| The
Village One expected a terrific output from immensely talented
writer-director M. Night Shyamalan concerning his latest supernatural saga The
Village. Unfortunately for the normally resilient filmmaker, The Village is a
meandering and morbid chiller that is a labored muddy vision of Shyamalan’s usual
insightful and involving hedonism.
The
Village (2004) Touchstone Pictures
1 hour 47 minutes.
Starring: Joaquin
Phoenix, Adrian Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson, Cherry
Jones, Michael Pitt, Bryce Dallas Howard. Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
 One
expected a terrific output from immensely talented writer-director M. Night Shyamalan
concerning his latest supernatural saga The Village. Riding the revered reputation
thanks to previous frightful fare that captured movie audiences with solid and
solemn gems The Sixth Sense,Unbreakable and Signs, Shyamalan had mighty big expectations
to fill with his creepy current offering. Unfortunately for
the normally resilient filmmaker, The Village is a meandering and morbid chiller
that is a labored muddy vision of Shyamalan's usual insightful and involving hedonism.
Surprisingly, the film's top notch cast (as well as its director's generic script)
cannot elevate this plodding and progressively weightless psychological thriller
beyond its rudimentary means. This shockfest is a tedious bore and doesn't even
begin to ignite the protrusive passion that trademark Shyamalan films are known
for in content and creativity. 
Invariably, The Village is a solitary thrill-maker in search of an imaginative
spark. This hackneyed horror show has all the momentum of an arthritic turtle
with bad knees. The movie is gratingly slow in its meditative drive and offers
a cheesy forum of high camp hokum that is uncharacteristic of Shyamalan's cinematic
cynical surge. Whatever Hitchcockian comparisons being made in reference to Shyamalan's
filmmaking touch may be put on hold thanks to this stiff excursion that teeters
on in a profound thud.
The scare factor hardly registers and
the skin-crawling tendencies are considerably weak-kneed. For a moviemaker with
a gifted gumption for challenging filmgoers with his brand of petrifying pathos,
Shyamalan's The Village is a mere staid diversion that fails to cough up the intelligible
seedy goods.
The Village is supposed to be presented as some 19th century American
horrifying hamlet where taking a spontaneous stroll outside the
unknown boundaries can be a deadly deed to venture. Hence, the residents
are encouraged to stay within the village's outskirts. The belief
is that the surrounding ominous woods are packed with evil-minded
elements. As long as the villagers coexist in the community without
disturbing whatever dangerous encounters there are in the encompassing
woods then things should be fine.
Covington (the village's
name) native Lucias (Joaquin Phoenix) dares to travel outside of the village's
restricted geographic location in an effort to obtain medical supplies from another
place. Since there was a death in the area, Lucias feels that it is worth making
the trip through the torturous woods in order to retrieve the medicine-related
material needed to prevent other deaths in Covington. But
Lucias is warned to stay put particularly when the village starts to be bombarded
by an array of sinister forces looking for some surly excitement. Does this signify
that maybe someone has violated the understanding of remaining in the village
thus inviting the wrath of the wooded intruders?
Film followers of Shyamalan's big screen work will ultimately be
besieged with his trademark of scattered clues and the obligatory
- big twist - that are featured in The Village. Much like the aforementioned
The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan has some perverse fun trying to keep
the viewers second-guessing concerning this patchwork puzzle of
mystery. This is all well and dandy but what remains quite unsatisfying
is the eventual build up to the tepid tension that seems rather
mechanical in its execution. It's nice that Shyamalan wants to draw
out the disillusionment from the weary protagonists and their dire
predicament.
But somehow The Village misses
the mark because its emotional energy isn't as exhilarating in its jumpy mode
as one would expect. There's never any convincing indication of experiencing that
sudden jolt that takes the audience's tattered psyche into another realm. This
is a draining and drippy display of a sinister story that needed more punch in
its arsenal of intrigue. The edginess in The Village is a manufactured dramatic
iron ball that has no worthwhile bounce in its step.
Phoenix, who appeared in Shyamalan's Signs, is resourceful as the
leading lad with a taste of antiestablishment forethought toward
the village's reluctance to shake up the belief system of its inherent
fears. And newcomer Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of Oscar-winning
director and former 60s and 70s sitcom child star Ron Howard) is
uniquely pleasing as the blinded Ivy who ironically can see the
clear picture that her fellow apprehensive citizens refuse to grasp.
