The Village
Aug. 1st, 2004 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhI saw The Village last night, and like... wow. It is far and away the best movie of Shyamalan's, and it's the best movie I've seen in months. SO. GOOD.
But nearly every single review or comment about it I've seen didn't like it. I think the issue is that it's not a horror movie, and it shouldn't have been marketed as such. If you're looking at it only by the standards of a horror movie, and judging it that way, then yeah, it does fail. But ultimately, it's not a horror movie, so who cares if it fails on that aspect?
I'm not saying that it wasn't scary- it did have some jumpy parts, and there was lots of tension and mystery- but it's no more a horror movie than Moulin Rouge was a comedy. That had funny moments, and lots of crazy, zany scenes, but if you came out of it complaining that the whole ending really ruined the humor for you, you've missed the point.
What I think the movie is about is people. It's about how people are horrible and cruel and selfish and worthless. And, at the exact same time, in the exact same ways, they're beautiful and courageous and intelligent and amazing and lovely and wonderful. The Village is a celebration of humanity, in all its stupidity and gloriousness. This is what it means to love humanity.
This is what I mean: The Elders retreated from modern society because they saw it as a place of evil and temptation. But that isolation was doomed to fail from the very start, because of nature of people. Modern society is not fucked up because we have guns or drugs or too much money or violent video games, modern society is fucked up because people are fucked up. And they have always been fucked up, and they will always be fucked up. Society today is really not much worse off than society has ever been.
You can't escape murder and crime, because every single human is capable of those things. How can you isolate yourself from yourself? The village was doomed to failure in that sense- there was no way it would have lasted any amount of time without there being some crimes.
And much of the horror of the movie is the fault of the Elders. In their increasing attempts to protect 'innocence', they do worse and worse things, things very much like what drove them for society in the first place. They kill and skin animals, terrorize children, lie to their families, keep horrible secrets. Ivy's blindness likely could have been cured or prevented in a hospital. As Lucius pointed out, there are medicines that could have helped or calmed Noah, possibly preventing the attack on Lucius. And, most obviously of all, Noah would never have died if Ivy hadn't been told tales of the creatures for her entire life.
But it's in that moment that the meaning of the movie is most clear: Noah is killed, in the most worthless and pointless way possible. But that exact same scene is such a celebration of humanity's worth: as Ivy stands there, waiting to trap the monster, waiting to win out over the ultimate adversary. Her courage! Her cunning! Her strength! God, what it would have taken to stand there and wait as the thing you've most feared your entire life comes straight at you. What is that, but praise for all that's good in people, their true worth and beauty?
You can see that same love for humanity throughout the movie- the kind voice of the security guard, the sweet, homey scenes at the very beginning, the wedding dance, the close-up, slow-motion focus on Ivy and Lucius's hands when they run from the monster in Ivy's house- what is that but the very best of trust and love and courage?
(And, as a side-note, the relationship between Ivy and Lucius was amazing. Usually I get bored with romances in movies, because they never seem true. There's no chemistry between the actors, there's no reason for them to fall in love- besides the plot. But this romance really seemed to flow from who the characters were, to be an essential and true part of them.)
To me, the movie was about people. Because people, yes, are awful. They really are. But if you isolate yourself from them, you lose out so many things: beauty and knowledge and strength and bravery and love. And this movie is aware of that. It's not sugary-sweet; it faces up quite clearly to the horrible things people do. But it still loves them, in spite of it, because of it. When the credits started rolling, I was sitting there with a huge grin on my face,just thinking: Yes, this is it. This is humanity, and this is how I love them.
So, yeah, I adored it. Such a good movie.
But nearly every single review or comment about it I've seen didn't like it. I think the issue is that it's not a horror movie, and it shouldn't have been marketed as such. If you're looking at it only by the standards of a horror movie, and judging it that way, then yeah, it does fail. But ultimately, it's not a horror movie, so who cares if it fails on that aspect?
I'm not saying that it wasn't scary- it did have some jumpy parts, and there was lots of tension and mystery- but it's no more a horror movie than Moulin Rouge was a comedy. That had funny moments, and lots of crazy, zany scenes, but if you came out of it complaining that the whole ending really ruined the humor for you, you've missed the point.
What I think the movie is about is people. It's about how people are horrible and cruel and selfish and worthless. And, at the exact same time, in the exact same ways, they're beautiful and courageous and intelligent and amazing and lovely and wonderful. The Village is a celebration of humanity, in all its stupidity and gloriousness. This is what it means to love humanity.
This is what I mean: The Elders retreated from modern society because they saw it as a place of evil and temptation. But that isolation was doomed to fail from the very start, because of nature of people. Modern society is not fucked up because we have guns or drugs or too much money or violent video games, modern society is fucked up because people are fucked up. And they have always been fucked up, and they will always be fucked up. Society today is really not much worse off than society has ever been.
You can't escape murder and crime, because every single human is capable of those things. How can you isolate yourself from yourself? The village was doomed to failure in that sense- there was no way it would have lasted any amount of time without there being some crimes.
And much of the horror of the movie is the fault of the Elders. In their increasing attempts to protect 'innocence', they do worse and worse things, things very much like what drove them for society in the first place. They kill and skin animals, terrorize children, lie to their families, keep horrible secrets. Ivy's blindness likely could have been cured or prevented in a hospital. As Lucius pointed out, there are medicines that could have helped or calmed Noah, possibly preventing the attack on Lucius. And, most obviously of all, Noah would never have died if Ivy hadn't been told tales of the creatures for her entire life.
But it's in that moment that the meaning of the movie is most clear: Noah is killed, in the most worthless and pointless way possible. But that exact same scene is such a celebration of humanity's worth: as Ivy stands there, waiting to trap the monster, waiting to win out over the ultimate adversary. Her courage! Her cunning! Her strength! God, what it would have taken to stand there and wait as the thing you've most feared your entire life comes straight at you. What is that, but praise for all that's good in people, their true worth and beauty?
You can see that same love for humanity throughout the movie- the kind voice of the security guard, the sweet, homey scenes at the very beginning, the wedding dance, the close-up, slow-motion focus on Ivy and Lucius's hands when they run from the monster in Ivy's house- what is that but the very best of trust and love and courage?
(And, as a side-note, the relationship between Ivy and Lucius was amazing. Usually I get bored with romances in movies, because they never seem true. There's no chemistry between the actors, there's no reason for them to fall in love- besides the plot. But this romance really seemed to flow from who the characters were, to be an essential and true part of them.)
To me, the movie was about people. Because people, yes, are awful. They really are. But if you isolate yourself from them, you lose out so many things: beauty and knowledge and strength and bravery and love. And this movie is aware of that. It's not sugary-sweet; it faces up quite clearly to the horrible things people do. But it still loves them, in spite of it, because of it. When the credits started rolling, I was sitting there with a huge grin on my face,just thinking: Yes, this is it. This is humanity, and this is how I love them.
So, yeah, I adored it. Such a good movie.
