The Village : Spoiler Alert

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Just saw thie movie yesterday and contrary to other reviews I thought it was
a pretty good and twisted story. The movie was pretty slow at times but I think it conveyed feeling of a small , isolated ''19th century'' community. As for the acting welll Adrian Brody's portrayal of an ADD/ Special person was convincing and Juaquin Phoenix played a decent role. All in all it was a verry creepy psychoilogical movie that brings up many ethical questions about life and the quest for a eutopian society.

Spoiler Alert-----------------------------------------------------------------

After watching the movie and analyzing it I realized that Brody's character may have been the only person out of the younger villagers who realized the ''truth'' behind the monsters.

[MrBug708]

It's hard to gauge if he really did understand the role of the creatures, but he showed he wasn't afraid when they first invaded and had to be pushed downstairs.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

dola: like the movie Signs the ''monsters'' are just a small part with the people's pasts playing a big role .

[kingfc22]

Once again, Shamalan (sp?) works your brain and requires you to pay attention. The film was not what I anticipated going into it, but still an interesting movie to watch.

I would agree that the pace and dialect of the film gave it the "feeling" of the 19th century.

[thesloppy]

M. Night Shamalamadingdong makes my weiner soft....I'm totally confounded by the fact that anybody can sit through his films, which may speak more for my attention span than his directorial prowess, but that still does little to explain his widespread acclaim.

I like that he's attempting to get his audience to think, and the photography in his films is usually well above average, but I just can't shake this mental image I have of him standing behind the camera urging his actors along with directives like "act less!", "be more wooden!", and "you're not whispering earnestly enough!".

[sabotai]

Once again, Shamalan (sp?) works your brain and requires you to pay attention.

But not too much attention, because then you would see where he cheats and does things that just downright nutty. :D

[Maple Leafs]

Are people liking this movie?

We were all hyped to go see it, and then the reviewers just savaged it.

[MrBug708]

I think it was trashed because it was a little more family oriented and a little less scary then people assumed it would be.

[Karlifornia]

C'mon...the movie wasn't terrible. Face it. The only thing Shyamalan is guilty of here is making everyone believe it was a horror flick. I admit that the fact that it wasn't was dissapointing, but once I got over it I enjoyed the movie.

[gstelmack]

C'mon...the movie wasn't terrible. Face it. The only thing Shyamalan is guilty of here is making everyone believe it was a horror flick. I admit that the fact that it wasn't was dissapointing, but once I got over it I enjoyed the movie.
If it's not a horror flick, I might actually watch it.

[Peregrine]

I liked the movie a lot, Maple Leafs, as did seven of the eight people I have seen it with (twice!)

[Swaggs]

My wife and I liked it.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

My fav. part was when Mr. Walker's daughter proposed to Lucius and the next sceen has her crying because she was rejiected. That was classic.

[Daimyo]

I loved it. It is definately my favorite M Night movie and the best movie I've seen in the theater in a long time. The one problem is that they're totally mismarketing it.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Yeah who knew that it turned out to be all a bunch of.............in the end.

[Suicane75]

I'm a bit surprised by those who said this wasn't a horror film. It reminded me alot of being totaly creeped out the first time I read Sleepy Hollow when i was a little kid.

Maybe i'm just slower than the rest of you but up until they find out that Adrian Brody has gone missing I was on the edge of my seat, genuinely afraid/intrigued by what was going on.

But I do agree that this movie was far and above what the critics are making it out to be. After I saw it I went and read Roger Eberts review and I couldn't believe how he bashed it. Yes it was slow at times but IMO that just made the revealing/action scenes all the more intense. I would put it up there with any of his other 3 movies and I loved all of them.

[ice4277]

I saw the movie, was disappointed afterwards, but I've grown to appreciate it more since I saw it a week or so ago. I think I was disappointed because it was totally not the type of movie I was prepared for, but definitely interesting with a couple of great twists.

[PilotMan]

It was a good movie, and in line with the way that he has done his other projects. As he takes a hypothetical idea and then builds the cast and story around it, as opposed to letting characters and events carry the story.

