March 28, 2010 [
FAITH REVIEW / THE VILLAGE (REVISED) / KEN FUQUAY
]
Film Title: The Village
Year: 2004
Director: M. Night Shyamalan (Director/Writer)
Original release form/venue : Major Motion Picture release (USA July 2004; Worldwide by September 2004)
Current availability & formats : DVD, VHS, On-Demand Download
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Story elements :
The Village was promoted worldwide as a “smart, edge-of-your-seat chiller crawling with terrifying surprises and frightening twists and turns.” The Village references an isolated small tight-knit group of Amish-like puritans living off the land in the mid-to-late 19 th
Century. The Village is led by patriarch Edward Walker (William
Hurt). Whether a minister or mayor, we are never quite sure, but the Elders of the villagers trust his leadership as though he were both. The Elders meet often to handle village matters. Edward has a blind, but independent, daughter named Ivy (Bryce Dallas
Howard). Ivy is the essence of innocence and purity and has a keen sense of perception.
Often, she sees what others cannot see. She is romantically intrigued with the quiet and introverted Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix), who is the son of the widowed Alice
(Sigourney Weaver). Alice has feelings for Edward, but Edward deems them inappropriate and rebuffs them. Adrien Brody portrays Noah Percy, a mentally slow and quirky character who is attracted to Ivy. The cast is a strong ensemble of award nominee and award winning method actors. The film is not filled with ghostly or computer generated effects to deliver the suspense. It is character driven and it is the characters we don’t see that deliver the strongest roles.
The film was shot is in the expansive hill country of Centerville, Delaware, but the story takes place in Pennsylvania. However, the mental location of the film is clearly isolation. The village is surrounded by a forest. In the forest live vile, hostile creatures that dress in red and have claws of twigs. The villagers refer to the creatures in the forest as “Those We Do Not Speak Of.” Watchtowers guard the periphery of the village and fires burn on the perimeter through the night. Some sort of truce has been reached by the Elders and Those We Do Not Speak Of. “We do not go into theirs and they do not come into ours.” The borders are not to be crossed, but Lucius is curious and appeals to the Elders for permission to cross into the forest. The appeal is denied and to add emphasis to the denial, Those We Do Not Speak Of cross into the village and slaughter a number of pigs. The skinned and dead carcasses are left behind to remind the villagers of the evil that lurks beyond their borders. The viewer is allowed only glimpses of the red-caped creatures.
Something horrific happens to one of the main characters and reluctantly, against the will of the Elders, Edward allows Ivy, the blind girl, to go to “the towns” on the other side of the forest to bring back much needed medicine. Ivy dons a hooded yellow cape and trudges through the forest into the world of Those We Do Not Speak
Of. The pacing is intentionally suspense driven and in typical Shyamalan fashion, twists and secrets are revealed from this point through the remainder of the movie.
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March 28, 2010 [
FAITH REVIEW / THE VILLAGE (REVISED) / KEN FUQUAY
]
Film Language elements:
The story of the village unfolds against a backdrop of winter grey, a maze of leafless trees, with only two primary colors; yellow and red. The soundtrack is filled with ethereal Native American flutes juxtaposed against howling sounds, wind blowing and metal chimes for an eerie effect. But grounding the soundtrack and constant throughout the film is a single solitary violin. It provides an emotional undertone in a dirge-like fashion and portrays the darker side of the human spirit. The faint sound effects of bells ringing are indicative of moments of clarity and perception for Ivy, the blind girl.
The master shots of the village convey a sense of community, especially the long outdoor thanksgiving style feast table. The forest is always shot as large and frightening. The leafless trees and their maze of branches are captured from a low angle giving them massive arms and claws against the grey sky. Set design and costumes establish the era as mid 19 th
century. The clothes are functional and not fashionable. We assume the villagers work and live off the land, although that is never shown in the film. The pilgrim-esque brogue purposely points to the puritans and all that that lifestyle entailed. The script alerts the viewer as to why this village was created. “What was the purpose of our leaving?” Edward asks. “Don’t forget, it was out of hope of something good and right.” This is an attempt to establish a utopian community isolated and secure from the evils that lurk in the forest. The watchtowers and fires provide further boundaries through which the story is developed. But as
Lucius informs us, “There are secrets in every corner of this village. Do you not feel it?
