The Duc Pond

I finally saw The Village last night. It’s the first movie I’ve ever gone to see alone. This may sound sad, but it was actually pretty convenient. I was 20 minutes late, but they were still showing previews. The theatre was pretty packed for a Sunday night, but since all I needed was one seat I was OK.

Some people loved this movie, some people hated it. I was into the movie the whole time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If nothing else, it was simply well done. Cool shots, convincing atmosphere, good acting.

Spoilers follow, but if you don’t care, read this plot synopsis so you know what the hell I’m talking about (WARNING: SPOILS EVERYTHING!):
http://www.squick.org/ffa/bin/The_Village_Spoiler.pdf

The stabbing scene was very well done. It was creepy and shocking. I’ve heard that it made no sense to send Ivy to get help, but it was the only logical thing to do! The movie had already adequately established (IMO) that Ivy was an exceptional person, capable of navigating very well. I had no problems with this setup.

The denouement was great, I thought. Some say these “twist” endings are getting tired, but I don’t agree. I found this resolution to be superior to Signs’ and a hell of a lot more believable. Aliens invade Earth with its humid atmosphere, but don’t get hurt until someone actually splashes water on them? No. A group of 20th century city dwellers get fed up with the violence and pain of modern day life — the leader of which happens to be rich enough to buy a nature preserve — and relocate to a 19th century style village where they deceive their offspring with stories of crimson-hating homicidal porcupines to keep themselves isolated? That I can believe.

What’s interesting was that they realized that inside or outside the village, there’s pain and loss, and you get fucked no matter what. They didn’t really explain why they decided to stay, though. It was kinda like, “Well, it sucks either way, but we’re already here and Noah died to keep our deception alive, so screw it!”

I’ve read theories on this being an allegory for religion, or a statement on today’s terror alerts. After all, both use fear as a control or a pacifying mechanism (which is a bit paradoxical in a way). But using fear is nothing new (parents use fear to raise their children, I use fear to crush my opponents… OK, not really), so it’s so massively broad that the movie’s themes could apply to damn near anything. That’s why I think they apply to nothing, and that Mr. Shyamalan just wanted to make a cool story. In that regard, I feel he succeeded.

Great movie.