It was a mistake to market the movie the way that it was, it has a couple of good scare scenes but should not have been billed as a scarefest.

[CamEdwards]

I thought it was excellent. Didn't have a problem with it not being a horror film, because I have a feeling M. Night Shamalyn (sp?) wouldn't do a very good job with a straight horror movie. He does those Hitchcockian movies very well, however. I'd rate this ahead of Signs and Unbreakable, and just below The Sixth Sense.

[KWhit]

I thought this movie was horrible. Night is one of my favorite directors, but I think this is by far his worst film to date. Adrian Brody was way too over-the-top. I saw the plot twists coming from a mile away (the first time that's happened with one of his films, BTW).

I'd rate his films:

1 Sixth Sense
2 Signs
3 Unbreakable
.
.
.
100 The Village





SPOILERS
______________________________________________________






I also felt that once you found out the truth about the monsters the suspense was totally gone. The whole premise of the story was now kaput and now the villain is Brody's character - someone who doesn't seem to know AT ALL what the heck he's doing most of the time, but he had the smarts to escape, find the costume, decide to dress up like a monster and go after the girl. He easily caught up with her and found her but kept missing her as he tried to grab her... Hey, I'm all for suspension of disbelief but that's asking way too much of me.


However, the scene where he stabs Juaquin was excellent filmmaking - so surprising and out of nowhere. I loved that.

[Peregrine]

I thought it was excellent. Didn't have a problem with it not being a horror film, because I have a feeling M. Night Shamalyn (sp?) wouldn't do a very good job with a straight horror movie. He does those Hitchcockian movies very well, however. I'd rate this ahead of Signs and Unbreakable, and just below The Sixth Sense.


This is close to my take on it as well. I liked it a lot.

[Pyser]

i think the problem with his movies now is i, like others, i assume, go in trying to "figure it out" while watching it. so i saw the plot twist coming a mile away. maybe thats why sixth sense worked so well. no one went in trying to guess the ending (at first).

i liked the movie, but it wasnt one of his better efforts.

and people should stop expecting his movies to be scary. they never are. they start out that way, but every time, without fail, it turns out to be about people, their relationships, and their past. not monsters. ever. (and his monsters are awful. he should get a better design team, if he wants to scare)

[CamEdwards]

I purposely try not to figure out the movie. I just sit back and wait to be surprised.

[Maple Leafs]

i think the problem with his movies now is i, like others, i assume, go in trying to "figure it out" while watching it. so i saw the plot twist coming a mile away. maybe thats why sixth sense worked so well. no one went in trying to guess the ending (at first). I saw it several weeks after it came out, and only because my wife nagged me to come with her when she saw it a second time. I knew there was a twist, but it still blindsided me. Never saw it coming at all. Still one of the great "you're kidding me" movie monents I've experienced.

[lynchjm24]

Uh, the ending is spoiled when the first time the 'creatures' come and the parents are nowhere to be found....

[PilotMan]

I also felt that once you found out the truth about the monsters the suspense was totally gone. The whole premise of the story was now kaput and now the villain is Brody's character - someone who doesn't seem to know AT ALL what the heck he's doing most of the time, but he had the smarts to escape, find the costume, decide to dress up like a monster and go after the girl. He easily caught up with her and found her but kept missing her as he tried to grab her... Hey, I'm all for suspension of disbelief but that's asking way too much of me.


However, the scene where he stabs Juaquin was excellent filmmaking - so surprising and out of nowhere. I loved that.
I felt this way too, however it still wasn't enough to keep me from really enjoying the movie.

[Daimyo]

This is one of the few "twist" movies (Usual Suspects being the other I can think of) that I could watch over and over, fully knowing the twist, and still enjoy it just as much as the first time.

[Peregrine]

I was discussing this movie with co-workers the other night, and it seems that whether you liked the movie a lot or not correlates some with how you view the "twist." People that judge the movies largely on the twist, and make a point of how they predicted the twist or saw it coming, like the movie less, and those who tend to go to just see a good movie and not try to "out-think" the twist seem to like the movie more.