Do you know see it?”
Shyamalan’s script does a brilliant job of balancing the layers needed to deliver the plot. Through the script, we understand the characters; get their relationships; know the purpose of the isolated village and we believe that evil lurks in the forest.
What the script slowly and reluctantly reveals is that, quite possibly, evil lurks within the village.
Red and yellow are dominant colors that pop against the otherwise wintry grey backdrop. Red represents evil. Anything red, even flowers and berries are evil and are to be buried. Yellow represents courage. It is the yellow cape of courage worn against the red cape of evil. The red caped creatures are scary, but not exaggerated beyond the point of belief by outrageous costumes or computer generated embellishments.
The viewers, like the towns people, believe the creatures exist because the Elders say they exist. The fact that the viewer never fully sees a red caped creature until one of the secrets is revealed mid-way in the movie, is testament to the director’s ability to effectively use the medium’s tools to create suspense and develop the character of evil.
2

March 28, 2010 [
FAITH REVIEW / THE VILLAGE (REVISED) / KEN FUQUAY
]
Audience/Cultural context elements:
The intended audience was, and is, the thrill seeking movie-goers who depend on M. Night Shyamalan to evoke moods out of mundane situations and deliver roller coaster rides of suspense and horror. Shyamalan understands his audience and consistently constructs monumental movies that revel in the darker side of the human spirit.
Theology is found:
The movie blatantly states that the village came into existence out of the hope for something good and right. The storyline develops in a context of good versus bad and interjects the elements of innocence and purity. And once the secrets are revealed, it becomes painfully obvious that this film takes on the theological issue of human depravity.
Theological themes for conversation:
Where does evil live?
What is evil?
Should we be scared of the “boogie man?”
Can the devil make you do something?
Who is the “boogie man?”
Are Christians called to be separatists? (Come out and be ye separate.)
Is it possible to sequester yourself from evil?
What does it mean to be “in the world”, but not “of the world?”
Are we to blindly trust those in religious authority over us?
Suggest type of conversation:
Use the film, The Village, as a critical challenge to understanding the theological themes detailed above.
Recommended ways to view and engage the film:
This film is perfectly suited for viewing up to a point, then stopping for conversation twice before completing the film and following up with a final conversation.
1.
Show the film to the point just prior to the occurrence of the horrific act in the village. Discuss good and evil; keeping our families safe from bad things, being separate and the ideals of utopian communities.
2.
Continuing showing the film through the scenes that involve the horrific act that occurs in the village through the point where Ivy begs for permission to cross through the forest to go to “the towns” to get medicine. Discuss evil, humanity and total depravity.
3.
Show the remainder of the film. This portion deals with truths hidden, secrets revealed, ideologies and reality. Discuss religious authority; reasons for it, reasons against it; seeking the truth for oneself, being in the world but not of the world.
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March 28, 2010 [
FAITH REVIEW / THE VILLAGE (REVISED) / KEN FUQUAY
]
Summary remarks:
I was fascinated by this film, not because of the typical suspense mystery elements of this genre, but because of the truth I discovered as part of my own story being raised in an ultra conservative protestant denomination. For most of my adolescence, relationship with God was about staying away from evil. It was all about what we could not do and where we could not go. The devil lurked behind every corner and was “roaming to and fro seeking whom he may devour”. It was a bittersweet day when I realized that there were secrets in every corner of our church and that evil actually lived within me. Putting the suspense thriller aside, I believe this film will speak theologically to those of us who experienced such an upbringing.
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