The Village

[Rosie Gamgee]

I looked for another thread on this and didn't find it, so here it is (profuse apologies if there's already a thread- and thanks to whoever points it out to me).

Well, M. Night's latest is... interesting. No spoilers allowed just yet, I suppose, but I will say that I did guess his signature surprise before it was acutally revealed, which was a little dissapointing to me.
Bad news first. I really only have three problems with The Village. I thought the movie had some problems with the story- like, where did they get metal for hinges and knives and shovels and any other thing that needed metal? How did they keep warm in winter if they were not allowed in the woods? Additionally, the way the story was presented is a little muddled. I was left with a feeling of "Why was I there?"- were we there to see a love story? a story of survival? a story of betrayal? Like I said, a little muddled. Second, the characters were rather shallow. This may be because some people thought that Shyamalan's characters in 'Signs' were a little over-developed (a belief which I do not share). It was har to understand who exactly the characters were because we had to take them on face value- no insight was really given in regard to their lives except for the 'present'. Thirdly, the language was a little tedious. A lot of times it seemed ill-fitting- like the characters had a hard time getting their thoughts across with them.
However, I definatly think the movie is worth seeing. The acting is gripping and superb, the directing is wonderful- creative, loving and bold- as usual with Shyamalan. The score is beautiful. Despite the problems with the story, the emotions in the scenes are portrayed well. A 'must-see' (as those cheesy liner-noters say) for anyone fond of great acting and directing.

What do you think?

[Rosie Gamgee]

Would someone tell me why only half my post is up there?^

[jellyfishannah]

I loved this movie! Joaquin Pheonix is now my favorite actor. M. Night Shyamalan always has such beautiful characters in his stories. And he somehow manages to make it exciting and interesting while, at the same time, make you think. Some people I talked to were disappointed just because it didn't have enough "scary parts" in it. Not disappointing to me...I'm very glad it wasn't a typical teenagers-running-from-mindless-killing-machine horror type. Can we say...boring?!

[Khamûl]

Well, my girlfriend didn't like it too much, but I did. I do have a few unanswered questions though.

[jellyfishannah]

Unanswered questions?

[Rosie Gamgee]

Okay, I see that there are some replies in this thread, but for some reason.... I CANNOT get any further than half-way through my own post. What is wrong with this? (does anyone know?) Please PM me if you can figure out how to get my computer to let me read this. Thanks.

[FoolofaTook]

I went to see it last night. I heard from people that it wasn't very good, so I went in with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised. It was far from a perfect film, the language in it was awkward and some parts of the story didn't seem to fit, but it was still pretty good. I guessed the twist in it though.

[Rosie Gamgee]

Yay! I can read this!

I wonder how many others guessed the twist...?

I was saying before how the story of The Village got kind of lost- kind of "what is this about?"- in there for a while, but I think it's rather artful getting lost, on contemplating it. If you think about it, Shyamalan tells the story in a meandering, ghost-story-by-camp-firelight kind of way. Artful indeed.

I thought it was going to be scarier than it was. The creatures ceased to freak me out the first time you see them. However, that part in the woods did freak me out a little. That whole part was well done.

I love the music in this movie!!! I bought the soundtrack and have been listening to it incessantly. Did anybody else think that the violin solos were quite original- well, maybe that's not the right word. The score isn't as jumpy as, say, Signs; it reminded me a lot of the violin pieces right before the battle of Helm's Deep in TTT (the movie, obviously), and all those shots of the little kids looking up as if the roof is going to cave in. Shyamalan has this amazing way of making these cool, freaky movies, but at the same time making real characters who we come to know and love (as opposed to the cheesy, sarcastic, unbelievable, characters in most thriller/horror flicks), and I think the score in The Village really reflects that. One thing the music really brings to light is Lucius and Ivy's love for each other pervading everything they do. Their little love-theme is kind of woven into every moment, which is really neat, and binds the story, even when it strays.

[jellyfishannah]

The guy I went to see it with guessed the twist. I didn't. I was just letting the story carry me along.

[Khamûl]

Originally Posted by jellyfishannah

Unanswered questions?

