Directed by:
M. Night ShyamalanScreenplay:
M. Night ShyamalanCinematography:
Roger DeakinsComposer:
James Newton HowardCast:
Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson, Cherry Jones, Celia Weston, Jayne Atkinson, Judy Greer (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
An isolated, tight-knit community lives in mortal fear of an oppressive evil inhabiting the forbidden forest just beyond their tiny village. So frightening that no one ventures into the woods ... until one villager dares to face the unknown. (official distributor synopsis)
Videos (1)
Reviews (11)
A film whose biggest weakness is, paradoxically, the thing it cannot control itself, the overly high expectations of the fans of the director and screenwriter in one person. I enjoyed Shyamalan's intriguing plot premise, I also enjoyed the main idea that emerges after the central plot twist is revealed. Unfortunately, though, that twist is quite problematic. Not because it isn't interesting, but because it raises a lot of questions about improbability and being too "far-fetched". Nevertheless, I was still satisfied. The Village is a beautifully atmospheric affair, with great music, and the fact that it doesn't feel much like a horror movie and that I was hardly scared at all bothered me least of all, and I don't take any criticism in that direction.
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A splendid study into the life of a strange, closed community. Nothing special in acting terms and, from Adrien Brody, a perfect parody on acting performances. As usual, Shyamalan has everything firmly in his grasp in terms of directing, but the screenplay slipped through his fingers this time round. Because he was trying too hard to live up to viewer expectations and forcibly grafted on his traditional tension-rising-toward-a-climax element. If he had revealed this “shocking" event right at the beginning, the end result could have been much better. This is a great shame, because some moments suggest that The Village held great potential that unfortunately was exploited terribly little.
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I by no means claim that The Village is M. Night Shyamalan's best film, but I like it the most. Emotionally, it may resonate with me more than the acclaimed The Sixth Sense. In one of Švankmajer's films, the heroine says: "You have to close your eyes, or you won't see anything." In the case of The Village, it is not necessary to close your eyes but to embrace the director's game and let your imagination carry you away. The film doesn't function as a thriller or even as a horror, and anyone who thinks in terms of traditional genres will inevitably be disappointed. However, The Village, despite many contrary claims in the reviews, offers a range of very good acting performances, directorial ideas, and above all, atmosphere. Overall impression 90%.
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Mysterious atmosphere, suspense, great performances (Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody) and an original theme. This film had its light and dark moments, which were about in balance, but I still have to say I haven't seen anything like it before.
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What the fuck is going on here? Mr. Shyamalan, don't be mad at me, but I don't buy this. The Sixth Sense and Signs were good, hats off to you for that, but I feel you've been wandering in a vicious circle ever since. The Village is just awful – but you know what I mean. It makes me so angry to think how I wasted 100 minutes of my life. And yet, the premise made me expect that there would at least be something happening, that there would be something frightening, that I would see a bold and unconventional movie. Bollocks. Despite the presence of all those great actors, this is one of the biggest and most painful disappointments I've ever seen in a film, and one of the biggest screenwriting screw-ups. It seems it has impressed some people, but there was nothing that impressed me. In the beginning, you can feel some atmosphere, but as the time drags on, when nothing happens at all and only insanely lame dialogues are on the agenda, any glimmer of tension inexorably disappears and you have to accept that the director is either crazy and taking the piss, or he’s completely stupid and the mystery of this film has failed to reveal itself. So I guess I'm a fool, but the moment the mystery of the ghostly apparitions was revealed, I got up and walked away from the TV. I really couldn't be bothered with this, I just couldn't stand one more minute of such an uninteresting piece of garbage. And why I’m giving it that 1* then? For Phoenix, simply. For him and for the other poor actors who had to endure it far worse than I did.
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