It Takes a Village. . .

So tonight I went with my parents to go see The Village. I'm sure that what I am about to say will be ridiculed and argued over by many film goers, as I'm sure to be in the minority of this film. But here it goes. . .

I thoroughly enjoyed The Village. In fact, the more I think back on it, the more I enjoyed it and love thinking back on What It Is All About.

To start this, though,I should probably warn you about two things. First, I am what internet movie geeks refer to as an "M. Night Shyamalan apologist." I've loved every one of his thrillers since The Sixth Sense. Granted, they are not all perfect and neither is this one. But I'll give you the run down so you know where I stand.

The Sixth Sense: Probably the best supernatural drama ever. Like most of his films, it's unfair just to label it a thriller. There are tense, suspenseful moments, yes. But it's a dramatic, emotional film about communication. Haley Joel Osment and Bruce Willis are superb and Shyamalan proved he had a mastery of writing and tone. And the twist at the end is rivaled only by Fight Club as the best twist I've ever seen.

Unbreakable: This is a film that many people loathe, and i can't understand why. I love the story telling here, about what would happen if a real man found out he was superhuman. I love that the story is told as a quest for meaning and purpose in the world and not as a special effects extravaganza. This is probably my favorite role of Bruce Willis' career and Samuel L. Jackson is great as Elijah, aka "Mr. Glass." I thought the twist at the end was unecessary, but still didn't ruin the film for me.

Signs: Probably still my favorite Shyamalan film. Scary, funny and touching in all the right moments. The scenes in the cellar and outside the pantry are as tense as films get nowadays. Nothing beats seeing this film in a theatre with a great sound system. Mel Gibson played totally against type as a quiet, mourning preacher and Joaquin Phoenix played Merrel with good humor and heart. The twist at the end still was a tad ham-handed, but I liked the message of the movie and it's still one of my favorite thrillers.

People probably will not like The Village. It moves slow, the dialouge is a bit stilted, and the twists at the end will probably enrage some. The second thing I need to warn is that I have to discuss spoilers and important plot points to make my case for liking this film. So, I'm going to do a quick rundown for those of you who would like to go into the film virginal.

The Village is a nice, tense little thriller about a small village in the woods and the creatures who they have struck a pact with. There are some great tender human moments in it and some very suspenseful ones. The acting is great, particularly Joaquin Phoenix and newcomer Bryce Dallas Howard. The twist at the end clears up many of the problems with the movies and causes you to think.

See why that sounds dull? I must discuss the spoilers. So if you don't want to know what happens, quit reading. . . . NOW!!!!

Okay, still there? Good.

This is a movie that resonated with me on two levels. The first is the obvious parallel to living in a post-9/11 culture of fear. Those We Do Not Speak of are the things invented like Freddy and Jason and Michael Meyers, to make sure we stay in line, don't ask questions, and do as the leaders say. They could also be consistent with the Weapons of Mass Destruction that populate our culture today. We need fear and we need bogeymen because we have to keep people in line. So, while Those We Do Not Speak of were revealed do be nothing more than a farce to keep the kids in line and in the village (a twist I actually saw coming), the reason for it really resonates. Don't ask questions. Don't go in the woods. Don't disrupt the life that they live in the Village.

Second, though, this movie really resonated with me having grown up in a fundamentalist church for the first few years of my life. My parents were never ultra-strict, but I've often been around those who are. And while I talk a lot about how sick I am of the world, I don't wish to cut myself off or avoid the world. . . Jesus didn't do that and we're called to be "in the world but not of the world."

But we all know that there are those Christians and those Fanatics who wish to isolate themselves and break off from the world. For some, it simply means avoiding popular culture. For others, it means trying to turn back the clock and live a life that we see as more innocent. Imagine if someone could take that to the extreme. Imagine if they totally isolated themselves from all the things they perceived as corrupt. . . money, violence, the media, even knowledge of war and technology. Imagine if they decided to isolate themselves from the world and live in a quiet, Walden-esque society. And do keep people from ever finding out or venturing into the corrupt Real World, they had to invent a fable to keep them afraid. That's what this film is about.

And what happens when we try to avoid that pain? We lose progress. We lose hope. We become aloof and cynical. Our kids learn to avoid risks. And we end up bringing back the hurt and pain we tried so hard to avoid. Evil doesn't exist in our culture. It exists in US. This film, especially in Adrien Brody's character, showed that we still can be corrupt and evil. And we've been given the time and opportunities to help us in our distress. And what if we avoid that? Are we allowing to sacrifice our children so we can keep our perception of happiness and avoidence??

My parents were biased on it. They thought it was weird. And it is. The twist is meant to be hard to believe. The audience I saw it with was laughing at the end. Like I said, this film is going to divide people. There are some things you can't deny, though. The cinematography is beautiful; this is probably Shyamalan's best-looking film yet. The actors, the young ones in particular, are great. Joaquin Phoenix does great, subtle work with a smaller role. . . I could compare his work to that of Bruce Willis in the other Shyamalan films. Adrien Brody's character is pitch-perfect, especially in scenes that are extremely pivotal. And Bryce Dallas Howard is a real find. She's riveting in this and I think is on to much bigger things.

That said, this is probably my least favorite Shyamalan film, although that's like saying Season One is my least favorite season of the Simpsons. All are probably better than most of what's out there. It's just that this film had some flaws. The dialouge is pretty stilted. . . although the twist pretty much explains that (they had to learn to talk like that, but it's hard.) I thought the first twist of the monsters being a farce was a bit predictable and when he tried to push our buttons and make us think monsters were really out there, it became a bit absurd. . . although the final twist did floor me and catch me totally offguard.

Some people may love this movie, and I think the key to it is to go in expecting a drama, not a thriller. Other may hate it. That's okay. This movie's going to divide people. But I'm not really ashamed to say I thought it was another good story by one of our great storytellers of the modern age.

In other news, today was a pretty boring day. Only thing of note was that I took a long walk and went to Barnes and Noble and picked up $30 worth of books with some birthday money. I got The Weight of Glory, by CS Lewis; The Best American Short Story Writing 2003; and Strunk and White's Elements of Style, to help me as I get back started writing.

I have more I want to say, but I'll save it till tomorrow. . .

C-Dubbs