The Village

Movie Name: The Village
Year of Release: 2004
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson, Cherry Jones, Celia Weston, John Christopher Jones, Frank Collison, Jayne Atkinson, Judy Greer, Michael Pitt, Jesse Eisenberg
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review:

M. Night Shyamalan followed his successful "Signs", with a film that once again was shrouded in secrecy. It also featured one of the best casts he has worked with (before and since). The film focuses on the story of Ivy and Lucius, two young adults who live in an isolated community in Pennsylvania in the 19th century. The village is surrounded by thick woods, and the villagers have built a large barrier of oil lanterns and watchtowers, with the intent of keeping watch of creatures who live in those woods and threaten the existence of the community. Lucius and Ivy who are enamored of each other, face a dramatic turn of events, when Noah Percy, a man of the community with development disability, stabs Lucius, since he also has developed feelings for Ivy (who incidentally is blind). The elder council decides to remit a group of three, including Ivy, to procure medication and help beyond the woods. Ivy's helpers soon abandon her, and she makes way through the woods, overcoming a series of obstacles, which includes one of the dreaded creatures. She ultimately reaches the limits of the woods, where she finds the help she longs for, though not all is how it has been portrayed.

M. Night Shyamalan early on made a name for himself, as a Writer/Director whose films had interesting premises, only to have a somewhat unexpected twist in the third chapter of the narrative. That seems to be the case as well with "The Village". What is seemingly a period piece about an isolated community, facing some menacing and terrorizing creatures, becomes something else towards the epilogue of the feature. The director successfully builds an environment of fear and dread throughout the narrative, and we witness the relationships which have defined that community. This chapter is the most effective one, as the relationship between the central couple also blossoms, however as the twists mount, that's where interestingly enough the more engaging and compelling aspects of the film starts to dwindle. There's an interesting insight into collective paranoia looming in this film, however the director goes in a much different direction, particularly as Ivy takes center state in the third chapter of the narrative. The third chapter doesn't so much elevate what has been built previously, as it reduces it to a trope. Even if it is indeed a very unbalanced film, it features great performances from a stellar cast, which includes the phenomenal Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody and Bryce Dallas Howard. The cinematography from Roger Deakins is sumptuous as usual, the same thing going for the score from James Newton Howard. Still worth watching.