Saturday, April 4, 2015

The Village - 7 stars out of 10

The Village - 7 stars out of 10

“The Village” is a fascinating thriller that creates unexpected twists by altering our perspective of events after they occur.  The film has been polarizing for individuals as they either highly praise or deeply criticize director M. Night Shyamalan’s ending.  I am on the side of those who love the ending and see genius in Shyamalan’s sleight of hand, which focuses our attention on the creatures while the magic trick is occurring out of our sight.  The other side calls the ending anticlimactic and transparent, but it had me fooled all the way.  Your opinion of the ending will cause you to either love or hate the movie, but nothing in between.  I really appreciate the atmosphere of the story.  The blend of a traditional 19th century town and the monsters that live in its woods puts the entire film on edge.  This combination of realism and fantasy allows for anything to happen.  The acting is a bit odd, which makes everything seem even more mysterious.  It is full of big names William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Sigourney Weaver, and Bryce Dallas Howard, though no particular performance steals the show.  But this film is all about the storytelling and it truly captures that aura of a Grimm fairy tale.  In an age of special effects, “The Village” succeeds because of the simplicity of its story and the exploitation of our perspective.

[Pictured: The combination of realism and fantasy makes this film unpredictable]

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