i've got a link to the only pics i could find of the beasts,
here it is
http://www.countingdown.com/movies/3135391/board?viewpost=3523409&folder=0
the reason i think people are disappointed is because shamyalan(am not sure of the spelling) did such a great job of building up the beasts, there was a palpable sense of fear because he made you use your imagination to think what was under the red cloaks, and the scariest thing in the world is whats in the darkest recesses of the mind, so people were disappointed when
Spoiler:, most people wanted to be scared shitless, but the
it turned out to be the elders in suits
Spoiler:disappointed those who wanted to see a monster movie. me, am still undecided, part of me loves the story, part of me wanted the
fact that there was no monster at all
Spoiler:
monsters to be real
YAY! A new Village thread - Let me use it before it gets deleted - Being in the UK we only just got this film so the old thread is about a month too late to be of use to anyone.
M Night Shamalamadingdong's The Village
The Village got a fair slab of negative press on account of it's MNS signature "twist" being easy to spot. What I didn't read in any of the reviews was that this is MNS best directed movie to date. He has ditched most (but not all) of the Hitchcock tricks and developed what could almost be a signature style. With only the occasional clumsy lapse his camera is generally confident and assured - and unlike most American movies takes it's time with each scene allowing the story to build at it's own pace.
MNS set himself quite a task: a love story in an unusual repressed community that is also a horror-thriller. The fact that this film succeeds on any level is something of an achievement. It's obvious looking on the other Village thread that a lot of people didn't like the movie - and then came to KMC to have it explained to them. It's a film you have to invest in to get anything back from. I for one was happy to give it my attention and was - I think - rewarded for my $7.
As to the twist being easy to spot.
Spoiler:
It's relatively obvious from the get go that something is not quite right with the dates - it's just a question of WHAT. Although the "answer" is presented as a revelation I'd be surprised if anyone hadn't worked it out by then - or at least have a working theory: I think that's MNS allowing us just enough to keep us working, keep us guessing - something which I enjoy doing immensely but fear too many movie goers these days don’t like to have to concentrate. The real twists in this film is in the way MNS plays with our expectations. If it is the present day then where are they and why are there monsters? The creatures are finally revealed as "not real" and only then do we see one clearly and attacking a principal cast member - if they are not real what the hell is going on?
Despite the small flaws and occasional clumsy moment I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. Anyone looking for a scare that doesn't depend on the usual gore/loud music tricks could do far worse than The Village.
this was one holy movie,with sloppy direction and fleeted dialogue. Good acting, Great set design. as for the ending. well yeah it is going to be split if you like it or not. I liked it, i still think it was executed terribly. It didnt seem to have been thought out very clearly on how to present the ending to the audience. The first and second act of the film had little to no suspense, very slow paced character introduction and crappy scene build up. I found the last half hour useless. after we found out what was going on, the only resolve left to be thirsted for now was to see if the town was going ot find out about the (not wanting to spoil anything) twist. It turned out to prove to have as boring an ending as the rest of the movie.
though i do give it to night for trying somthing different and sticking to being original. Oh yes, as poorly executed as the movie was, it was still decently original. He knew this one was eigther going to solidify his name as the next big thing since sliced bread, or it was going to tarnish his track record and force him to start all over and rebuild a new reputation. to bad it turned out to be the latter, but this was defaintly a movie that offered nothing and was soley dependant on the ending.
The Village
I have to say, I like the film. I didn't guess the twist, (unlike Sixth Sense, where the advertisements had pretty much told me what it was before I went in. I mean, the kid sees dead people, and Bruce Willis gets shot at the beginning. Obvious.)I thought maybe the structuring was slightly wrong when it flashes back to
Spoiler:That's all down to personal opinion though. When I watch it again, I'll decide properly if I think it worked well.
Walker explaining that the creatures aren't real, though that would have been okay if Shyamalan had waited until later to show that the village idiot had escaped with the costume. Maybe a flashback at the end, similar to Sixth Sense?
Other than that, I thought it was excellently done and brilliantly acted, though I think the film could be understood in several ways, and depending which level you took it on depends whether or not it's a good film. One theory is that the film was constrained by plot devices.
Spoiler:Plot device, pure and simple. If you go through the film looking at it like this, you feel a little let down by the ending, and disappointed with the film as a whole, seeing it as pretty pointless.
If you really wanted to start a new community somewhere else, you wouldn't really have to wear period costume and talk in an old-fashioned way. The women could wear trousers, and you talk like we do today. Shyamalan had to put that in to fool the audience into believing it was a period film, so philosophically, it isn't air-tight. Plus, why would you keep a little trunk of memories that your children know is there, and contains some secret you don't want to tell them, if you really wanted to start a new life? Most intelligent people know that as a society, big secrets don't go hand in hand with trust. And why did they open the trunks near the end and look at the photos?
The other way of looking at it is
Spoiler:This film works on so many levels, and there's so much to talk about. On the whole, I really enjoyed it, and thought it conveyed a lot of very interesting ideas. It was brilliantly directed, and gave an insight into the human psyche that is fantastic to think about (and argue about with friends!) All in all, pretty excellent is the verdict from my camp. Feel free to argue about it with me by emailing me!
the film is probably set maybe ten or twenty years in the future, and that Shyamalan uses the newspaper the security guard holds near the end as an illustration of how much crime and violence had escalated in that time. The film is actually a prophesy of the way mankind is heading over the next few years, and of the consequences for the victims - in short, that the village elders are all pretty insane, and completely terrified of the world outside the village. Why else would they believe that locking themselves away in a village would solve all their problems? Why would they insist on wearing old-fashioned costumes, such as long skirts for women and corsets, when common sense must have told them it was impractical? Their children would have accepted whatever culture they were brought up in, so the elders must have done it for their own benefit, to try and convince themselves that they really were living in a time when no one got beaten up or raped, or shot. Obviously though, there has been NO time when these things have not happened, so the elders are just blocking these thoughts out of their minds. It's like their playing a game - and the rules are whatever makes THEM feel safe, regardless of the corruption they are causing to the children round them. If they weren't mad, they would have known that terrifying their children into staying within the village was totalitarian and fascist, and that they were implementing within their "sanctuary" the very problems they were trying to escape.This can't be compared to the Amish - they teach their children by comparison, bringing them up in one way of life, but not forbidding them to compare it with the modern world, and give their children the ability to evaluate their way of life and choose to continue it or leave, as they wish. The elders in the film are mad to the extent that they actually think it's okay to rule by terror and are blind to Lucius's desire to get medicine, even after they have allowed a seven-year-old boy to die unnecessarily from an infection that could have been cured. Instead, they resort to manipulating him with guilt, and later let Ivy go for medicine, purely because she is blind and desperate, and will not be able to reveal their sordid secret and reveal their presence to the outside world, securing their safety.
The elders are complete lunatics, and sick at that. They are the actual blind people, because they cannot see the way they are corrupting their own, supposedly perfect, society.
I liked it!
Very good twist!
I didn't get it, and was very confused, me and my friend were chatting through most of the film mainly saying 'i don't get it' 'are those monsters suposed to be scary?' but it was a very good ending.
I dont get some of the things though!
like:
Who made those noises from the woods?
I intend to watch it again and again.
M. Night Shymalan Rocks!!!
That movie was a little creepy at first but it was more confusing. At the end when my dad explained to me about what just happened I finally got the movie. In my opinion, I found the movie quite interesting. It makes one self think what if I left all of this behind and go out to the wilderness to be safe from humanity. It sort of reminds me of Ishmael.