Tiscali rocks! I can now be online ANY TIME, cor blimey, guv. So, i'm going to try and catch up with...
Tiscali rocks! I can now be online ANY TIME, cor blimey, guv. So, i'm going to try and catch up with alerts. let me know if you're mad at me for not reading something, and i'll bawl in a corner...
Member since:23.07.2003
Reviews:160
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Since ‘The Sixth Sense’, M. Night Shyamalan has been a sure-fire bet for a box office hit, and a slow burning film with a twist in the tail. I can’t begin to describe how excited I was about seeing ‘The Village’ – I usually only make a trip to the cinema if it’s directed by Shyamalan (or it’s a Pixar, a Harry Potter, or a Christopher Nolan), which will give you some idea of my affection for his particular brand of direction.
You may have seen the adverts on TV already, and you might have some idea of the plot. It’s very hard with this film to give a decent plot outline without giving anything away, so if you really don’t want to know anything at all about the film, then skip the next section.
***PLOT OUTLINE***
The film begins in a small, rural village, which is obviously isolated, but tight knit. The whole community grieves the loss of one of its children, who it appears could have been saved if they were not so isolated. Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) asks the permission of the town elders to travel through the woods bordering the village to get medication.
The elders are loathe to allow him to go through the woods, due
to the creatures that live there, with whom they have a special understanding; if the villagers stay out of the woods, the creatures will leave the villagers alone. Lucius, however, believes that as the creatures allow Noah (Adrien Brody), a mentally handicapped man, to go into the woods unharmed, then they will see he is also innocent, and will leave him alone.
However, when he crosses the border, he sees one of the creatures, and that night, the lookout bell is sounded. The creatures storm the village, leaving red marks on everyone’s door as a warning to not cross the boundary again. The laws the elders demand have been breached, and the whole village feels the repercussions. No one feels safe any more, and it makes some members of the community act in ways the rest of them couldn’t have imagined.
***OPINION***
As usual, Shyamalan’s vision is impeccable. The whole film has an earthy, washed out look to it, totally in keeping with the time period. The only really bright colours are the yellows and reds; the villagers protect their village with a yellow boundary, and wear yellow capes, whereas the creatures wear red, and are attracted by anything red. This stark contrast in colours actually helps to build the tension when anything red is on screen, even if it’s just some flowers. He’s perfectly assigned ‘good’ and ‘bad’ to these two colours, giving an extra depth to the film.
Joaquin Phoenix is perfect as the brooding, handsome Lucius, and the times when he shared the screen with Ivy, a blind villager played by Bryce Dallas Howard, were the most electrifying. Their chemistry is palpable, making what happens later in the film more believable, and making you root for them to win. Howard herself, the daughter of Ron Howard in her first role, is incredible. She has the perfect face and demeanour to show the fear and determination this character feels, yet she never overacts the blindness.
Similarly, Adrien Brody as a young man with a mental handicap, never overplays his part; his face is so innocent, he’s perfectly believable as Noah. The rest of the cast couldn’t be better; the stiff, Victorian manners, and furtive secret keeping, of the elders are beautifully portrayed, particularly by William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver.
As the acting and direction is superb, the question of how good the film is, therefore comes down to the quality of the story. I personally felt it lacked some of the creativity of his earlier films, and for me the expectance of the twist in the tail, which Shyamalan seems to put in every film, made me seek it out throughout the film, and ultimately guess what it was. I did enjoy the event that is the eventual catalyst to the story (it’s very difficult to not give anything away!) as it comes so out of the blue it made the whole audience gasp. There are a few other moments which make you jump, but overall it’s not really a horror story at all; I’d say parts of it are more in the vein of The Blair Witch Project, as the film is based on the idea of the terror of what you cannot see.
It is a film I’ll remember fondly, but mainly for the visual treats; Bryce Dallas Howard stumbling unknown to her into a mass of red berries, the first sight of the creatures walking underneath the bell tower, the villagers huddled in their under house shelters listening to the creatures scratching at their doors. All these things made it a worthwhile cinema visit, although part of me was still left wanting more.
I suppose I’ve been spoilt by his other films.
Rating – 12A Running time – 108 minutes
Pictures of The Village (DVD)
JOAQUIN PHOENIX
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Horror - Director: Danny Boyle - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Cillian Murphy, Megan Burns, Noah Huntley, Christopher Eccleston, Marvin Campbell, Brendan Gleeson
Production Year: 1984 - Horror - Director: Joe Dante - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, Frances Lee McCain, Judge Reinhold, Corey Feldman
such depth of interest you show. ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{::::: |||||<
welshgq 06.09.2004 22:07
I have read quite a few reviews on the village and i must say yours was one of the best ones. Well done donna x
jonathanb 06.09.2004 10:31
It doesn't sound quite as good as Shyamalan's previous films, but I'd still like to see it. Shame he seems to feel compelled to put a twist in, as I think he's a good enough director that he doesn't need to do so every time.
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Even when his trademark twist-ending formula wears worrisomely thin as it does inThe ... more
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![The Village [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78514791.jpg "The Village [DVD] [2004]")
Aug 27th, 2004
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