Introduction Despite some rather dodgy reviews, I always liked the sound of the concept behind the village and so was delighted to get my hands on a copy and settled down expecting to watch a pleasantly creepy thriller. Unfortunately, not even the quality of the actors or the beautiful filming could make this film anything other than average. After a promising start, it just fizzled out.
The plot The villagers of a place in the middle of the woods have made a pact with the beings inhabiting the wood that they will not break the boundaries of the village if the beings do not break the boundary of the woods. The children of the village are kept largely in the dark, yet know that escaping could mean death. Then Ivy Walker, who is blind, falls in love with Lucius Hunt, who harbours a strong desire to break out of the wall that surrounds him and find medicine for the various ailments that have been killing off the villagers.
After a brief trip into the woods one day, mutilated animal corpses start appearing in the village and a strange being dressed in red is seen slinking around. Then Lucius is attacked by another villager, jealous of Ivy's love for him, and is left for dead. The only way to
save his life is to get medication from the nearest town. Will anyone dare to go and if so, will they return in one piece?
The characters/actors Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays Ivy Walker, was virtually unknown before this movie. I was very impressed by her acting skills, she was very natural as an innocent young girl scared to death by 'those we do not speak of'. Apparently this role was originally to have been played by Kirstin Dunst, but she pulled out at the last minute to play the lead role in Elizabethtown. Personally, I think this may have been a good choice - I cannot imagine Kirstin playing the same innocent young girl that Howard did.
Having recently seen Joaquin Pheonix for the first time in Walk the Line, I was looking forward to his performance as Lucius Hunt. Unfortunately, for no fault of his own, his role in the film just doesn't develop to any great extent and I was left feeling rather disappointed. His character was a quiet unassuming man who keeps himself to himself, so even for the brief time that he was in front of the camera, it was hard to feel any affinity with him.
William Hurt as Ivy's father did a reasonable job of his character, although like Sigourney Weaver, who played Lucius' mother, Alice, there seemed little point to the characters - again, they just did not seem to develop well. Even when we find out the secrets that they have been hiding for years, I found myself just not that interested. This is nothing to do with their acting skills; it is simply that the plot was badly written.
Adrien Brody as Noah, Ivy's friend, gave a good performance as a mentally handicapped young man. He is not an actor I know much about, but he played the role realistically and this is not an easy thing to do. Unfortunately, and this is not his fault, I didn't like the way that the character played out - it was just a little too obvious and was a waste of this man's talent.
Technical bits
Classification: 12
Running time: 108 minutes
The director M Night Shyamalan was born in India, but was raised in Pennsylvania and despite being just 35, already has a good track record behind him in the film industry, with such films as Signs, Wide Awake and The Sixth Sense. Having thoroughly enjoyed The Sixth Sense in particular, I would not write this director off, although The Village is a big let-down for him in my eyes.
Conclusion This film was beautifully filmed and had a bevy of highly talented actors, yet this was not enough to save it from being anything but a mediocre film. I was captivated by the first half an hour of the film, because of the creepy atmosphere and the promise of more to come, but unfortunately, it just doesn't happen. By the last half hour of the film, I could barely bring myself to watch it and felt very little sympathy for any of the characters. I can't help but feel Shyamalan badly let himself down here. The concept was great - it reminded me a bit of that X Files episode when Scully and Mulder become involved with an Amish village - but without a good plot and strong characterisation, it just did not work.
The worst part of the film for me were the flashes of the strange being that the villagers 'do not speak of'. This was so obviously a man dressed up that it was just laughable and reminded me strongly of Harry Potter and 'he who must not be named'. I'm not sure quite what the intention was here; whatever it was, it didn't work for me!
On the other hand, some of the other special affects, particularly in the wood when one of the villagers tries to get medication for Lucius, was not bad. It was simply done with leaves whirling around everywhere, but it scared me anyway.
I shall watch out for Bryce Dallas Howard in the future, Adrien Brody and Joaquin Pheonix too. The last two characters did not develop well, but they did the best with the material they had.
I can't recommend this film. I'm giving it three stars for the quality of the acting and filming, but there are so many much better films out there that I would only recommend you watch this if desperate.
I watched the film only, but the DVD is available from play.com for £6.99.
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
I thought this film was really boring. I turned it off after about 45 minutes!
koshkha 03.07.2006 10:38
I saw this one on a plane and I'm sure I fell asleep somewhere in the middle so I'm not that sure what happened. A great spooky plot but I thought it was a bit too slow.
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