So Let it Be Done
Aug. 3rd, 2004 07:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liptonrm_backupVoted today. As I was walking into the polling area I felt this upswing of gratitude for the democratic system and the fact that we all have a say in what the government does. I've been feeling a bit pessimistic and disaffected with the world in general and the government in particular so it was nice to feel even a modicum of confidence in what the future may hold.
Say The Village last night. I did not hate it as much as some people did (for example:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
drunken_buzzard and the Big Lug) but I didn't go into it expecting a horror movie, as the ads all lead us to believe it was. Seriously, whoever is in charge of the marketing for this movie needs to be fired, because he/she/it is a filthy, filthy liar.
I have to say that The Village was a good movie that could have been a great one. It was going moving along very well until the end, where it fell apart and destroyed much of the good will I had for it during the earlier parts of the film. It explored fascinating issues of fear and hope, love and denial and the efficacy of isolating oneself from the world in order to be protected from it. It also looked at myth and folklore and why such things are still so vital and important to us today.
So yes, the issues and themes of the movie fascinated me. I was emotionally drawn into it by the strength of the cast and the vibrancy of the cinematography. The acting was phenomenal. I've always been a fan of each and every single actor involved in this project, and none of them disappointed. They portrayed subtle currents of tension with panache and created amazing insightful moments where not a single word was spoken. Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver all create compelling, vital characters that give heart and soul to the script and cause the audience to care about the characters they portray.
Visually it's also stunning, like all of M. Night Shyamalan's movies. The use of color, the brooding darkness of the forest, the lighting that illuminates of conceals combine to sweep one into the world that is being created.
There is, however, nothing surprising about any of the twists and turns that are dumped into the storyline. I saw the ending coming, I knew what the secret was less then two minutes into the movie and that didn't ruin the essence of the story for me. It was ironic, though, that less then a week after I had been involved in a discussion about creating a Shire, a kind of utopia and escape from the surrounding world, I see a movie that explores that very same issue. I didn't need surprises to enjoy the movie and it is unfortunate that the director felt that I did. He worked so hard at explaining the mysteries of the movie that by the end I was simply bored. The last half of the movie was so pedestrian and frustrating that I stopped caring about whether Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) would be saved or if Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) would make it through the woods. I felt that the way they dealt with Noah (Adrien Brody) was atrocious and haphazard, as if Shyamalan suddenly realized he needed a reason for everything that had happened so it was convenient to blame it all on the 'Village Idiot'.
This is a movie badly in need of a collaborator, someone who could take a red marker to Shyamalan's script, someone to advise him on what scenes to chop out, someone to tell him that less really is more. I, for one, did not need the information dump at the end, I didn't need to understand the logic behind the construction of the village. In fact, I think the movie would have been stronger if a little more mystery had been left in it. It is a movie that tries to do too much, that at times takes the wrong path and gets lost in its own logic, or lack there-of. This is a movie that could have been great but ended up being only mediocre and reached that height solely on the strength of the performers involved.
There are parts of The Village that I can't forget, moments that were strong and perfect, that evoked emotion and that I keep replaying in my mind, even now, a day after I saw it. It is a movie that should have been great and could have been great but in the end sunk under its own weight and leaves a bittersweet memory of disappointment. Go and see the first half of the movie, but then make sure and leave early and you will have seen a captivating movie. Just make sure and leave soon enough to get your money back.
Say The Village last night. I did not hate it as much as some people did (for example:
drunken_buzzard and the Big Lug) but I didn't go into it expecting a horror movie, as the ads all lead us to believe it was. Seriously, whoever is in charge of the marketing for this movie needs to be fired, because he/she/it is a filthy, filthy liar.I have to say that The Village was a good movie that could have been a great one. It was going moving along very well until the end, where it fell apart and destroyed much of the good will I had for it during the earlier parts of the film. It explored fascinating issues of fear and hope, love and denial and the efficacy of isolating oneself from the world in order to be protected from it. It also looked at myth and folklore and why such things are still so vital and important to us today.
So yes, the issues and themes of the movie fascinated me. I was emotionally drawn into it by the strength of the cast and the vibrancy of the cinematography. The acting was phenomenal. I've always been a fan of each and every single actor involved in this project, and none of them disappointed. They portrayed subtle currents of tension with panache and created amazing insightful moments where not a single word was spoken. Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver all create compelling, vital characters that give heart and soul to the script and cause the audience to care about the characters they portray.
Visually it's also stunning, like all of M. Night Shyamalan's movies. The use of color, the brooding darkness of the forest, the lighting that illuminates of conceals combine to sweep one into the world that is being created.
There is, however, nothing surprising about any of the twists and turns that are dumped into the storyline. I saw the ending coming, I knew what the secret was less then two minutes into the movie and that didn't ruin the essence of the story for me. It was ironic, though, that less then a week after I had been involved in a discussion about creating a Shire, a kind of utopia and escape from the surrounding world, I see a movie that explores that very same issue. I didn't need surprises to enjoy the movie and it is unfortunate that the director felt that I did. He worked so hard at explaining the mysteries of the movie that by the end I was simply bored. The last half of the movie was so pedestrian and frustrating that I stopped caring about whether Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) would be saved or if Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) would make it through the woods. I felt that the way they dealt with Noah (Adrien Brody) was atrocious and haphazard, as if Shyamalan suddenly realized he needed a reason for everything that had happened so it was convenient to blame it all on the 'Village Idiot'.
This is a movie badly in need of a collaborator, someone who could take a red marker to Shyamalan's script, someone to advise him on what scenes to chop out, someone to tell him that less really is more. I, for one, did not need the information dump at the end, I didn't need to understand the logic behind the construction of the village. In fact, I think the movie would have been stronger if a little more mystery had been left in it. It is a movie that tries to do too much, that at times takes the wrong path and gets lost in its own logic, or lack there-of. This is a movie that could have been great but ended up being only mediocre and reached that height solely on the strength of the performers involved.
There are parts of The Village that I can't forget, moments that were strong and perfect, that evoked emotion and that I keep replaying in my mind, even now, a day after I saw it. It is a movie that should have been great and could have been great but in the end sunk under its own weight and leaves a bittersweet memory of disappointment. Go and see the first half of the movie, but then make sure and leave early and you will have seen a captivating movie. Just make sure and leave soon enough to get your money back.
