NoFace for Film

Title: The Village
Year: 2004
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver
Rated: PG-13

NoFace for Film rating: 4.5 out of 7

Director M. Night Shymalan has become known for plot twists in his films, which in a way have become an advantage and disadvantage for him. On one hand, this has become his trademark, a way that distinguishes his films from others. But at the same time, this trademark has become his hindrance in that people now expect this from him, and are disappointed when the plot twist is downright silly.

I guess you can count me in as one of those people.

With the given date as 1857, the story is about a small, rural village that holds a number of secrets. While its inhabitants seem happy and cheerful, they fear the evil that lies beyond their borders. They dare not go into the woods lest they upset the delicate relationship between them and the terrifying unknown creatures that lurk there. This co-existence is threatened when Lucius Hunt (Phoenix) becomes very concerned for his neighbors and wishes to travel past the woods into the towns to get medicine.

With an all-star cast, the acting was top-notch. Phoenix, who gets better with each film he does, is terrific in his strong but silent type portrayal of Lucius. Brody is great as Noah, a happy-go-lucky but mentally retarded man. Hurt and Weaver turn in strong performances as Ed Walker and Alice Hunt (Lucius’s mother), two of the seven elders who oversee the day-to-day activities of the village and protect it as well. Howard plays Ed’s strong-willed daugther Ivy, who refuses to be hindered by her blindness. When I first learned that Bryce was director Ron Howard’s daughter, I first thought, “Bah, nepotism,” and figured that she probably would suck in the film. Fortunately, she did very well for her first time- and as the main character, no less. I guess dear old dad had taught her a thing or two about the business when she was growing up.

I especially liked Joaquin Phoenix and his portrayal of quiet strength. One of my favorite scenes is when his Lucius Hunt character is sitting on the front porch of a house declaring his love to someone. It’s late at night so he’s whispering, but he does so with so much passion and urgency. You can tell that Lucius has been wanting to tell her this for a long time but has kept it to himself. Although the characters are sitting in the dark and you mainly see only their silhouettes, the scene is very romantic and electrically charged.

The cinematography and directing of The Village is also top notch in my opinion. Shyamalan successfully blends a feeling of fear and tension among the happy innocence of the villagers. In an early scene, we see the villagers going about their daily business- washing dishes, working at the blacksmith, etc. Two young ladies are lightly goofing around while sweeping the front porch when one of them sees a bright red weed growing between the floorboards and stops abruptly. She immediately rips out that weed and carefully buries it in the ground. The two young women stop horsing around and start sweeping seriously, as if their happy spell were broken.

Speaking of red, color is an important factor in The Village. Red is considered a “bad color” (there’s an explanation in the film) while mustard yellow is the “good color”, worn by some of the villagers. In two striking scenes, the contrasting colors play off each other, with a yellow cloaked character amidst a field of bright red plants. Because the audience knows the significance of the red color, the scenes look downright scary and disturbing, even though nothing is really going on in those scenes.

As for the plot itself, I think that overall, it was ummmm, ok. Scary, terrifying things in the woods that threaten innocent people are cool to watch. As for the plot twist, there were actually three. The first twist I thought was interesting but not too surprising, while the second one was actually unexpected. However, the third -and main- plot twist left much to be desired. As some people on the IMDB boards pointed out, it had a very Twilight Zone feeling to it. At one point three fourths in the film I thought to myself, “I will seriously freak the hell out if it turned out that…”. Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed, and I let out an exasparated “Whaaaat????? Aaaaagggghhhh I can’t believe it!” It just felt forced, as if Shyamalan felt liked he *had* to throw in a plot twist to reestablish his signature style as the director who uses plot twists in his films.

The DVD extras were pretty cool. You have your usual “Behind the Scenes” documentaries, deleted scenes, and gallery photos, but you also have a boring video “diary” by Bryce Dallas Howard, in which she documents what it was like to work on the set. It’s so obviously scripted and overall really lame. My favorite DVD extra was an amateur mini-movie starring and directed by a scrawny, teenage Shyamalan (wearing some godawful stonewashed jeans). It’s shaky and blurry, but it’s so damn charming and cute you can’t help but chuckle when you watch it.

Although I was disappointed with the final plot twist in The Village, I enjoyed most of the film. The acting was great, the cinematography and directing were terrific, and the main plot was pretty good. It’s not the type of film I’d watch over and over, but I wouldn’t mind watching it again some time.

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