned their whole lives to fear the monsters. The revelation would take a while to sink in, but all those years of fear won't just dissapear. Also factor in that she's blind, and that there's physically a 'monster' coming after her, and I'd say it works. The voice-over saying "there were rumors of a monster" is not meant for us, but for her--rationally she knows it can't be, but how can you rationally describe this sudden contradiction?

*I liked everything about Brody's character. He was very unlikeable, and while he does kind of serve as the stories' catalyst to leave the village , it worked. Scenes I thought really worked: the stabbing scene, the quiet room / slapping scene, and the chilling lingering shot of his demise.

*When the sister was turned down for the marriage proposal, was that Kirstin Dunst singing to her by the bed-side? I'm about 99 percent sure it wasn't, but now I wonder when I read that she was originally cast for the part.

 

[Kyle R]

Did I just totally blow the movie by reading the above, or were you making an example? I guess it's my fault, but I assumed spoilers would be marked.. sigh.

 

[Citizen87645]

Well, this is the discussion thread. My understanding is spoiler boxes aren't required in discussion threads because it's assumed if you're discussing it you've seen it. Basically, stay away from discussion threads if you don't want spoilers. Visit the review thread for the movie instead for generalities and spoilerized info.

 

[Matt Stone]

Yep, discussion threads don't require spoiler tags.

 

[CaseyL]

Personally I really enjoyed this film. I liked the atmosphere that was created as well as the music that enhanced it. There were excellent performances by Howard, and Brody, as well as Phoenix. I was totally enthralled by this film 'till the end. Honestly, I really liked the idea of the creatures being explained, and then having one attack her. After the second reveal I was contemplating quite a variety of different outcomes. MNS really uses the Hitchcockian "McGuffin" to it's limit, which I really like. Everything in the film is meant to mislead and to draw your attention away from what you are suppose to be focusing on. So, as a whole, it's not his strongest work, but it's definetley great. I give it 3.5/5

 

[Darren Haycock]

Out of curiosity, is the "f***ing white people" line still in? If so, I'll make sure that I buy a drink for this flick and then proceed to throw it at the screen at the end. Okay, not really.

 

[Nate Anderson]

My thoughts during that part were basically that perhaps he told her the monsters weren't real so that she wouldn't be afraid of them, but then it turns out they are real!

And then we cut back to the village and find out Noah has escaped...oh well...

 

[Adam_ME]

What exactly is this all about? I heard this was the original ending until Shyamalan reshot it. What happened in this scene(and no, it wasn't in the final cut)?

 

[Darren Haycock]

As I understand it, this comes from the script that was reviewed by Aint-it-cool a few months ago. Now, when can you ever really trust them? But they reviewed the leaked script and basically said they were worried cause it wasn't very good in their opinion. They discussed the ending, which turned out to be fairly accurate. And apparently the last shot is a cameo of Shyamalan himself with some construction machine or something and he says "f***ing white people." It seemed really random to me, but whatever. If it ever was intended, it's not there anymore.

 

[Mark McLeod]

My Review is up now..

Sorry for the delay my editor was busy which sucks as I was up till 2am the night before writing it.

 

[JeffreyMercado]

I thought it was one of the best movies I ever saw. I really enjoyed the whole thing. It was very entertaining,I am pretty suprised by all the negative reviews. According to box office mojo it has already made 20 million for Friday. It will be number one this weekend for sure. Deservedly so.

 

[Dave Schofield]

Guy,

The assumed that the singer was the main character, Bryce Dallas Howard.

Dave