The Village (2004) (1 Viewer)

[todd stone]

Even tho you may know people that are blind etc, how are you to be %100 sure on HOW they can act and relate to the enviornment? YOU CAN'T, so this is M Knights vision that SHE CAN.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Go blindfold yourself, and go running up the side of a hill at full speed. Kudos if you don't bust your butt.

 

[Pete-D]

There's a lot of little flourishes I enjoyed now that I think about it more.

***SPOILERS***

The blind thing worked for me, although yeah it's a movie and she seems to have a Daredevil-esque ability to move around at times. I accepted her blindness as a themeatic point though -- she's blind, yet at the end she's illuminated by the truth.

I really liked the scene where she's walking to see if Lucius is OK, and we see/hear that she is counting her steps because that's how she gets from place to place. I just thought that was a nice flourish.

I also really liked how Night handled the stabbing scene. When the camera points down, I know a few people in the audience let out big gasps.

And another thing I really thought was well done was how Ivy starts to stumble about as the town hall begins to panic about the creatures and she puts up her hand out and Lucius just sweeps into frame grabbing her hand.

It was also a relief that the reveal at the end isn't some huge thing where she runs into the middle of downtown Philly, but more of a low-key conversation between her and the security guard behind the wall.

END SPOILERS

 

[Dome Vongvises]

An understandable nit to pick.

 

[Darren Haycock]

Ya know, this is a movie that might grow on me. My initial viewing was kind of like, eh. But, the first time I saw Fifth Element, I hated it. Now, it's one of my favorites. So who knows.

The stabbing scene definitely got a gasp from the audience. I knew something was up, just from how close the camera was, and I'm like, yo, Lucius, turn around! Then it's Noah standing right there, and I'm like, that's a bit odd. Then the knife, egads! Although, I think the second stab got more of a gasp than the first. It wasn't clear what Noah was going to do exactly. I thought he was about to run away, then I thought he felt horrid and would try to help, but no, he stabs again. Very creepy. By the way, I thought Lucius was dead for sure. Surprised he survived it.

I didn't think of Ivy as being totally blind. I thought of her as being able to distinguish light and some color and such, but everything is pretty much indistinguishably blurry. Perhaps I misunderstood, but that was my recollection.

Also, I don't think that her dad was sacrificing her, if you will. Also, remember that she didn't fall down the hole. She found it with her walking stick, but then it collapsed on her. It's not like she just fell in as she was walking.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

It's intriguing how every MNS movie people get hung up on details that have little to no bearing with the message the movie is going for. In Signs it was the whole alien thing, here it's the girl's ability to move in unfamilar territory. I could counter argue that she only ran over territory she had previously traversed. Also the level of her visual handicap was never specifically spelled out. If she can 'see' certain people with an aura perhaps she can differentiate between light and dark areas.

The setup that she was able to compensate for her vision in other ways while in or near The Village was enough background or explanation for me. I was more interested in where her journey would take her rather than how she accomplished it.

 

[BridgetJZ]

There's a certain amount of suspension of belief that an audience member has to retain in order to enjoy just about any film. I had no problem with them sending Ivy into the woods -- I mean, we get the idea that she's pretty capable.

And Patrick Sun Being blind and having a seeing person be blindfolded are not NEARLY the same thing. People that have had to deal w/ being visually impared have developed ways to compensate. End of story.

 

[Carlo_M]

Exactly, Bridget.

And Todd's point:
Not all blind people are the same, some have certain senses heightened. Last night on 60 minutes there showed blind savants who could play piano at a virtuoso level. So for some, their other senses (those that dealt with music) were heightened.

For Shyamalan's movie, her ability to navigate fairly well inside her village may have been her gift. It is never explained but if you let that get in the way of the enjoyment of this film, then you probably aren't going to enjoy much of the rest of it either if you're fixating on how a blind person can move around so well.

This is one of those instances where I just chose to accept whatever his premise was, and moved on.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Kind of off-topic, but was William Hurt ever on the Simpsons? I thought his voice sounded familiar from one of the characters on the show.

Anywho, the one part that made my hairs stand on end (it has plenty of company in that regard) was the big speech William Hurt's character gave to Ivy before he turns to her and asks her not to scream.

