The Village - Continued Discussion

**Only Alive** · 01-04-2005, 06:00 PM

Continuing a discussion from 2004 movie finals...

The Village was my favorite film of the year (I haven't seen The Incredibles or Eternal Sunshine). For me, it's about on par to Sixth Sense.
However, at the theatre I noticed a good many people grumbling at the movie ended. I think that the film was mis-interperated becaues the trailers seemed to indicate a monster film, while, as you will know, the final product was a good deal different. It was more of a thriller / character focus movie. Discuss!

-Nick

**SupaNova** · 01-04-2005, 10:31 PM

I went into the movie knowing that it wasn't suppose to be a suspensful, monster movie and I still wasn't too pleased with it. I think, for me at least, "The Village"'s story was fairly underwhelming.

joshaber · 01-04-2005, 10:38 PM

Eh, I didn't think it was all that good. Not scary, rather disappointing ending, blah.

TheProdigalModern · 01-04-2005, 11:01 PM

I think that it would have been a great film if someone in the editing room would have said, "Hey, this should be placed here instead of here."

**meatfinger** · 01-04-2005, 11:58 PM

This film is a lot better than people give it credit for. This is a pretty typical complaine you'll hear regarding the film:

Quote:

Eh, I didn't think it was all that good. Not scary, rather disappointing ending, blah.

To this I say, the film wasn't about being scary. It wasn't supposed to be another Sixth Sense or Signs type film. It was meant to be a film that raised certain philisophical and moral questions in order to relate them to current events (possibly). In this regard, Shyamalan did quite well. Also, the film made fantastic use of visuals and color. The writing was shaky, but decent compared to most Hollywood films. Altogether, I'd say The Village was better than people gave it credit for.

I dont' think Shyamalan is going to have much popular success becuase everyone will be continually expecting a Sixth Sense type movie with a startling twist. If they don't get that, they will be disappointed.

joey unknown · 01-05-2005, 07:46 AM

i thought the movie was wonderful very well written and i like the twist at th end

**Only Alive** · 01-05-2005, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meatfinger

This film is a lot better than people give it credit for.

To this I say, the film wasn't about being scary. It wasn't supposed to be another Sixth Sense or Signs type film. It was meant to be a film that raised certain philisophical and moral questions in order to relate them to current events (possibly). In this regard, Shyamalan did quite well. Also, the film made fantastic use of visuals and color. The writing was shaky, but decent compared to most Hollywood films. Altogether, I'd say The Village was better than people gave it credit for.

I dont' think Shyamalan is going to have much popular success becuase everyone will be continually expecting a Sixth Sense type movie with a startling twist. If they don't get that, they will be disappointed.

I like you. A lot.

I was really amazed by the characters in The Village. It wasn't a very convention movie. It had very different themes than most blockbusters. The visuals were stunning, and the camerawork unique.

-Nick

RockOn28 · 01-05-2005, 01:03 PM

meatfinger hit the nail on the head.

**Sean** · 01-05-2005, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meatfinger

I dont' think Shyamalan is going to have much popular success becuase everyone will be continually expecting a Sixth Sense type movie with a startling twist. If they don't get that, they will be disappointed.

The problem is that he isn't really branching off far enough to make that possible. Three of the four of his big films have had a startling twist at the end (INCLUDING THE ONE IN DISCUSSION!). The one that doesn't have a big twist has more of a moment of enlightenment. All of his movies DO have sort of an errie whats going on feel to them. They all deal with something super-normal (The Village pretends to). Sure The Village had its psuedo-philosphical undertones, but they were presented in a film that was OBVIOUSLY the same sort of film as Signs and The Sixth Sense. It wasn't a romantic comedy. It wasn't an action film. It wsn't a teenage melo-drama. He made another eerie movie where something strange is going on and we slowly find out what it is.

**meatfinger** · 01-05-2005, 10:03 PM

Sure, it was the same genre, even a similar idea. But it seemed like Shyamalan was trying to dig a little deeper for meaning in The Village than he had in any of his previous movies (except maybe Signs). I think you're right in that he might have to step into a different genre to shake off the Sixth Sense expectations. It'd be interesting to see if he could be successful in other genres as well.

ApparentlyNothing · 01-06-2005, 01:11 AM

**SPOILERS**

He got rid of the most intriguing character halfway through the movie. That disappointed me. Phoenix's character was so interesting, and just as you're getting in to him, he's gone for the rest of the movie. The ending to me was alright, but could have been done way better. Just my opinion. I actually predicted the ending in my mind before it happened. All the different shock endings just went by too slow. And I didn't like how they went from "Oh this is how it is" to "Wait, maybe its not" and then back to "Oh, nevermind, it is how it is" with the monsters. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the movie, but mostly for the sake of the characters and the writing.... up till about 2/3 of the way in. I just think it coulda been done better at that point.

As for movie of the year talk, this movie could never take Eternal Sunshine, no question.

***Art*** · 01-06-2005, 08:46 AM

I loved the movie. The story was good, the characters were great... The visuals were wonderful...

**meatfinger** · 01-06-2005, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApparentlyNothin

Phoenix's character was so interesting, and just as you're getting in to him, he's gone for the rest of the movie.

What did you find so interesting about this character? it's been a long time since I've seen this movie, but I don't remember his character being that interesting or complex.

RockOn28 · 01-06-2005, 01:09 PM

I still think that acting was close to the best i've ever seen

ApparentlyNothing · 01-06-2005, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meatfinger

What did you find so interesting about this character? it's been a long time since I've seen this movie, but I don't remember his character being that interesting or complex.

Well, I haven't seen it since the summer when it was in theatres, but from what I can remember, I loved the way he was quiet and reserved, yet still be interesting as a person. You wanted to know more about him. He still had feelings and emotions, and at times, they came through, even though he kept them inside more often then not. He may have not been interesting to you, but he was to me. A lot of quiet and reserved characters in movies come off as one dimensional and boring. I just felt that Phoenix's character wasn't at all.