The Village

Nearly a universally regarded M. Night Shyamalan failure, THE VILLAGE has gained a terrible reputation, primarily for having a twist ending that was far from satisfactory. I disagree. What do we expect out of the twist ending? How can you not be satisfied by one is what I'm really asking. Someone who asks for a different ending, or a different reality, is asking for a different film. I've always gone along with a twist, despite how shocking or not shocking some are. But A) A 2 minute bit at the end shouldn't change the 118 at the beginning that were pretty good and B) If that's how it is, that's how it is. In THE VILLAGE, I even appreciated the twist, and thought that it was earned and pleasing. The film tells of an odd clan of 19th century villagers living exclusively within the village. Nobody trespasses into the woods, and there's a weird offbeat color sensibility that all the townspeople share. Shyamalan sets up a nice tone of dark dread, as animal skins begin to turn up, and everyone begins to fear a presence from the woods, and whisper of "Those Who Are Not Spoken Of" (who, incidentally, are spoken of quite a bit). Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) is at the head of a new generation in the village, who are increasingly interested in convincing the group of elders (Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Brendan Gleeson) to allow them to venture into the woods to reach other towns. Lucius and a blind girl named Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) start to flirt with marriage, and as this progresses, the village idiot (Adrien Brody) becomes increasingly agitated. From the start of the film, though, it becomes clear that someone will eventually leave the village, and we'll eventually learn what's up with the jumpy village. The payoff is fine, I wasn't bothered by it, and if you are, I would implore looking at the earlier bits of the film, which are entertainingly directed in a lively fashion. Greatly assisting Shyamalan here is his cast and his cinematographer, Roger Deakins. Both lend a perfect amount of creepiness to the film.

★★★ out of Five