Shyamalan on a new mission: making his own movies

Rating: 8/10 (31 December 2004)

I'd like to very warmly redirect everyone to dog_bites_back's comment. He says most of what is essential, namely about the misleading marketing THE VILLAGE has badly suffered from.
From the viewing of 'The sixth sense' on, I can recall how deeply grateful I was for the feeling there was finally someone who had that genuine love for movies AND the talent/ability to use the means of a big production in a way that, in the end, you have an impression of INTIMACY.
This I found again in THE VILLAGE. Walking out of it, there surely were questions, irritations, feelings that the movie wasn't well balanced in some ways...
But there is so much to find in it that the movie still gives me more, by far, than it frustrates me. It is generous, it is sincere (in my opinion at least), it tells a story and puts you in a state that are VERY unexpected. That's the highest of what I expect from a movie.
The ambiance, the mysterious uneasiness between the inhabitants, the numerous secrets most of which remain basically unanswered (not typically Hollywood, now, is it?): all those points make it something precious. Something leaving space for you to travel into the story with your own life, your feelings, your memories.
I still can imagine very well that you'll be totally puzzled, or even unnerved, if you're not in the right mood for it.
The trailers, as dog_bites_back points out, are so completely WRONG that it's a joke. And a suicidal one at that: they surely HAVE done the film and its career some terrible damage, as you could only be very disappointed when, after being promised some "BLAIRWITCH PROJECT meets THE HOWLING meets SEVEN meets Lars van Trier" product, you discover something that has more to do with Ingmar Bergman.
Oh yes, it does. The rural setting of the action, the village and the woods, supernatural elements, the depth of the characters and the intensity of the acting, all this can be related to the Master from Sweden.
I almost forgot, because it is so obvious, but the film is so beautifully photographed it takes your breath away (and always serves the story, my opinion again...).
After taking good notice that you WILL NOT see a horror-flick with the clever Shyamalan touch, you should ABSOLUTELY see this movie, one of the most original works on the big screen for a long time.