[ice4277]

I purposely try not to figure out the movie. I just sit back and wait to be surprised.
This is my approach as well. Trying to sit there and figure it out makes a movie just as enjoyable as if somebody who already saw it is telling me what happens moments beforehand.

[sabotai]

People that judge the movies largely on the twist, and make a point of how they predicted the twist or saw it coming, like the movie less, and those who tend to go to just see a good movie and not try to "out-think" the twist seem to like the movie more.

Wow...talk about a loaded statement.

I go to the movies and not try to out-think the movie, too. It's just that sometimes figuring out the twist just comes to me without me asking my brain for it.

[WSUCougar]

I actually was enjoying the movie as a straight up Gothic-type plot. The concept of an uneasy truce between the village and the unspeakables out in the woods was intriguing, and could have been used for greater effect IMO. And when Joaquin got stabbed, I never saw it coming. But the whole "we made up the monsters" thing bummed me out. It had a Scooby Doo quality to it. I realize that it is entwined with the modern people plot line, but nevertheless I was let down by it.

[Swaggs]

SPOILER

The two things that stuck out to me, for whatever reason, were that all the buildings had glass and that they had no weapons. Initially, I thought they might have been a prison colony and that was why they had no guns, swords, etc. Then, after the black boxes started making their appearances, I figured that they were in some way averse to violence and had locked away their weapons.

The only thing I really felt cheated about was, not that they used the 1890s (that made sense to me because, beyond being able to make glass, that seemed to be the appropriate technological period for what they were capable of doing on their own--w/o electricity, factories, etc), but that they felt compelled to call the year 1897. If they were only concerned with ignoring the rest of the world, the year should not have mattered--particularly since it would really only serve to confuse the people that left the village. I think that was kind of a cheap trick by the director to tell you what the year was, rather than just inferring that it was the period before electricity, automobiles.

[Peregrine]

I probably phrased it wrong Sabotai, I don't mean it as a judgement, I was just trying to convey the results of an informal survey of many of my co-workers who had seen the movie. It tended to break down along those lines that I mentioned, with most of the people who didn't like it saying things like "unbelieveable twist" and "saw the twist coming a mile away."

[Samdari]

Wow...talk about a loaded statement.

I go to the movies and not try to out-think the movie, too. It's just that sometimes figuring out the twist just comes to me without me asking my brain for it.

And then there are those days when Mr Brain ignores repeated requests for information or good judgement.

[cthomer5000]

I purposely try not to figure out the movie. I just sit back and wait to be surprised.
Agreed.


I just saw the movie this evening, and liked it. I honestly don't know where the scathing reviews came from, I personally didn't see too much to dislike. For the record though, I'll admit I tend to like M. Night's films more than most.


***spoliers***

I still found the forest scene with Ivy frightenening, because once I saw "the creature" I began to think they were real. You'd heard the father drop hints about their being legends about monsters there, and I began to wonder if he hadn't just purposefully lied to her (saying they were fake) in order to alleviate her fears about traveling through the woods.

I thought it was a solid movie overall.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Agreed.


I just saw the movie this evening, and liked it. I honestly don't know where the scathing reviews came from, I personally didn't see too much to dislike. For the record though, I'll admit I tend to like M. Night's films more than most.


***spoliers***

I still found the forest scene with Ivy frightenening, because once I saw "the creature" I began to think they were real. You'd heard the father drop hints about their being legends about monsters there, and I began to wonder if he hadn't just purposefully lied to her (saying they were fake) in order to alleviate her fears about traveling through the woods.

I thought it was a solid movie overall.

Im still wondering if those rumoured ''monsters'' were Bigfoot or what not.

[samifan24]

Just caught this film tonight. As a Shyamalan fan, I enjoyed it. I knew it was not a horror flick and, like others, just waited to be surprised. M. Night's films have almost always been studies of people in dire situations, and I think the same holds true for this film.

I'll also agree with everyone who said the film was marketed poorly, but I doubt it would've attracted much interest if they hadn't billed it as a horror flick. It's a shame because it's a solid film in my opinion, just not what everyone thought it would be.

