The Village

Ok, so i finally got to watch M. Night Shyamalan's The Village --- hmm, like previous reviews i got from friends, this movie gives me the creeps...at first. This village somewhere in Middle America (or so we thought to believe) turns out to be some sort of "thesis" of its elders who turned away from the world's harsh reality.

Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver and William Hurt --- these guys were mainly the reason why i wanted to watch this film, aside from the fact that this was Shyamalan's latest endeavor. I'm a fan of Shyamalan ever since i watched Sixth Sense, even more when Unbreakable came out. It's amazing how he can write something so simple and tuyrn it into something amazing (the twists at the end of the movie are pretty cool). His Signs , i feel, is the opposite of what his first two movies presented --- something extraordianry, which no one easily believes, turning out to be solved in a simple matter. It was pretty good too, although the twist at the end left me kinda confused. What happened? I guess it wasn't exactly the ending i was expecting, or the twist i was hoping for.

This latest movie from him gives the similar effect --- something extraordinary turns out to be a simple plan. Fear of the unknown plays the most active part in this movie, and in a way that intrigues me about Shyamalan's work--- how he is able to play with human behaviour and really work it, even in the most mundane of environments. What got me interested throughout the movie was the excellent casting, surreal cinematography and Shyamalan's scene cuts which appear jarring and edgy. The plot, as it turns out, became stale quickly, a bit dragging at a certain point, and well, with Joaquin pretty much out for the latter part of the movie, stank. Hehheh. Cheers for Adrien Brody though, his portrayal of Noah rocks! :-D Guess he IS the Village Idiot.



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