Good Night, but not great.

Rating: 7/10 (1 August 2004)

M. Night Shyamalan has directed himself into a quandary. His first three mainstream films were all widely viewed and somewhat similar. Therefore, fair or not, he is pigeon-holed as a creator of a certain genre of film, specifically deliberately-paced, suspense-filled movies with twists in the closing moments. To his credit however, now that he has finished his first trilogy of films, he is moving on. Not out of his cinematic country, but at least into a different...er..."Village".
His latest work tells the story of a small community of people living in 1800s-era America. The villagers reside in a valley surrounded by a forest, where mysterious and dangerous creatures make their homes. The two species have reached a truce; the humans stay in the valley, and the animals remain in the woods. Violate those rules, and who knows what trouble may ensue. Once the worlds are established, certain situations potentially require help from the town beyond, which forces the humans to face their fear of the forest.
Although most don't realize this, Shyamalan shied away from the surprise endings of "The Sixth Sense" & "Unbreakable" when he forged "Signs", choosing instead to make revelations in the closing minutes. "The Village" is the next progression, in which Shyamalan spreads the revelations throughout the film. A handful of such plot turns exist, some of which can be guessed, some of which can not. In the hands of a lesser director, that might be a problem. But Shyamalan is such a master at creating tension that even if you determine what is coming (as I did), he still entrances, turning your knuckles white as you cling to your seat.
He does it using an entire arsenal of cinematic weapons. Editing (or lack thereof), acting, music, and most importantly in this film, framing. "The Village" does not feature as many single-take scenes as his prior work, which actually causes the present ones to shine all the more (one between Joaquin Phoenix and Bryce Drew Howard in particular). Scenes like this give the audience a rare chances to see actors act, instead of watching numerous takes pieced together. As a solid veteran ensemble cast and with Howard an equally competent newcomer, the actors cruise through Shyamalan's Shakespeare-esque dialogue with a natural smoothness that overrides a script that could easily have felt stilted or pretentious.
"The Village" is cut more traditionally than Shyamalan's other work, but even the typical scenes, his visual flair emerges via unique angles and camera movements, complemented by James Newton Howard's music, which takes a more active role this time, eliciting jumps and nervousness as much as emphasizing them. But the framing is where Shyamalan has kicked everything up a notch. Along with veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins ("A Beautiful Mind", "The Shawshank Redemption"), he time and again positions vital information just off-screen, thickening the tension by hesitating to reveal for an extra beat. That technique also parallels his story-telling strategy; Shyamalan unveils the premise of the movie over two hours, keeping you edgily involved as the visual and narrative anxiety drives the film forward in his trademark deliberate manner.
The high technical achievement and solid acting cover up the weak link of "The Village", which is the mildly compelling script. The words themselves, although old-fashioned, fully work in the colonial-esque setting. But the story simply is not as good or engaging as his prior writing. Due in part to a lack of the spiritual overtones that haunted his first three films, this one is not as intimate or personally absorbing. Also contributing to the deficiency is the larger cast. His earlier films concentrated on a handful of people; this one encompasses a wider swath of humans. Ergo, while the same (perhaps more) emotional intimacy exists, it is spread thinner, leaving the audience groping for whom to connect with. Without those themes and communion, the minimalistic acting that Shyamalan evokes from his thespians rings a tinge hollow, occasionally leaning toward vacant rather than pensive.
With "The Village", M. Night Shyamalan falls short of the very high bar he set for himself. Of course this is comparable to the New York Yankees having a bad season because they only reached the World Series. More well done than good, it is still an above average piece of filmmaking, and like his other pictures, one that is experienced rather than simply watched.

Bottom Line: A solid effort that should be experienced, but not quite up to Shyamalan's own standards. 7 of 10.