[JeeberD]

Spoiler Alert-----------------------------------------------------------------

After watching the movie and analyzing it I realized that Brody's character may have been the only person out of the younger villagers who realized the ''truth'' behind the monsters.

Yeah, I agree with you. He didn't see to care about the monsters at all the entire movie, and tended to giggle when they were around. I'm thinking that he had found the monster suit hidden in the "bad room" or whatever it was called (it's been a month or two since I saw the movie) once when he was locked in there and realized what was going on.

Also, people are talking about the monsters not being real being the twist. Wasn't the real twist the fact that it was set in modern times? I kinda sorta saw that coming though...it was something that crossed my mind at one point but never decided if it was going to happen until it actually did happen.

Overall I enjoyed the movie, probably second on my M Night list behind The Sixth Sense.

Oh, and the girl who played Ivy was hot. Oh how I love my redheads...
:)

[Anthony]

i won't get a medal or anything, but i didn't see the movie and i guessed the plot twist. my wife went to see it and i told her to tell me if i was right, and i got everything correct. the elder folk made up the monsters to scare the youngers generation and it's set in modern times.

[cthomer5000]

Yeah, I agree with you. He didn't see to care about the monsters at all the entire movie, and tended to giggle when they were around. I'm thinking that he had found the monster suit hidden in the "bad room" or whatever it was called (it's been a month or two since I saw the movie) once when he was locked in there and realized what was going on.

Also, people are talking about the monsters not being real being the twist. Wasn't the real twist the fact that it was set in modern times? I kinda sorta saw that coming though...it was something that crossed my mind at one point but never decided if it was going to happen until it actually did happen.

Overall I enjoyed the movie, probably second on my M Night list behind The Sixth Sense.

Oh, and the girl who played Ivy was hot. Oh how I love my redheads...
:) To me the twist didn't matter. I had some gut feeling midway through the movie that they were in fact set in modern times, but it didn't matter to me. The scene I specifically recall making me think that was one of the middle aged women talking about here sister being raped, killed, and her body dumped in an alley. It was something about here speech pattern or choice of words which maked it seem modern.

And again, I think there is a sort of false-twist in the forest when the creature comes upon Ivy. You (or maybe just me) begin to wonder if the father didn't just lie to her in order to calm her down before sending her into the woods.

I just thought it was a solid movie overall.

[Tigercat]

As someone who saw all of Night's movies without thinking about the plot twist(I get so engrossed into movies that I am able to not think of such things while watching), I found The Village's twists to be most satisfying. If you are not looking for the twists, I think the adults to a great job of carrying the secret. You can really see fear in the actor's portrayls, of course that fear ends up being of the modern world and of their secret being found out, ect. But that fear in their eyes and in how they talk about the world outside the village, its very convincing if you're not out to solve a puzzle upon first viewing.

And I too thought that the last "monster" was indeed a monster at first. Thats the kind of suspense the movie held for me. And multiple big twists in any movie? Thats so odd, that I must admit I didn't see the modern twist coming.

Its a shame that Night is so well known for doing what he does, because if you can watch a movie like the Village with a clean slate, its really a neat thing.

[VPI97]

Im still wondering if those rumoured ''monsters'' were Bigfoot or what not.They were in a refuge around New York, so I assumed that the monster he was referring to was the New Jersey Devil.

[samifan24]

*spoilers below*


In the scene others have referenced when the woman tells Ivy (Howard) that her sister didn't live past her 23rd birthday and died in an alley, I thought it was weird that she said alley because I didn't know that people called them "alleys" in the 19th century. That being said, I still didn't see the twist coming.

I took the twist to be two-fold: 1) that the adults created the monsters to keep the younger generations from the outside world, hence keeping their innocence, and 2) that the film was set in modern times. I also thought that Brody's character wasn't afraid of the monsters, but that he found out they were fake towards the end while being locked in the "quiet room," where he found a costume under the floorboard. When Ivy's dad takes her in to the shed to show her the costumes, I thought those were the only costumes in the whole village, so I was surprised when they showed how Brody found the costume and ran in to the woods.