The Village (2004)

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer (WGA):

M. Night Shyamalan (written by)

Release Date:

30 July 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Their Days Of Peace Are Over (Denmark)

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Village | Woods | Creature | Pact | Town

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Grey (Philippines: English title) (review title)
M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (USA) (promotional title)
The Woods (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U | Brazil:14 | Japan:U | India:UA (cinema release) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Czech Republic:12 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) (2004) | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Centerville, Delaware, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Ashton Kutcher was originally cast as Noah but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Ivy and Lucius are talking at Ivy's house, Lucius puts his arms down. In the next shot, they are folded.

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?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Supernatural: Scarecrow (#1.11)" (2006)

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.