The Village (2004) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

So no one has a problem with the blind girl actually making it through the forest? Hell, she should have broken a hip or her neck when she fell outside the "preserve". Unfortunately, M Night had to have a blind protagonist because otherwise, word would have spread if a sighted person saw the outside world. Unfortunately, having the blind girl Ivy actually making it through is akin to me winning the Mega Million Super Duper lottery, which is slim and none.

 

[Matt Stone]

I had a problem with it, but it wasn't that substantial. I chalked it up to her having Daredevil-esque senses

 

[todd stone]

if they hadn't went back to the village to see that the guy nut guy escaped, that whole sequence would have worked better imo.

 

[todd s]

I had been avoiding all stories, threads or websites that might reveal the "twist". And I am glad I did. I enjoyed the movie a lot more. I thought the acting, music was great. And Shamylan does set up a very creepy seeting. Although, when I first saw the creature. I thought it was the same one from Signs.

Can anyone tell me what the original ending was?

 

[Quentin]

Well...unfortunately, we are going to be seeing a ton more of the same old same old from M. Night - the movie is going to be #1 with a bullet this week.

 

[Darren Haycock]

Alright, finally saw it. Disappointed, and it was pretty dang weird. Hardly any suspenseful moments at all, save for Brody. Would I have liked it more if I didn't know the ending? Probably. But still, I don't feel like I really got much out of this flick. Brody's character, what am I supposed to get? Maybe I'm not thinking hard enough, I don't know. It just seemed kind of pointless, even when you factor in "homeland security" symbolism. I liked Shyamalan's first three flicks, but I don't see this joining the DVD collection.

 

[Matt Stone]

No more pointless than any film. I still think he was shooting for a message of no matter where you set up shop, bad things will creep in. You can't use fear as a means of controlling a populous.

 

[Steve_Tk]

I really hate false advertising.

Trailers made it look like such an edge of the seat thriller.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Yes the adverts make this seem to be a thriller which it is not. While I place this one below his previous efforts I still enjoyed it. Excellent cast - Bryce is quite the find.

The technical aspects were well done and the character shift from Lucius to the girl was unexpected - a la Psycho. The relationship between the two was entertaining.
I especially enjoyed their porch conversation.

A quiet and thoughtful movie. The twist played more like a logical progression of the story rather than a Gotcha moment.

 

[Darren Haycock]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Ben Silva]

I really enjoyed it. I agree that the twist is not meant to be a Gotcha moment, but one that gives some deeper meaning and resonance to their lives. I think it is Night's best film.



On the contrary, I think he did a very good job of showing how she used her heightened senses of feel and hearing to find her way through the forest.

Also, I don't think Mr Walker ever expected her to make it through the forest. He gives her very specific directions which lead her directly to the trap hole, and being that she is blind she wont be able to see it coming. Also he says to Mrs Hunt that she (Ivy) is all that he can offer to her. I took that to mean he was sacrificing her since Mrs Hunt would lose Lucius. Also, he seemed to be genuinely shocked when she returned. Did anyone else sense this or am I the only one?

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I saw the film today and I'm still trying to figure where exactly I stand on it because I had many different reactions. I have seen Shyamalan's THE SIXTH SENSE and SIGNS and thought they were both very good films, and he restored my faith in the "horror genre" as it is today. I think he's a fine director and has done a great deal to take modern horror seriously and make some classy fright flicks.

So I went into THE VILLAGE expecting an all-out horror film, and I think that was a mistake, because it's not really a bonafide horror movie. I'd call it more of an elongated Twilight Zone fantasy episode after all is said and done (and yes, it would have been far more effective as a 30 minute tale).

The movie began with my really liking the "period" setting and cinematography, and I for one was fooled into thinking this movie actually occurred during another time and place, so I was totally surprised at the end (I'm usually not so gullible). My wife saw the movie with me and says she found it completely predictable early on, but I just wasn't concentrating on, or looking for, "twists" while watching; if I were, I might have been able to guess what was going to happen early on.

