"The Village:" Dystopia or Utopia?

Rating: 7/10 (6 February 2005)

I began watching "The Village" with reservations. I thought it would be a basic thriller. After viewing, I was pleased to find the questions it summoned...essentially, is the depiction of the Village a Dystopian or a Utopian society? Interesting elements are contained in the film that lead to an answer. First, what is the motive behind the attack of Noah Percey (the mentally challenged character) on Ivy Walker (the blind girl) in the woods? Was Noah's motive (a) to help Ivy navigate the woods, with his eyesight and experience? (b) to find his playmate and continue to play the games in which they often engaged? (c) or had his madness/jealousy escalated to the point that he was seeking her out to kill her, as he had attempted to kill Luscious, her fiancé? Furthermore, what was the purpose in his adorning the costume, was it (a) to escape the village people, as they were holding his captive for his attempted murder? (b) merely a costume for a game? (c) did he become a true creature of the woods? It is my opinion that the jealousy Noah experienced in hearing the news of Ivy and Luscious's engagement heightened his madness, causing him, first to attempt to kill Luscious, and then to similarly go after Ivy, with the intent also to murder her. Evethough the creatures in the woods were a fictional creation established by the elders to contain their society in the boundaries of the village, a real creature of the woods was created by Noah. Thus, their fictional creation morphed into a reality proving that the village, in fact, is a dystopia. The experiment made by the history professor was unsuccessful in that the society found they still can not escape the tragedy that befalls human beings. Jealousy, madness, and murder are not created by modern society but rather are inherent to the psyche of human beings. These human traits can not be stopped by isolation.
Interested to hear other perspectives.