A story more fragile then Mr. Glass himself

They say that this review has a surprise ending...

Yes, after months of heated anticipation I finally got a chance to see M. Night Shyamalan’s latest work The Village Saturday night. Shyamalan gained my admiration years ago with his dark portrayal of a hero’s ascension in Unbreakable. He cemented that admiration with Signs, a work that smacked of Hitchcock influences and techniques. With slow moving and methodical plots I saw a direction that gracefully revealed the cinematic landscape of his stories. His brilliant cinematography and visuals didn’t hurt either. Yes, until now the name M. Night Shyamalan was associated with the words “sublime cinema”. But with The Village the young filmmaker has produced a film of high expectations and mediocre achievements.
This new movie revolves around the story of a small isolated 19th century village and the fearsome race of malignant “creatures” that live in the surrounding woods. The villagers, holding themselves to a pact with the creatures, have agreed to never enter the woods. Likewise, the creatures have agreed to not disturb the peace of the quaint community. However, when the film begins, that pact between man and creature is wearing thin.
It’s around this basic premise that Shyamalan develops the film by focusing upon Joaquin Phoenix’s character Lucius and the relationship shared with romantic interest Ivy Walker, played by Bryce Dallas Howard. Despite Ivy’s blindness and Lucius’ introversion, the two develop a strong connection with one another. Shyamalan always created strong characters, and through this blossoming relationship the Village enjoys some of its strongest moments. The story is lean and fast; the cinematography is picturesque; but above all the story’s characters were nicely crafted and dimensional. Howard in particular lovingly plays Ivy as being colorful and emotive. Lucius is revealed by Phoenix as being quiet and contemplative. Even Adrien Brody, an actor I normally dislike, nicely pulls off the mental simplicity and thickness of his character Noah Percy. With masterful performances and well-written characterizations Shyamalan develops the first half of the film as being a fluid character drama. As I enjoyed this first half I couldn’t help but think to myself, “I can’t understand why this is getting mixed reviews”.
But then the film takes a turn for the worse. A sharp twist in the plot forces one of the film’s protagonists to make a harrowing journey into the forest inhabited by the violent creatures.
Sadly, too many new ideas and themes are expressed during this latter portion of the film. Many of these ideas have thin ties to the stronger plots introduced in the beginning of the story. Moreover, such new elements barely manage to germinate over the rough landscape of the second half and few feel truly connected with the strong characters and emotions of the first half. It’s as if Shyamalan mashed together enough ideas for two films, one being his usual suspense fair and the other a romantic character drama. Yet, while one would imagine his suspense roots taking over in the story, you can’t help but feel like he’s asleep at the wheel. The story construction throws out revelations and then backs up and tries to build suspense through plots that it previously dismantled. Motivations grow to be unclear and the delightful interplay between the film’s characters becomes muted.
And as for those who hope for salvation by his signature “twist” at the end of the film, don’t hope for too much. Yes, even the film’s ending, almost guaranteed to be a doozy, only ends up feeling like it was tacked on at the last minute. It’s abrasive and dull. By no means is this ending complementary of the film’s plot like so many of Shyamalan’s previous finales.
You want a real shocker of an ending? Here it is: after a string of masterworks M. Night has created what can be called his first real disappointment. Perhaps the real disappointment lies in the fact that this let down comes about due to his trademark suspense techniques. They were innovative and witty in Signs. Here they’re simply gimmicky and intrusive. The monsters, if they can be called monsters, are revealed with difficulty and awkwardness, completely unlike the amiable progression of the aliens in Signs. And by the time the “surprise” ending is over, the story wraps up leaving the viewer feeling no delight whatsoever in the story’s resolution. M. Night has failed with The Village. He made a film that was unique in its own right and then forced the atmosphere of his previous works upon it. You heard me; The Village was mediocre. You wanted a surprise ending and you got it.