Way Misunderstood

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2005)

I was so "prepared" for this movie by all of the reviews by known critics, friends and the social chat. References unerringly cast themselves to the "Holy Cow" reveal of "The Sixth Sense". Audiences, in general, and in box office receipts, tend to encourage the frustratingly successful strategy of franchise horror films of "Wow, do that again!". So, we get a repeat of the original, often the same score, more inventive mayhem but, reduced to twenty five words or less, something one can't differentiate between Part II and Part VI.
There was so much made, even by one of my (and much of the free world's) favorite critic's, of the failed twist ending seen coming from miles away and providing a "you've got to be kidding" that is a sinking disappointment rather than a skull exploder.
By the time I watched the film (I waited for DVD), I knew the elder's secrets and, as all my exposure to the film had warned, the twist was barely a noticeable kink in the plot. But I had he DVD for a five day rental and there was something squirming about my impression, something that wasn't comfortable.
I thought about the director's previous; "The Sixth Sense" (more than a few of us "got it" when the boy explained that sometimes the dead don't know they're dead - but it spoiled nothing), "Unbreakable" in which the "twist ending" was merely ending, not intended to be twisted and "Signs" where all the twists happened during, not at the end where all the "twists" merged. It occurred to me that "Unbreakable" was not "The Sixth Sense II", nor was "Signs" "The Sixth Sense III", so why should "The Village" be "The Sixth Sense IV"? I thought I might want to watch it again.
M. Night Shyamalan, in my opinion, didn't build this film around a twist ending (as well as "Unbreakable" and "Signs"), that the twist ending franchise is a figment of the viewers imagination or "do again" wishes.
Pure and simple, this is a multi-layered love story. Not a chick flick romance but one that addresses the very real fears of parents because they love their children, of heroism because "I fear for you before all others", and of a forest full of monsters of unexpected kinds that must be crossed ... for love.
Shyamalan likes to tell his stories with a tapestry of strange, vexing and magical images and back drops. But strange, vexing and magical are the tapestry, not the stories he tells.
The tale told in "The Village" could not have been told without "The Village". Joaquin Phoenix's character (Lucius Hunt) could not exist anywhere but in the Village. None of the plot elements would have worked anywhere but in a Village. I don't know what came first to Shyamalan, but I imagine it evolved in senses and chunks and emotions and sort of oozed from the creative extrusion ports. And nowhere in the world could Ivy Walker (Bryce Howard in an incredible delivery) exist and launch the love-driven quest she made except from a Village.
On repeated viewings, my vote is this is Shyamalan at the top of his voyage, to date. There are incredibly powerful scenes, positively dazzling deliveries by non-name brand actors (Adrien Brody as Noah Percy is, hands down, Oscar worthy; magnificent), heart, spirit, that moody thing that Shyamalan does so very well, emotional rewards, dead on score, mysteries only unearthed by a second viewing and did I mention Bryce Howard in an absolutely, kick your legs out from under you delivery? Second and Third viewings let you see all the details come together, watch the ending embrace the beginning. This is a cohesive tale, told with color and lack of color, one of courage and yielding to that which requires bravery and courage because "I don't worry about what might happen, only what must be done".
There is, within the plot, the world's best marriage proposal.
Here again, as in "Signs", Joaquin Phoenix builds a believable character (though pertinent only for 2/3s of the movie).
Sorry, nothing misses. This film is dead on, solid perfect. The "Twist" didn't work because it wasn't meant to. Everything else worked because that's what the director wanted to happen.
Best to date for Shyamalan .