Like when Ivy was racing her brother to the rock. How was she able to find her way directly there? She's blind and it didn't look like there was any sort of foot path.

I'm sure I have more questions, but I can't think of them right now.

[Rûdhaglarien]

I would guess that she knew her way well because she had raced with him so many times (and, not to be picky , but he wasn't her brother). She also had her hand(s) out in front of her to make sure that she didn't run into anything.

I only saw the movie last night and I loved it, myself. I don't know. I'm quite obviously biased because I'm such a fan of M. Night, but I loved it. I think that part of it was the fact that I didn't guess the twist, but I had an understanding of it... I knew that it was there, but wouldn't let myself believe it until it was stated.

My father thought that I would be disappointed because of the lack of 'monsters' or 'scary parts'. But I wasn't. As I tried to explain to my sister, there are monsters. The |counts| seven Elders are the monsters. The fact that seven people can manipulate the lives of so many others' lives completely enthrals me. But, maybe that's because I have an obsession with cults.

The language did seem a bit awkward. But, think about it, the language was only created by a history teacher. I don't know. It wasn't really a problem for me. I didn't see it as hindering the story in any way.

That entire post was really muddled. But screw it.

[Khamûl]

What relation was he to Ivy?

[Rûdhaglarien]

Originally Posted by Khamûl

What relation was he to Ivy?

So far as I'm aware, he was just a friend. Remember, he fell in-love with her? And thus, stabbed Lucius when they announced their engagement?

[Khamûl]

Ok. I remember that, I just thought that he was her brother and didn't want her leaving him at home. I guess I just misinterpreted their relationship.

[Rûdhaglarien]

I did in the beginning, also. But, just before that happened, I realized what the actual relationship was.

[jellyfishannah]

The language was a bit awkward and didn't make sense for 1800's. And another thing that almost gave it away to me was the path in the woods that Ivy follows. Looked like it had been pretty

well-driven

. I just though "hmm..that's a very careless mistake for M. Night." How dense I am...

[Hanza]

i didnt like tit hat much but none of my friend agree. they all thought it was amazing. think im ite have to see it again.

[Rosie Gamgee]

Originally Posted by Khamûl

Ok. I remember that, I just thought that he was her brother and didn't want her leaving him at home. I guess I just misinterpreted their relationship.

Ivy was the history teacher's daughter- uh, Whatshisname Walker. Noah was the son of... Oh, gee, I forget their names. Those two other people - they were elders, and the lady who plays the mother is in Runaway Jury as Gabby's mom.

[Insidious Rex]

Saw it. Liked it. I love how M. Night can still make a unique film in 2005 that you just havent seen anything like before. Hes been doing that with all his films. And hes really quite brilliant at his approach. I mean he made a pseudo-horror that morphed into a romance. and it worked. Who does that? he also went from one main character (Phoenix) to another main character (Ron Howard's kid) which I assume was purposeful? Some people found that jarring. I thought it was interesting. But its damn hard to pull off.

This film reminded me a lot of the Twilight Zone. And frankly I feel sorry for you people who go to his movies looking to predict the twist. Just let it happen to you. You get no points for being the first to see whats coming. whats the fun in that? I loved the twist. I thought it worked fine. theres a number of logical inconsistencies that you could point out because of the very nature of the story line (why were there never any rangers or whoever entering the compound if it was an animal sanctuary exactly? just to take readings and check things out.) but I dont really have a problem with them because I can suspend my disbelief enough with the cinematographic vehicle he gave us which was gorgeous and fire-side-story-like enough to really keep me entertained. A well done effort. But the poor man is certainly cursed by his initial success with Sixth Sense. Now everyone goes to the movies expecting a twist and trying to be the first to spot it. A lot of people didn’t like Signs because there was no twist. And a lot of people didn’t like Village because it posed itself as just another Scream flick and it wasn’t. Well I say widen your horizons frankly.

[Nurvingiel]

Hm... maybe I shouldn't have started reading this thread before I've seen it, I think I know what the twist is now from 1 post. I don't try to guess twists, I like being surprised. It looks like a cool movie.

Hey Rosie, maybe they have their own woodlot..?