The Unseen Movie Review

The Village

Writer/Director M. Night Shyamalan was, with the release of his 1999 smash hit The Sixth Sense, hailed by some as a of filmmaking genius, almost on a par with Hitchcock in his ability to balance detailed characters with the demands of genre. For some reason, the film’s obvious final twist, the lynchpin on which the entire supernatural thriller depended, seemed not to have been spotted from the giveaway trailer by enough people, and it also made obscene amounts of money. His follow-up, the comic book inspired twisty-turny, supposedly philosophical Unbreakable also did pretty well with both critics and paying customers, despite being just a tad silly and having yet another fairly obvious twist for its final pay-off. Signs saw Mel Gibson being freaked out by aliens in yet another variation on the same theme.

The basic premise here seems most reminiscent of Tim Burton’s often underrated comedy/horror/whodunnit Sleepy Hollow – the notion of a village living in fear of some terrible threat amongst the trees – but Shyamalan is hardly known for his humour (despite being the writer behind the kiddie comedy Stuart Little). This is a darker movie than Burton’s altogether – and it’s not often that you get to say that. The creatures who circle the town, occasionally venturing in on an attack, are kept in the shadows for a good portion of the film: an unknown, terrifying threat that could become murderous at any moment. It seems the director has been preparing for this movie by watching the first two classic instalments of the Sigourney Weaver-starring Alien series on a constant loop.

The real difference between this and his last few films is that whereas they both relied on strong performances from one or two relatively psychologically complex and confused central characters. Here Shyamalan is working with a large ensemble cast, made up of a number of big names, from Oscar nominees Joaquin Phoenix, who also cropped up in Signs, and the Alien movies’ own Sigourney Weaver to Oscar-winner Adrian Brody (he of the Halle Berry onstage snog fame).

The Village once again combines the supernatural and ridiculous which seems to be becoming Shyamalan’s trademark, but with an added touch of classic horror film shock tactics to add to his ability to build fear and confusion in his audience. Needless to say, there are also his copyrighted plot twists, which are just as surprising/predictable as his previous ones, depending on your point of view. If you liked his last few movies, and object to anyone claiming them to be predictable and silly, there’s a fair chance that this one will appeal as well. If not, it is just possible that the bonus psychological shocker element may overcome any doubts you may have about this supposed film genius. But only just.

posted by Nosemonkey @ 12:00 AM