The Village Review
by Karina Montgomery (karina AT cinerina DOT com)August 23rd, 2004
The Village
Matinee Price
One thing I always find rewarding about M. Night Shyamalan's films is that they bear up well under analysis. They invite discussion at the depths of an art film, but with the accessibility of a big Hollywood film. While none of his films since have matched The Sixth Sense for pure clarity and craft, The Village takes a moderately high concept and sells it effectively as an intimate thriller.
In discussions, I found some folks missed key connections that others had found obvious, and the affection level for the film appears to follow this curve precisely. This affection hinges on the perception of the film underneath the plot. If you take all the clues and spread them out on a table, very little in this film defies explanation. I found it delicious to go back and revisit scenes in my mind with information obtained later in the film. "oh, so he's got Š" and "I see, the thing there I forŠ" Et cetera. One scene, with claustrophobically close camera work,gained momentum even more so after it was over; this same scene elicited gasps of reaction from the audience which exceeded any reaction at all from audiences in Troy.
Bryce Dallas Howard is given short shrift in the previews because, for my money, this is her movie. Joaquin Phoenix is supposedly the name to draw the young folks in, and smart-movie stalwarts Sigourney Weaver and William Hurt are strong foundations, but Ron's daughter Bryce is simply fabulous. The rest of the idyllic Village residents fade behind her steely and vulnerable beauty, happy to remain ruled (and protected) by fear. Fear and faith. The younger generation (Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody) have faith in the protection afforded them by the village's boundaries, but the mythology that gives the boundary power is entirely grounded in fear. As outsiders, we can see that it is mythology, artificial symbols protecting from an unseen danger; it's in every culture, modern and primitive, as is the very thing these people hope to escape.
Yet the titular habitation appears designed to eliminate terror. Watchtowers, lit peripheries, systems and drills and safety measures, which only serve to remind one of the eve-present danger. Sound familiar? Of course, their terror level is perpetually at yellow, but they are a simpler folk. The simplicity of their homespun lives, their slow, deliberate movements and speech, everything feels safe and solid. Yet, superstition and un-nameable bogeys (not unlike the You-Know-Who moniker of Harry Potter's Voldemort gaining power by being unspeakable) dictate every aspect of these people's lives.
Joaquin Phoenix is fine in his role. I have never warmed to him as a performer, but I believe that he believes in what his role is experiencing, and that is enough; Howard takes me the rest of the way. Adrien Brody exhibits a gentle genius as the mentally disabled Noah, whose disease is more alien to his peers than even they know.
Director of photography Roger Deakins has the most sensitive eye in the business, with subtle, delicate shifts in light and color forming the most powerful images. An outstretched hand in the darkness, indistinct forms looming beyond in shadow, it gives me chills. Shyamalan's requisite cameo and sole reaction shot will be lost on video. Deakins' painting with light deserves big screen viewing.
Ever-Shymalan collaborator James Newton Howard's score to the Village is equally as lovely and delicate as Deakins' imagery. It matches the peaches and cream complexion of Howard's Ivy and the complexity of the mid-film dilemma. A great score in theory should never be noticed, but I found myself straining to hear it nonetheless.
Shyamalan has sort of trapped himself with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable and Signs (to a degree; that revelation was more the completion of a circle), creating an audience expectation of a Big Twist. I am sure Night did not set out to be a cinematic O. Henry, and what some might call the "obligatory surprise" in The Village is what I would only call a new level. This film is about faith and fear and balancing those to have a whole life. Some information must be withheld from the audience to build empathy with a character, but the fascinating story underneath is only grazed by the script.
If you have not yet seen The Village, don't listen to the people around you - everyone seems to get something different from this film. (They used to call that "art.") In my experience, even having had an impression of what ended up being a revelation, the mystery of the village unfolds in such a way that it rewards the careful viewer. For one who suspends her disbelief as willingly as I do, The Village was a treat even when I spoiled it for myself.
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These reviews (c) 2004 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks. You can check out previous reviews at:
http://www.cinerina.com and http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com - the Online Film Critics Society http://www.hsbr.net/reviews/karina/listing.hsbr - Hollywood Stock Exchange Brokerage Resource
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