 

[hanson mat]

I agree... these little issues are not so relevant in a film such as this... plus, I have heard of hightened senses when one is not working. I think there is a compensation that would occur. Evolution if you will... Anyways, I really enjoyed this film, the score was just fantastic. The entire feeling of the film was perfect, IMO.

 

[Patrick Sun]

If Ivy walked, yes, I'd believe her heightened senses, but she's frikkin' hauling butt through the woods and up and down hills. Did I walk into the female Daredevil sequel?

The reason I'm pushing this blindness issue is because M Night needs desperately for whoever to be sent outside the preserve to not be able to see the modern world, and Ivy is reduced to a plot device to keep the Walker preserve as is.

 

[Pete-D]

Even if she could see, she doesn't see a whole lot.

A vehicle, a road, and a guy named Kevin.

Besides, her father already tells her that the whole Village thing was a sham anyway, so her seeing the world outside would really be moot. She already knows before she even crosses the boundaries of the Village that its a faux society created by the elders.

She also doesn't seem like she's entirely blind either. She can percieve "auras" around people, as clearly referenced in the film several times.

 

[David Ren]

A very small nit pick,

The stabbing scene was a very roadrunner/wile coyote moment.

When someone gets stabbed, They scream, or jump, or fall back. We all have reflexes. They don't stand still, look down at the knife and then fall down. Any response would be instantaneous.

David

 

[Shawn_KE]

Not everyone.

I was shot in the leg. Didn't feel a thing when it happend, no flinching, no relfexing. Just felt something warm running down my leg.

I thought that scene was perfectly done.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

As far as the stabbing goes or any major injury I'm sure, as Shawn as testified, that there are many documented cases where the initial trauma goes unnoticed or the body goes into shock mode. The look at Lucius' face before the reveal showing the knife indicates this.

Especially when the trauma is unexpected or unseen.

 

[ChadM]

I loved it and think it is his best film to date. For the record I liked 6th sense, loved unbreakable and thought signs was ok.

As for the nitpicking, the same goes for most films I see these days. If you pick hard enough they will fall apart. I, personally, am not interested in strict realism. Maybe she moved too well for a blind person. Maybe a stray plane would have flown over the preserve. Who gives a shit! I got involved in a well written, acted and directed fantasy story, not a documentary on blind people or flight paths over rural Pennsylvania.

Kudos to Ms. Howard - incredible screen prescence - stole every scene from some very good actors.

 

[Rick Guynn]

Not entirely accurate. He told her that the existence of 'those we do not speak of' was a farce to keep people within the village. He never said anything to her about the reality of the 'towns'.

RG

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

I can't believe that Ivy's blindness and how she acts is being made into a bigger issue than it should be. Besides, she didn't go blind until later in life so she pretty much knows every nook and cranny in the village and have an advantage than those who are born blind to begin with. She walks and runs like a seeing person because she used to be that way.

~Edwin

 

[todd stone]

exactly. If someone thinks otherwise, they are just being naieve here...

 

[Stefan A]

Put me into the group of people who really liked the movie. Sure, there are nit-picks along the way, but you go to a movie to be entertained. If you want reality, someone can come to my house and film me during 2 hours of my everyday life.

Actually, I never really got a sense that this movie was taking place in another time - 1800's or whatever. At some point before I saw the movie, I heard that it was set in rural PA. So when I saw the people and their lifestyle, I was just thinking that they were some sort of Amish/Menonite/ultra-traditional sort of people who chose to live in this alternative lifestyle. Yes, by the end you realize that the elders were just trying to dupe everyone. But that wasn't clear at the beginning.

Anyway, if I had to have a nit-pick, it would be that I find it hard to believe that no-one from the outside world would ever wander into the woods and find them.

And, if I were making the movie, I may have had a regular sort of animal (a deer maybe) serve as a point of tension in the woods - in addition to what was already there. Maybe while Ivy was walking through the woods a deer aproaches in some sort of scary - but innocent way. It would be believable considering that in reality it was a wildlife refuge.

So, I liked the movie a lot. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting going in.

Stefan