Justsomeguy

I watched the Village again the other day. When I originally saw the movie in the theater, I considered it complete trash. However, after watching it again, I did see several interesting concepts in the movie.

First, it tackles a subject that is also addressed in the matrix. The people are living away from organized society. However, they think it is best to live their protected life than to venture out into the world. I really like this issue. Although I do not care to analyze movies in this way much anymore, it did strike me as interesting. I thought it was one of the few positives of the movie.

I also felt it was successful in examining life for a group of people constantly living under fear. It is something that I do not deal with and it is interesting to consider if life is worth living without current freedoms. I also liked the way that the "fake" world had a certain viewpoint of the "real" world that was completely contradicting of the people that did live in organized society. Finally, I thought it really could be directed towards everyone's life. How each of us are governed by the things that we would rather not know of or avoid and by the things that haunt our spirits.

Looking at these factors, I really think the movie had something good to offer.

Now, I can't say much for the movie itself. I did not care for the acting for one. So much about the movie felt fake. The one great moment of this movie was when the audience knows that the creatures are not real. However, when you see the one follow the girl in the forest, you are still on the edge of your seat from suspense. I just thought that was interesting because I knew exactly what was going to happen, but there was still alot of anxiety built up inside of me. Unlike other horror flicks, this part was more interesting because you doubt what the director has already revealed to you.

Overall, I did not really like the movie. However, I was just somewhat torn now because I felt it had some great topics. I think my original problem was that the trailers presented it practically as a horror movie. I half-expected a hack and slash movie and that definitely was not part of this film. Ultimately, the movie fell short on just delivery. It had interesting concepts, and I really hope someone can put together a movie with similar ideas but actually bring us a movie that is also just fun to watch without the ideas.

In my opinion, it's just disappointing that interesting and innovative ideas can end up in movies that fail in providing practical entertainment.

grendel

i've only seen the flick once, and that was opening weekend in the theater. i'm a big m. night fan and i wanted to love the movie, but i found it very disappointing. i guess i feel it's just "OK" overall (i've seen much worse), but i had hoped it would be fantastic. easily my least favorite of his flicks.

i'm tempted to watch it again now that it's out on video, but i don't really see myself buying it. i don't even know if it's much worth watching now that i know "the twist". but then, i saw it coming a mile away when i originally saw the flick.

i do agree that the way it was presented in the trailers did fuel my expectations, so that is some of the reason i was disappointed.

JStrider

i enjoyed it... didnt really know what to expect from it...wasnt really a horror movie like the commercials made it seem... it was more of a suspense movie...

kinda seemed appropriate for current times... using fear to control people...

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uncle_el

this movie was interesting and intriguing from many angles:

1. power of suggestion.

the media hype. most, if not all commercials, claimed it to be a horror movie. thus, many people going into the movie figured that's what it would be. it was the power of suggestion to the consumer.

the dialect used in the movie was not specific to anything, but it "felt" to be old, and thus led the viewer to believe that the people in the village were in some "olden time", though there never was a reference to what year it was.

in the movie itself, amongst the characters, it was always suggested that "those of which we do not speak" will not harm the villagers, as long as they know their place. people didn't question it, and went along with it.

2. power of fear/use of fear to control people

again, using the villagers fear of the unknown to get them to do what the elders wanted them to do- stay put, not travel outside of the borders of the village.

3. metaphor for today's society/culture... seemingly so easily manipulated/controlled

this film had an understated political tone. with a film like farenheit 9/11, or an old one like dr. strangelove, the director was very upfront and direct with the message. the village was not... the power of suggestion, the power of fear in this movie, combined with what was in today's society in the real world (the newspaper read by m. night in the end, and the announcements on the radio about the latest casualties in iraq). i thought the message was subtle.



overall, i thought the acting was top notch from a few people- bryce dallas howard did a phenomenal job as ivy, joaquin phoenix as lucious, and adrien brody as the mentally disturbed noah.

i don't think the movie did particularly well or was well accepted because american audiences tend to go into a movie, and expect the expected. we tend not to want a movie that will have/make us think, or look for a meaning in a movie/try to figure out if there's something else the director's trying to tell us. especially in a summer movie, where all we expect is blockbuster's, not stories and subtleties.

while i don't think "the village" was a perfect movie, i think it was much better than it was received by the public.

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An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of inprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses. - Malcolm X

Val_1

I just saw it for the first time this weekend and really enjoyed it. I like M Night, but stayed away when I heard the reviews. But, going into it with no expectations, I had a really good time. The "big twist" (which people put too much emphasis on) wasn't a spooky supernatural twist, but rather a new look at the mentality of the citizens of the town. I really enjoyed that and found it refreshing and original.

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I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.

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