It is Ivy that has the inner strength
and instinctual guidance that makes her a celebrated soul that we automatically
sympathize with in stride. Adrian Brody (fresh from his two-year screen absence
as an Oscar winner for the poignant Holocaust drama The Pianist) plays mentally-challenged
Noah who's an innocent spirit caught up in the constant mayhem. And as the town's
statesman, William Hurt is a reassuring presence. In fact, the impressive cast
is great window dressing for this jittery exposition but their participation is
wasted in a provocative wannabe that purports to stimulate.
Let's just
hope that M. Night Shyamalan's next project will be something that tip toes into
other arenas of convention. Certainly, this intuitive filmmaker is capable of
offering adventurous movies that can go beyond the standby eerie tall tales. Maybe
it's time that Shyamalan spreads his creative juices and taps into other storytelling
genres that may heighten his cache as a risky artist with versatility. With The
Village, he's just wallowing in safe delusional territory.
Frank Ochieng (c)
Frank Ochieng 2004. All rights reserved.
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OTHER CONTENT - October 2004
Andrew Fox Interview
A conversation with Andrew Fox author of Bride of the Fat White Vampire.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Juliet E. McKenna Interview
October sees the launch of the first volume in a new series - The Aldabreshin Compass - from fantasy author Juliet E. McKenna. So we scooted down to Oxford to pose her a few questions amidst the spires and students.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Translating Fantasy and Science Fiction : The Peak of Creativity
We all know that many of the most loved science fiction and fantasy authors' work is admired worldwide, but little do we know about the people who made it possible for them to become so well-known. Apart from the people involved in publishing there are quite a lot of other professionals without whom it wouldn't have been possible. These are the translators.
(ARTICLES)
Horror Writer Barbara J. Ferrenz Interviewed
What's worse than death? On the one hand, it's the title of a novel by school psychologist and writer Barbara J. Ferrenz of Dunkirk, MD. On the other hand, maybe it's better never to know.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Alien vs. Predator
Director Paul W.S. Anderson serves up a meager monster mash spectacle that borders on the silly-minded and slimy by sizing up the terrorizing tag-team of creature feature cads Alien and the Predator in the obviously titled scarefest Alien vs. Predator.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Catwoman
In watching the curvy Oscar-winning Halle Berry don the skin tight suit in the sassy anti-superhero saga Catwoman, one must admit that this special eye candy is something that cannot be denied. And director Pitof does in fact lend this picture its glossy and mysterious allure in a unique manner that’s inescapable to ignore. Beyond these couple of minor observations, this cosmetic kitty with the conflicting personality doesn’t quite cut it as the escapist comic caper it could have been.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Exorcist: The Beginning
The scattershot incompleteness to Renny Harlin’s ill-advised follow-up to William Friedkin’s classic creep show is evident in the flimsy frightfulness of the overwrought and putrid prequel Exorcist: The Beginning. For those that had to endure inferior sequels to Friedkin’s twisted and treasured pea soup-regurgitating nightmarish narrative (read: Exorcist: The Heretic), they may yearn more for this sluggish supernatural tale to end as opposed to embracing its so-called Beginning.
(FILM REVIEWS)
The Village
One expected a terrific output from immensely talented writer-director M. Night Shyamalan concerning his latest supernatural saga The Village. Unfortunately for the normally resilient filmmaker, The Village is a meandering and morbid chiller that is a labored muddy vision of Shyamalan’s usual insightful and involving hedonism.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Offworld Report: Science Fiction and Fantasy: October 2004
Interviews with Jack Dann, Ian R MacLeod, Larry Niven, China Mieville and the stars of Stargate and Sky Captain, why fantasy novelists are the new thing, Noreascon reports and The Andromeda Strain heads for a remake.
(NEWS)
Offworld Report: Weird Science: October 2004
NASA finds a Ring World, the space elevator is abandoned, robot spiders, the mystery radio signal isn't aliens calling in, hydrogen fuel gets realistic, and lunar advertising - coming to a moon near you soon?
(NEWS)
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