The Village (2004)

The population of a small, isolated countryside village believe that their alliance with the mysterious creatures that inhabit the forest around them is coming to an end.

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer:

M. Night Shyamalan

Stars:

Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bryce Dallas Howard	...	Ivy Walker
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Lucius Hunt
Adrien Brody	...	Noah Percy
William Hurt	...	Edward Walker
Sigourney Weaver	...	Alice Hunt
Brendan Gleeson	...	August Nicholson
Cherry Jones	...	Mrs. Clack
Celia Weston	...	Vivian Percy
John Christopher Jones	...	Robert Percy
Frank Collison	...	Victor
Jayne Atkinson	...	Tabitha Walker
Judy Greer	...	Kitty Walker
Fran Kranz	...	Christop Crane
Michael Pitt	...	Finton Coin
Jesse Eisenberg	...	Jamison

Storyline

In a quiet, isolated village in olde Pennsylvania, there lies a pact between the people of the village and the creatures who reside in the surrounding woods: the townspeople do not enter the woods, and the creatures do not enter the village. The pact stays true for many years, but when Lucius Hunt seeks medical supplies from the towns beyond the wood, the pact is challenged. Animal carcasses, devoid of fur, begin to appear around the village, causing the council of elders to fear for the safety of the village, the pact, and so much more.

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Plot Keywords:

village | woods | creature | pact | town | 

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Taglines:

There is no turning back

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a scene of violence and frightening situations

Details

Official Sites:

Buena Vista International [fr] Buena Vista International [uk]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 July 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

M. Night Shyamalan's The Village

Filming Locations:

Centerville, Delaware, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,589,532 (Italy) (29 October 2004)

Gross:

$114,195,633 (USA) (26 November 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both Cherry Jones and Jayne Atkinson have starred on 24.

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Goofs

When Alice is explaining to Lucius what happened to his father she says his body was found two days later floating in the river. In the voiceover towards the end of the movie she said his body was found three days later.

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Quotes

[first lines]
August Nicholson: Who'll pinch me to wake me up? Who will laugh at me when I fall? Whose breath will I listen for so that I may sleep? Whose hand will I hold so that I may walk?

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Crazy Credits

Those We Don't Speak Of - Joey Anaya and Kevin Foster

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Connections

Featured in Inside 'The Village': A Movie Special (2004)

User Reviews

a very underrated movie

I like clever movies, and I like scary movies. And because of my disposition I already spent money on two very awful movies that came from Hollywood this year: abysmal "Godsend" and at first glance promising but ultimately stupid and disappointing "The Forgotten".

That's why I proceeded with care to the latest Shyamalan's work: "The village". The trailer looked promising: a desolate turn-of-the-last-century village, sorrounded by the forest in which some horrible creatures live. Promising, but being careful lately, I first checked around the net...and was amazed to see a big load of negative reviews. Roger Ebert for instance, whose opinion I usually respect, gave it a horribly low grade! Great.

Nevertheless, I chose to see it, and I must say was quite pleasantly surprised. Here, ladies and gentlemen, you have a very nicely shot, atmospheric thriller with great cast, good story and a few finishing touches of Shyamalan's cleverness (which could be simply called brilliant when compared with the latest scripts that the Hollywood vomits over its audience!).

Why the lousy reviews? Well, there are basically two kinds of people that will want to see this movie: first the horror fans, who will expect a gruesome and chilling and potentially bloody tale, and the puzzle-movie fans, who are more or less not interested in the movie itself, but in "solving the latest Shyamalan's puzzle" of what the movie is all about.

The horror crowd will be disappointed. There are scares in this movie, but way too much characterization and drama for their taste. As for the other crowd, well people, the twist is there, but this time it's very guessable (although Shyamalan still has some tricks up his sleeve, as you'll see).

It seems that Shyamalan will always live in the shadow of his masterpiece "The 6th sense". People still remember getting their socks knocked off with its powerful ending, and keep expecting that to happen again with every following movie. What's worse, Hollywood realized that the twists are trendy, so lately we have lots of movies with a final twist, most of which are stupid/cheap/illogical. People today set their expectations too damn high, especially if they see Shyamalan's name at the movie poster.

This movie is great. The atmosphere is great, the cast is fantastic, and what I mostly love about it, it's clever. It's logical. And whatever you say about it, it's CONSISTENT. Compared to the other Hollywood crap we are getting served lately, this is a VERY good movie.

Watch this, but not as a puzzle, but as a great movie in itself.

Well, just my 2 cents.