Those of Whom We Do Not Speak

Rating: 8/10 (10 September 2009)

The Village is M. Night Shyamalan's fourth film and it's a hard one to review without giving too much away. Shyamalan has made a niche for himself delivering movies (Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense) that pack a surprise punch at the end, and The Village is no different. The film takes place in a village set in a valley ringed with a forest. The time is indeterminate, although the clothes are old fashioned, as are the houses and furniture. There is a shot of a tombstone in the cemetery early on in the film that shows a date of 1897, and the village certainly wouldn't be out of place in the 19th century. The form of speech of the village citizens is also somewhat archaic. As the story unfolds we learn that the village exists in a state of uneasy truce with the creatures living in the forest around them. The creatures, whom the villagers refer to as Those of Whom We Do Not Speak, apparently are attracted by the color red, as the villagers shun that color, even going so far to uproot and bury wildflowers of that color. The villagers maintain a ring of poles with yellow flags by day, and torches by night to keep the creatures out of the village. They also maintain a watch tower, where a sentry watches through the night. About all the sentry can do, though, is ring a bell to alert the villagers to hide in their cellars when the creatures decide to enter the town. The village elders, who are the town's governing body, are also concerned about the repeated occurrence of skinned animal carcasses showing up in the valley. That's the background and the starting point of the movie, which is basically about the love between the quiet, soft-spoken Luscious Hunt, well played by Joaquin Phoenix and the independent, but blind, Ivy Walker, wonderfully played by Bryce Dallas Howard. Both Phoenix and Howard are marvellous in their roles, and are surrounded by a great cast including William Hurt as Ivy's father Edward Walker, Sigourney Weaver as Luscious's mother Alice Hunt and especially Adrien Brody as the mildly retarded Noah Percy. One of the real treats of this movie is watching how these strong characters interact with each other. Shyamalan did an outstanding job directing the cast, and a phenomenal job of filming. Every shot is well thought out, and only shows you what he wants you to see. Especially powerful are the shots of the creatures, for the most part mere suggestions of figures in red, Shyamalan lets your imagination fill in the rest. The brooding autumnal forest around the valley makes for especially powerful images. The green and austere village fits in perfectly with it's surroundings. Shyamalan's use of strange angles really help to create the mood and bring out the best in his storytelling. Above all Shyamalan is a craftsmen, and The Village is a well-crafted film. Some may guess the secret before the end, but no one can doubt that this is a powerful story of love, well acted, and well filmed.