The Village

Review by Colin Moore

Stay away from the village. There is evil there. It will mess you up.

Really though, there's nothing so frightening about The Village as the ads may be hinting at. But that's M. Night Shyamalan for you, more about the lurkings beneath the surface than the obvious first impressions.

From The Sixth Sense to Signs, there has always been that unnerving mystery in a Shyamalan film, like an itch that you're not supposed to be able to scratch until all the pieces are revealed to you.

Until then, you just have to sit there, on edge...so much better than a paltry shock or two. That being said, with The Village, M. Night is 4 for 4 (Unbreakable being the other).

The story? A rural community partial to 19th century Pennsylvania lives in seemingly quiet comfort. Doors have latches, oil lamps light the way to the outhouse (yuck), and work clothing looks remarkably like dress-up clothing. Even their vocabulary is quaint.

Ahhh the good life. Yep. Aside from its yellow-flagged perimeter and watch towers manned by hooded Obi-Wan Kenobi look-alikes, this village is a pretty cheery place to hang out.

Maybe not. Naturally, something is amiss in paradise. Monsters. They live in the woods, as everything evil does at some point in its career. We're given our first exposure to it as the townsfolk nestle in for a Sunday picnic. A scraggly moan echos across the valley from the forest, turning smiles upside-down faster than you can say "churning buttermilk".

William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver headline a group of town elders with secrets who hold weekly meetings deciding nothing in particular, which is ironic considering death's door sits just yards away. Not a problem. The monsters and townsfolk have had an understanding of sorts for some time - stay the hell away from each other.

Until now it has seemed to have worked, but when an elder's son passes away in lieu of the technologies of the day, Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) steps up to the plate. In an odd gesture of fearlessness, he offers to cross through the woods, into the land of "those we don't speak of" in order to reach the town beyond and retrieve much needed medicines.

He falls in love with a blind girl, gains her father's respect, and invokes the jealousy of the village idiot (a post-Pianst Adrian Brody). Complications ensue.

So, there's a price to be paid for serenity. It's a way of maintaining misery's status quo, like finding a toe nail in grandma's famous Christmas pudding. How else can we show that there are some things worth fighting for if there's nothing to fight against? It's a staple of Shyamalan's films.

His characters are very real combinations of strength and weakness, always under the crest of their own personal failings when the real wave comes crashing down. When these qualities are tested, by ghosts or superpowers or aliens or, in this case, mythic creatures, something happens. People take sides. One's true character is tested.

Shyamalan's on-screen worlds are only incidentally fantastic. More importantly though, the fantasy elements give the character's within the film a more spectacular battleground on which to test their values, their morality, and their emotions (no, nothing like ID4). But is The Village just the latest in the Shyamalan formula? A rehash? Signs with the Amish?

Not since Hitchcock (yes, I'm aware of the comparisons) has a filmmaker been able to light a fire under an audience's butt solely on the basis of his past work. It's great. Anticipating the Shymalan twists is almost as fun as the twists themselves.

Ever since The Sixth Sense, god knows we've been expecting them each time out, throwing our two cents in the ring. "This is what I think, what d'you think? Oh, did you see that? That must mean...." Though Hitchcock seemed less obvious about the kinds of stories he draped around his suspense. With Shyamalan it's more upfront.

Which isn't to say it's simply constructed. The Village is extremely careful and effective in its choice of cinema technique. Shyamalan is a rarity of modern filmmakers because he recognises the importance of the small to paint the bigger picture. A camera is a camera. A light is a light. Though clearly, a film is not just a film. Come on, you've seen Van Sant go Psycho?

In one scene, Lucius' precious cupcake encounters a presence in the forest. She turns to face it and the camera follows, but from behind, so all we see is the back of her head as she faces...whatever. And no, you can't sneak a peak by looking around her head, I tried.

It's a film that uses all the tools at its disposal to tell its story, that doesn't assume its premise or technique or Sexiest Man Alive cover lover alone will be enough to carry it through. So what's the problem? Is The Village just another well thought out "Twilight Zone" episode on screen?

Perhaps, and what's wrong with that? Beyond the "itches", you know what you're going to get from a Shyamalan film. It's "how" you're going to get it that makes the supersize-me ticket price worth while. Every time.

4 out of 5

The Village
Australian release: Thursday September 2nd
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Judy Greer, Bryce Dallas Howard, William Hurt.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan.
Website: Click here.

Brought to you by MovieHole