After a while I became a bit bored, wishing some events - any events - would transpire. My interest was revived when the young man was stabbed, and the blind girl was now determined to venture into those forbidden woods to save his life. But then I discovered the whole "creature business" was purely a farce, an act. And then I descended to feeling a little gypped about everything.

Yet finally, when I learned the point of the village, and became aware of the 'twist' of the story, I felt newly satisfied. I wound up having a satisfactory moviegoing experience and yet I drove home from the theatre still trying to sort my feelings out and decide whether or not this film is jusy "decent enough" (**1/2) or "good" (***). Of the three Shyamalan films I've seen, this is easily the least of them. I don't think THE VILLAGE is "great" or even "very good"; but it has its own fairytale essence and style, and I enjoyed that about it.

 

[Jorge Montes]

I just found the little red dots from that copy protection thing really jarring in this flick, since you're constantly scanning the screen for "the bad color." Of course, you can't really describe them any better than "the bad color" can you?

 

[Phil Dally]

I like M. Nights movies, even though they are Hokey. I mean it's fiction not a documentary and Night is known for his twists so you know something is going to happen.

What gets me is that the brilliant movie critic for the Des Moines Register all but gives the movie away with his review. I tell you this rag has no talent writing for it at all except for a few cartoons in the funny pages.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Had I seen this film in its entirety two days ago when I first saw it, I probably would have given it an unfavorable rating. Maybe, it was a blessing that my first viewing was cut short 25 minutes before the film ended due to an emergency.

Because today, I walked into the film with a different mindset and for some reason, everything clicked. What others would call a cheat in its advertising campaign, I would call it very complementary to the film’s story, well thought out and maybe even a work of genius. Much like the inhabitants of the town who were lead to believe that something evil lurks in the woods, potential filmgoers were subjected to the same type of mindset.

And much like those who are disappointed that they were lied to as to the film’s premise, so was Ivy after learning the truth from her father. But being blind, she still can’t reconcile the entire revelation.


That is certainly one of the message.

Everything else is summarized in my comments in the review thread.

~Edwin

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Ivy was the only one meant to go to the woods. It was her burden - as she put it. All the elders have pretty much written off Lucius as it was their oath to live in that type of a lifestyle regardless of what happens even to a loved one.

Ivy was not even supposed to make it back. Her Dad was willing to sacrifice her rather than see her depressed for the rest of her life for losing Lucius. You're right. He let her go blind and now he was willing to sacrifice her by letting her go into the woods either to the trap or getting lost on her own.

The more I think about this film the more I believe that this is Shyamalan's most emotionally resonant film to date yet.

~Edwin

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Just finished it a few hours ago. Not a bad film, but I won't be adding it to my DVD collection.

 

[Pete-D]

The other cool thing that Night used is Ivy is the town's blind inhabitant, yet in a way she's the one who ends up seeing the most. It's kind of an interesting thought when thinking about society and how we tend to enclose ourselves in our daily routine.

I did not find the ending at all to be some type of slap in the face. To the contrary, this movie just cannot play without the ending, otherwise it loses its theme entirely and I thought Night showed a lot of restraint in easing the audience towards the ending.

The other interesting thing that clicked in my mind as I was driving home was that even if the town's inhabitants saw a airplane flying above their air space accidentally ... how would they rationalize that? Obviously they've never seen such technology, to them it would be *ahem* a UFO, heh.

 

[Matt Stone]

Wow, Edwin...now I'm really glad you went back to see the last 25 minutes. Great insight, and as I said before, the film seems to get better the more I think about it. I'm going to have to head off and see it again sometime this week.

 

[Rick Guynn]

Where are people getting this idea? He sent two 'guides' with her. They were not instructed to leave her alone in the woods. They were supposed to take her to the gravel road and let her go alone from there. Once at the gravel road, she was relatively safe. I also don't believe the pit was a 'trap' per se. It was obviously a large sinkhole formed by a very old tree having come uprooted and fallen over. It's highly probable that the elders didn't even know it was there.

Given their discussions of 'well if it ends, it ends', they seemed pretty confident that Ivy would indeed make it there and back.

RG