The Village (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
Picture it: rural Pennsylvania, late 1800's. A mentally unstable man, Noah (Adrien Brody), has severely injured Lucius (Jaoquin Phoenix) in a fit of jealous rage. Lucius' fiancee, a blind Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard), is taking it upon herself to enter the forbidden forest that outlines the parameters of their village. 'Those we don't speak of' are the creatures who dwell in the forest. If she goes in, an alliance/pact that the villages have had with the deadly creatures will be challenged for good. 'The Village', directed by M. Night Shyamalan, starts by offering great suspense, but slowly drains you of mental energy. Whether you can see the ending from a mile away, or not, the heaviness of the journey taken in this film can take a toll on you.
The town folk are scared for their lives. The 'Elders', a governing council of the village (including William Hurt & Sigourney Weaver's characters), are horrified at the prospect of certain danger. The creatures have skinned some animals and laid them in their fields. They've ventured to the houses & painted red X's on the doors of the villagers. This seems to be a direct threat. And yet, Ivy still has the fortitude to venture through the woods and reach 'the towns' so that she can get proper medical help for her dying fiancee, Lucius. What's at the end of the forest? Who's there? Will she ever get back and save Lucius in time?
SPOILER ALERT: there are 3 distinct twists here that define the layout of the film: 1) there are no evil creatures. But the Elder council have made a concerted effort to keep the 'young ones' in the village from thinking they can ever leave their premises. Why do the Elders want to protect their young from the outside world? You'll have to sit & wade through the meandering story to find out. 2) Ivy encounters a 'creature' in the Forest but tricks it into falling into a ditch. Because she's blind, she doesn't realize that the creature happens to be Noah, cloaked in a beast costume. 3) When Ivy reaches the end of the woods, she finds herself in a present day civilization! We've thought the villagers lived in an era of long ago, now we see that they're really only an unknowing Amish-esque entity.
Given these plot twists, you can either sit back, reflect, & respect them. Or, you're furious that you've sat through what you thought was a Grimm faerie tale-ish type of horror show, only to be anything BUT scared! Initially, I was exasperated by Ivy's plodding journey. In hind sight, I'm able to reprocess and kind of 'get' the bizarre twists, however mundane they are.
'The Village' has a lot going for it. The locales, costumes, music & cinematography set quite the mood. I like that there are no CGI monsters. I enjoyed most of the performances, particularly from Ron Howard's newcomer daughter, Bryce. 'The Village' is quietly creepy, slowly creating an eerie atmosphere. We, along with the villagers, are terrified of the creatures who inhabit the dark woods. There's an unnerving, burgeoning tension that builds. But then a deafening dullness sets in and the plot starts to frazzle. As I said, the initial hatred has worn off and I think I'll find more positives in the second go-around. But Shyamalan continues to disappoint with this and Signs after his immensely superior The Sixth Sense.
The town folk are scared for their lives. The 'Elders', a governing council of the village (including William Hurt & Sigourney Weaver's characters), are horrified at the prospect of certain danger. The creatures have skinned some animals and laid them in their fields. They've ventured to the houses & painted red X's on the doors of the villagers. This seems to be a direct threat. And yet, Ivy still has the fortitude to venture through the woods and reach 'the towns' so that she can get proper medical help for her dying fiancee, Lucius. What's at the end of the forest? Who's there? Will she ever get back and save Lucius in time?
SPOILER ALERT: there are 3 distinct twists here that define the layout of the film: 1) there are no evil creatures. But the Elder council have made a concerted effort to keep the 'young ones' in the village from thinking they can ever leave their premises. Why do the Elders want to protect their young from the outside world? You'll have to sit & wade through the meandering story to find out. 2) Ivy encounters a 'creature' in the Forest but tricks it into falling into a ditch. Because she's blind, she doesn't realize that the creature happens to be Noah, cloaked in a beast costume. 3) When Ivy reaches the end of the woods, she finds herself in a present day civilization! We've thought the villagers lived in an era of long ago, now we see that they're really only an unknowing Amish-esque entity.
Given these plot twists, you can either sit back, reflect, & respect them. Or, you're furious that you've sat through what you thought was a Grimm faerie tale-ish type of horror show, only to be anything BUT scared! Initially, I was exasperated by Ivy's plodding journey. In hind sight, I'm able to reprocess and kind of 'get' the bizarre twists, however mundane they are.
'The Village' has a lot going for it. The locales, costumes, music & cinematography set quite the mood. I like that there are no CGI monsters. I enjoyed most of the performances, particularly from Ron Howard's newcomer daughter, Bryce. 'The Village' is quietly creepy, slowly creating an eerie atmosphere. We, along with the villagers, are terrified of the creatures who inhabit the dark woods. There's an unnerving, burgeoning tension that builds. But then a deafening dullness sets in and the plot starts to frazzle. As I said, the initial hatred has worn off and I think I'll find more positives in the second go-around. But Shyamalan continues to disappoint with this and Signs after his immensely superior The Sixth Sense.