Review of The Village (2004) by Julian C — 17 May 2011

A segregated community which lives in fear of an unnamed evil lurking in the wooodland surrounding their settlement must face their shadowy secrets to save the life of one of their own in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.

Shyamalan seems to like combining oppressive Drama with Psychological Horror. Having already written/directed "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs" he clearly has a theme and feel that is very distinctive as a movie. The Village is no exception to this and has many classic Shyamalan moments. Those who are already fans of the above mentioned films will probably also enjoy this eerie thriller.

There's an awful lot of riddle here- in the usual way Shyamalan tries to keep you guessing about whats really going on and why for as long as possible. There's constant suggestion that the village Elders are hiding something- the only clues you get are furtive looks at mysterious Black boxes in the Elder's homes and knowing glances between each other. It's an honest representation that in a place isolated from the rest of humanity people still get up to the usual human behaviours- lies, scheming, dishonesty, etc- despite being in a place where there's none of the things to make people need to act that way in the first place. Then there's also trouble brewing with "those who should not be named"- the mysterious and monstrous humanoids that stalk the woodland all around the settlement. According to the Elders they have an "arrangement"; as long as the villagers stay out of the woods then THEY will stay out of the village. But when flayed animal corpses start showing up around the village it suggests the deal's off...

As with the Sixth Sense and Signs Shyamalan uses low budget effects to create tense and psychological thrills rather then relying upon cheap horror thrills and gore. Horror fans should note that this is mainly a Drama with a Horror element- those expecting to see plenty of the monsters will be disappointed as their screen time is short, with a lot more time being given to the relationships of the lead characters instead. This is a shame because the monsters were very cool; hunched, spiny-backed figures with clawed hands and snouts that poke out from under bright Red, hooded robes. They are never really seen close up enough for you to get a good look at them in any detail. This is a good thing or a bad thing depending upon what you like in Horror movies (I personally prefer the monster to be less revealed as it leaves a little more to the imagination). As with the Elders there are secrets shrouding these mysterious creatures and the villagers make great attempts to ensure the creatures remain on good terms with them, hiding anything which shows "the bad colour" (Red) and keeping watch over the village's borders which are ringed by torches and flags dyed in "the good colour" (a Golden Yellow).

As The Village progresses it reveals the story's true direction and builds on a couple of suprise plot twists followed by a twist ending which you may or may not have seen coming a long time before the end. I don't want to spoil these for you if you haven't seen the film... I'll just say I was disappointed about the monsters AND the ending. I guess I saw the possibility of a fantastic plot for a Horror film here that was ruined somewhat by the rest of the movie! I know Shyamalan didn't make this to be a Horror film and there's nothing wrong with the finished piece as it is intended to be, but the ideas he had here could have been turned into something great on their own. The twist ending is also becoming a bit of a curse and a gimmick for me these days too. Only rarely does a twist ending really leave me amazed and satisfied when I finish watching the film. This one just made me go "Meh, I knew it".

Regardless of how I rate the film's ending I have to applaud the acting. A cast of theatrical stars including Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody and Bryce Dallas Howard do a fantastic job of bringing together the characters as a real village through humble yet powerful performances. I think Shyamalan got really lucky with a school of actors/actresses this good and it adds to the quality of the film a lot.

THE VERDICT?

The Village is a classic Shyamalan piece with its dreary Drama/Horror mix, plot twists and twist-ending whether you consider this a good thing or not. It's not scary but certainly eerie, and is a pretty solid period piece which definately works better for having it's Horror undertones.

LIKED THIS?

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

THE SIXTH SENSE- Another classic Shyamalan with dreary Drama/Horror mix and twist-ending, however it had better chills and some great jumps!

SIGNS- Mel Gibson stars as a religious farmer witnessing weird goings-on at his farm in another trademark Shyamalan, this time with Sci-Fi mixed in with the Horror/Drama.