The Village
Jul. 31st, 2004 03:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caraigNot a lot of people liked M. Night Shyamalan's Signs. I admit that I was enjoyed and spoked out for about 3/4 of it, right up until we saw the aliens, and then it just wasn't as spooky anymore.
Personally, he's redeemed himself with this film. Read on.
Once again, M. Night Shyamalan does pretty much what he did in Signs but he does it somewhat better. We never see the creatures fully for the most part, geting only glimpses and hints. Well, we do see one fairly full a bit early on, but it's a glimpse only. Shyamalan has a wonderful eye for cinematography and it kept me pretty tense throughout the film.
Again, though, he has the same problem that he had in Signs in that it's like he has this thoroughly scary monster that he's DYING to show us, and restrains himself, holds himself back, milks the terror for all it's worth... and then goes, 'I can't hold it back anymore!' and shows it to you full and after that the creature/alien just isn't as scary anymore.
It's kind of like how Stephen King described how to do terror and horror. If you just throw a six foot tall wombat through a door, salivating and rabid and ready to inflict grievous trauma, the reader will be scared witless for a moment. Then they'll say, "Well, at least it wasn't a TEN foot tall wombat! With a chainsaw. And rabies. Suffering from a hangnail." But if you have scratches on the door, little piles of wombat droppings here and there, and evidence that a wombat of indeterminate size and intent has been scrabbling about when you're not looking... then it becomes riviting and you hold the reader in suspense. So the creatures in The Village are the same way (as were the aliens in Signs: you don't know what they're all about, you're on the edge of your seet wondering what they're going to do, you're scared witless because you just catch glimpses of them... but then you see them and the fear is kind of drained. Even so, I think M. Night Shyamalan (damn, wish I had his name!) milked the terror and fear for all it was worth and went on to wind down the story before we lost all sense of fear of the creatures.
Also, just like Signs, the movie seems to be about one-half to three quarters exposition and setup. This works, actually, since you care about the characters and you need to see how their reactions to events are and what they do. I found it interesting, though, in that Joaquin Phoenix's character really appeared on screen for only half the movie or so. it's like what happened to Bella Lugosi in Plan Nine From Outer Space: I was wondering if Phoenix had died halfway through it considering the director's utter reluctance to show him on screen following the character's 'accident.'
I really can't say much about the last 20 minutes of the film. Suffice to say that THIS MOVIE WILL FARK YOUR MIND. You can see one of the twists coming, but then he turns around and...
... I'll wait a few weeks before writing more, like what I thought the movie was about and what I walked away with from it. It's enough to say that I was glad I went to see this film and I was definitely not disappointed, though if I was to recommend it I'd definitely say to see it in matinee, just in case you don't like it.
Oh, yeah, and the theater didn't have air conditioning. Bozos. This is not the best theater on Staten Island, in fact it's kinda rundown and beat up. The only reason I went to it rather than the much nicer one up on East Service Road was because I had to drop my car off at the nearby auto shop. Speaking of which, said auto shop has to hold on to my car until Tuesday since they need to order parts from the dealer. Grr. And apparently the bus fare in NYC is $2.00. What the heck is up with that? The metro-transit system is pretty good, but is it worth two bucks?
Anyway, that's what my day was like. Pax!
Personally, he's redeemed himself with this film. Read on.
Once again, M. Night Shyamalan does pretty much what he did in Signs but he does it somewhat better. We never see the creatures fully for the most part, geting only glimpses and hints. Well, we do see one fairly full a bit early on, but it's a glimpse only. Shyamalan has a wonderful eye for cinematography and it kept me pretty tense throughout the film.
Again, though, he has the same problem that he had in Signs in that it's like he has this thoroughly scary monster that he's DYING to show us, and restrains himself, holds himself back, milks the terror for all it's worth... and then goes, 'I can't hold it back anymore!' and shows it to you full and after that the creature/alien just isn't as scary anymore.
It's kind of like how Stephen King described how to do terror and horror. If you just throw a six foot tall wombat through a door, salivating and rabid and ready to inflict grievous trauma, the reader will be scared witless for a moment. Then they'll say, "Well, at least it wasn't a TEN foot tall wombat! With a chainsaw. And rabies. Suffering from a hangnail." But if you have scratches on the door, little piles of wombat droppings here and there, and evidence that a wombat of indeterminate size and intent has been scrabbling about when you're not looking... then it becomes riviting and you hold the reader in suspense. So the creatures in The Village are the same way (as were the aliens in Signs: you don't know what they're all about, you're on the edge of your seet wondering what they're going to do, you're scared witless because you just catch glimpses of them... but then you see them and the fear is kind of drained. Even so, I think M. Night Shyamalan (damn, wish I had his name!) milked the terror and fear for all it was worth and went on to wind down the story before we lost all sense of fear of the creatures.
Also, just like Signs, the movie seems to be about one-half to three quarters exposition and setup. This works, actually, since you care about the characters and you need to see how their reactions to events are and what they do. I found it interesting, though, in that Joaquin Phoenix's character really appeared on screen for only half the movie or so. it's like what happened to Bella Lugosi in Plan Nine From Outer Space: I was wondering if Phoenix had died halfway through it considering the director's utter reluctance to show him on screen following the character's 'accident.'
I really can't say much about the last 20 minutes of the film. Suffice to say that THIS MOVIE WILL FARK YOUR MIND. You can see one of the twists coming, but then he turns around and...
... I'll wait a few weeks before writing more, like what I thought the movie was about and what I walked away with from it. It's enough to say that I was glad I went to see this film and I was definitely not disappointed, though if I was to recommend it I'd definitely say to see it in matinee, just in case you don't like it.
Oh, yeah, and the theater didn't have air conditioning. Bozos. This is not the best theater on Staten Island, in fact it's kinda rundown and beat up. The only reason I went to it rather than the much nicer one up on East Service Road was because I had to drop my car off at the nearby auto shop. Speaking of which, said auto shop has to hold on to my car until Tuesday since they need to order parts from the dealer. Grr. And apparently the bus fare in NYC is $2.00. What the heck is up with that? The metro-transit system is pretty good, but is it worth two bucks?
Anyway, that's what my day was like. Pax!
