I think Shyamalan has made a romantic film

Rating: Null/10 (6 September 2004)

I think that most mainstream films move so quickly and have so much noise and rapid-fire dialogue that "The Village" takes some getting used to. I liked the slow pace and found the film interesting & romantic but not scary. I think there is a real marketing problem here; film trailers reveal so much of films these days and can raise certain expectations so that the film itself can be a letdown. It is a shame, I try to ignore film marketing, having learnt my sore lesson with "the Phantom Menace". (Didn't we all?)
I thought the actors in "The Village" did very well with the formal dialogue and the cinematography was beautiful. My favorite scene was with Ivy and Lucius on the porch at night with the mist over the grass- lovely.
I think Shyamalan has made a very romantic film. But I also have to ask; what sort of megalomaniacs control a town like the elders do in "The Village"? I know they have great sorrows but it's the most outrageous fraud I've seen perpetrated in film. Their delusions of a perfect society are the most disturbing thing in this movie.