M. Night Shyamalan Does It AGAIN!!

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2004)

*-Catch it on TV **-Worth a Rental ***-Buy it Used/On Sale ****-Buy it New/Top Dollar *****-Worthy of a Blind Buy
M. Night Shyamalan has built his career on a simple formula. First, set up the main plot and suspense. Second, have an event that changes the tone of the film and sets it in a new direction. Third, end with a twist that forces the audience to rethink everything they had just seen. This formula has been applied to Shyamalan's past three films and is the foundation of his storytelling. Of course, The Village is no different. The film follows the formula to a tee and is at the same time astounding and original.
The Village is about a small community in 1860's Pennsylvania whose citizens live in constant fear of mystical creatures that live in the woods surrounding them. The townspeople have a simple and longlasting agreement with the creatures 'do not to come to our village, we will not come to your woods.' However, when Lucius Hunt takes it upon himself to explore the village's boundaries the creatures decide to explore their own boundaries. The end result is a film that is hardly frightening but all the more shocking. Night adds more twists than in his previous work and even manages to blow all his other films out of the water.
As I said before, Night's formula consists of three parts. The second part of his formula, in which there is a shocking moment at the halfway point that changes the tone of the rest of the film, is more present in The Village than ever. The Sixth Sense had the famous, "I see dead people" scene. Unbreakable had the weight lifting sequence, and Signs had the Brazilian home video sequence. The moment in The Village that changed the direction of the film was brilliant. I won't elaborate for fear of saying too much but that particular moment had me in a state of shock for a good ten to fifteen minutes. The rest of the film is just as gripping and Shyamalan's signature twist is not quite as genius as The Sixth Sense but is still mind blowing.
Signs used the story of an alien invasion as a backdrop to tell the tale of a man regaining his faith in God. The Village is somewhat of a love story at heart, although the love story is not nearly as "in your face" as the faith story from Signs. Instead, the love story acts more like a subplot that drives the character's actions. This made the film much more enjoyable than the massively entertaining Signs.
Overall, The Village is the fourth consecutive reason why M. Night Shyamalan is one of the the most talented filmmakers around. Night has proved himself as a genius storyteller and I am looking forward to whatever he brings us next. I give it ***** as The Village is the very definition of a "blind buy". Undoubtedly, many people will hate it. It is, like his previous works, a love it or hate it kind of film and I happen to be one that loved it.