July 30, 2004

M. Night Shyamalan has written himself into a corner.

After making himself into the master of the surprise third act twist, Shyamalan had what I think was his most sophisticated idea. But instead of going with that idea and really exploring it, he structured the film into another third act surprise movie.

There is some similarity to Shyamalan's Unbreakable in that the film screams for a third act after you get the punchline. But while it would have been interesting to see how the characters in Unbreakable behaved after being uncovered for who and what they were, here you have a much more emotionally complex idea. But again, you have to wait until the punchline before you, as an audience, can even consider the significance of the film. And it's too late.

I'm going to do a spoiler section in a bit… there will be plenty of warning. There is, really, little point in discussing this film without discussing the twist. But I'll try to lay out some non-spoiler comments first.

The Village sets a new slow in pacing for Shyamalan films, which are already slow paced. The driving character in the film is William Hurt's, though it is clear that Night wants to play with the notion of blindness in his character and not just in the Bryce Dallas Howard character, who is literally blind. Keep an eye on Hurt's eyes in the film. You almost never see them. Hurt's performance is done almost completely with his voice. The whole scenario leads me to believe that Ms. Howard's character's blindness is not just a cheap gag so he can trick the character and the audience with her, but rather has some significance. What it is, I doo't know. But I am keeping my mind open and giving M. the benefit of the doubt.

But Shyamalan manages to waste most of his rather excellent cast. The wasted include Joaquin Phoenix, Adrian Brody, Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson, Judy Greer, Michael Pitt and Jesse Eisenberg. Of these seven big-talent actors, there is one good speech, one good comedy sequence and one good death. That's it. Adrian Brody's appearance here is very much like Halle Berry doing Catwoman. This is the kind of weird role he would have gotten before he ever met Polanski. Weaver has nothing to do. Phoenix is virtually comatose in his role. Pitt and Eisenberg are scenery. And Gleeson gets a brief speech towards the end of the movie.

The cinematography is beautiful. The sound work is complex, challenging and effective. But again, decisions in the first two acts are based not on good directorial choices, but keeping the secret.

I wish I could recommend this film whole-heartedly. To be fair, I would and probably will see the movie again. So it is not dental surgery. But it is a failure. That said, I have never been a good judge of the public's reaction (read: box office) to Shyamalan. So that will be another third act surprise to me.

And now.

THE SPOILER SECTION

 

SPOILERS COMING

 

STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW

Welcome back.

So as you know… or don't know but want to know… the twist in the film is that The Village is a man-made oasis, created by a group of victims of violence, one of whom has enough millions of dollars to keep the outside world out.

This notion is more than just a Twilight Zone gag writ large. I don't think that it is a big right-wing political statement either. But the notion of creating safer world for your family is a fascinating point of departure for discussion.

Is it a good idea? A bad idea? Would human nature be altered? How would knowing that the reality was false effect those involved? (For instance, in a real Village, there would be no reason for the stilted speech patterns…. Those who did not know the outside world would have no point of reference for distinguishing modern slang from ye olde lack of contractions.)

The movie clearly indicates that even regressing 100 years would not stop violence from occurring. But again, the obsession with hiding the secret forces keeps the discussion from taking full bloom.

I suppose I can understand Shyamalan sticking to his successful formula. Spielberg is taking heat in many quarters for stretching a bit as a director and not remaining as commercial as he once was. On the other hand, if he pandered to commerciality, he would get slammed for that. There is no winning when it comes to opinion that wants to find fault all the time.

But the opportunity was there in The Village for Shyamalan to get past being a gimmick director. And no matter how skilled he is… no matter how successful the films… no matter how beautifully shot… he has been a gimmick director, first and last. None of his films could't have been made as hour long TV. But he is obviously more talented than that. Now, if he would only let himself take a risk.

BOO!

E ME: Tell me your weekend movie warrior stories…