The Village

Fool me four times? Not bad, M. Night Shyamalan
There is so much bad word of mouth out there about "The Village" that I had to go see it by myself because nobody wanted to see it with me. I avoided all the publicity about M. Night Shyamalan's fourth film so that I could make up my own mind. Besides, if the whole point is to see whether he can fool us again, why would you want to know anything on the chance that it would be too much? If the film gets spoiled by a review, then that is hardly giving the film a chance. Even when Penn & Teller show you how they do their trick, they get to do the trick first.

The Village is located in a valley surrounding by Covington Woods. The year is 1897 according to the tombstone we see at the start of the film. As we are introduced to life in the community we learn about the strange rules under which its inhabitants live. If you did not read the rules on the poster for "The Village," they are enacted during the first part of the film. Red is a bad color that cannot...

True to the Director's Style
I read several reviews before seeing this movie and they pretty muched summed up to the movie being fair to pretty good. I saw a few really neagtive ones as well. I went to the movie with an open mind and waqs glad that I did. I will have to say that the director was very true to his style. I belive that a lot of people who gave the movie poor ratings came to see it with many preconceived notions of what it would be. I must admit when I first saw the trailers I classified it as a scary movie that would take place in the late 18th century. The beauty of the story is that it is much more than what it appears and the director is very successful in tying together many intricate details into a seemless plot that takes a person's perception of reality on a roller coaster ride. I feel that if the same people who gave this movie a bad review were to have simply sat back and let the story unfold before them rather than coaxing into a direction they thought it should go then they would have...

"Let Her Go...Ivy Runs Toward Hope..."
I think two factors are behind the bulk of negative reviews for "The Village": one, it's fairly obvious that M. Night Shymalan has gone into the well a few too many times in regard to his Big Twist plot scenario, and two, the film was wrongly advertised as a horror movie.

Perhaps my knowledge of these two facts was what let me enjoy the movie on a level that other people haven't; watching it as a dark fairy tale, a critique on today's contemporary situation, a beautiful love story, and a chilling suspense mystery. With gorgeous visuals, fantastic use of colour and a haunting violinist score, "The Village" is certainly a feast for the senses, whatever you might think of the actual story.

In an idyllic, peaceful clearing is a hamlet where children play together, adults work together, and which is benevolently ruled over by a group of Elders. Amongst them is Edward Walker, the village patriarch and school-teacher, widowed Alice Hunt, and bereaved father August...

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