Movie of the week: “The Village”. SPOILERS!

It’s one thing to be kept on the edge of your seat because you are terribly curious about what happens to the characters, it’s quite another to slouch in it because you are terribly annoyed by what the director wants to happen to them.

While “The Village” is by no means a bad film and looks exceptionally good, with wonderful cinematography, what doesn’t make it a good movie is the fact it likes to toy with its audience a little bit too much. This worked well in “The Sixth Sense” and about every other Shyamalan movie ever since, but it reaches new heights in his latest installment. I can enjoy being mislead only if the resolution is really good, and in this case, it maybe surprising but not really convincing.

In fact the director noticed that too because towards the end, when we learn that the village is located in a wildlife park, M. Night Shyamalan in one of his inescapable cameos feels the need to justify his very unlikely premise. Not a good sign if you need to spell it out to your viewers! At least it shows the film maker was aware of this inediquacy, unfortunately he doesn’t show this providence in other aspects.

He continually denies the audience scenes they have been waiting for or chooses to move the camera away from the happenings, which might be interesting from a filmmaker’s point of view but gets a hell of annoying after a while. To me, this overt omniscence of the director shows more arrogance than anything else – he thereby forces the viewers in an inferior position.

Sure the director always guides the audience but usually we’re not aware of that. And this is where I have a problem with Mr. Shyamalan: guiding the audience is necessary and also expected, however if you let the viewers feel too clearly you are toying with them, they end up feeling cheated.

Which is what I felt after it turns out that the Elders knew all along – then what is the point of the conversation between Alice Walker (Sigourney Weaver) and Edward Walker (William Hurt) where they discuss the latest attack of Those We Don’t Speak Of? There is no one else around they have to pretend to so it’s abundantly clear this scene is only here to manipulate the audience. It’s like M. Night Shyamalan constantly waves a sign at the audience with the words “Ain’t I clever?”.

Generally speaking, M. Night Shyamalan gives the impression of someone who sees his viewers as kind of a necessary evil, since for example the shift of protagonists leaves us more than a little unsettled. We are expecting to see Lucius enter the woods, but after he is almost killed by Noah it’s suddenly Ivy who becomes the person we are supposed to identify with. I say “supposed to” because frankly Lucius has absolutely no character traits that make him very much likeable – this could also be caused by Joaquin Phoenix being about as lively as a stone.

There is under-acting, and then there is under-acting. Playing a quiet character does not mean to play a character turned to stone. The only time he shows emotion is when he declares his love for Ivy, and that’s about it. I can’t say I missed him after he was wounded by Noah. And talking about Noah, that character was so unnerving! Since he’s more than a little crazy, which is cleverly already indicated by his messy hair, we’re supposed to not ask for an explanation for his actions.

Well, I’m asking! Noah was depicted as weird but harmless, and I can’t believe that if he has had those violent tendencies for a longer time they haven’t surfaced earlier. Ivy on the other hand is about as likeable as you can get for this movie. Bryce Dallas Howard does a good job most of the time, sometimes her blindness is not very convincing (she moves her eyes far too much for that) but on the whole, it’s really her movie.

Supporting actors with bigger names (Sigourney Weaver for example) are pleasantly in the background where they don’t disturb. Some attempts at humor were very much misplaced (Kitty’s husband’s worry about his jacket), others genuinely funny (Kitty proposing to Lucius).

The director managed to scare me three times but sadly, those moments were too rare to keep up the scary atmosphere. On the whole, “The Village” is a mixed pleasure. If M. Night Shyamalan could take a break from feeling so superior to his audience, his next movie might be better again.

3 1/2 out of 6 Meeps – good with some serious flaws