Well, you may as well ask why they didn't bring televisions or canned food. They made this choice to live this way. The choice itself is highly morally questionable. These were highly disturbed, depressed people, keep in mind. But the not-bringing-medical-supplies part of it is at least consistent with the overall decision.
Further, why did the "preserve" have the supplies needed in such quantity if they were meant only for "first aid"?
Hadn't thought about that, a fair point. I think it was so that there would be a refrigerator with a glass door in which we would see Night's face in the reflection ;-)
Why did the elders hide the red outfits, yet not hide a modern change of clothes for reentry into "town" for this very situation?
They never wanted to go back to "the towns", that was the whole point. They even took an "oath" about it.
But what is with the red and yellow color crap? Can't see any reason.
You make red "the bad color" because red is the color of blood. The usefulness of such a taboo, especially to people who had been traumatized by violence and were seeking to escape it, would be obvious.
Can't quite say why they would make yellow "the safe color". I'd look at it from a few different angles. (1) If some brave teenager does venture into the woods, hopefully he'll at least put on a yellow cloak and you'll spot him (and catch him, and bring him back) easier. (2) It's the color of fire - so it goes hand in hand with the ring of torches they set up. (3) Or you could just say, Well, some color has to be "the safe color", why not yellow? ;-)
You can never overlook reason #4 of course which is (4) M. Night Shyamalan simply uses colors this way in his movies.
Why on earth didn't one of the elders go to town?
Because of the oath. Because they had formed families and raised them in The Village and feared their lifelong lie being exposed. Because they thought doing so would destroy their way of life.
Wouldn't modern medicines be easier to conceal and explain than the elaborate charade that was being propped up to maintain isolation?
Possibly. Seems like they could have had syringes and told the children they were "magic sticks", kept stocks of "magic pills", etc. What the heck are the young people going to say, "Wait a second! This stuff didn't exist in 1897!" The kids don't know that. Heck they could have chosen to invent a society with inventions and concepts drawn from a wide variety of time periods. They could have stocked and used Palm Pilots with batteries for various things ("magic tablets using magic rocks for food") and at the same time organized their society in a feudalistic way with knights and serfs.
But they didn't. They chose to do it the way they chose. Again, the decision itself to go out and form The Village was a bit loopy to begin with, so all this nit-picking about why-didn't-they-do-such-and-such just seems a little misplaced. Why aren't you asking why they formed the dang Village at all? :-)
Seems to me that the "elders" traded the arbitrary violent deaths of loved ones in the "towns" for arbitrary deaths in the village due to their poor planning and stubbornness under the guise of "principle".
Seems that way to me too. And, I reckon that halfway through the movie it seemed that way to William Hurt's character as well, which is why he allowed his daughter to go to "the towns"....
In The Village I found myself going over the story thinking of all the ways it was one big lame shaggy-dog story that just didn't add up.
Much of your criticisms make sense of course, but they make sense as criticisms of rational people engaged in something rational. I think your mistake is in assuming or thinking that this is what Walker and the other support group members were, or that we were supposed to think that's what they are. Think about the ending of the film again; in sense, they were the villains. Best,
I do disagree that these were still highly disturbed and depressed people. The lasting design of what they did was thought through and deliberate, but flawed. One can argue that the elders "took and oath" and therefore could not go, but what was the point of their whole structure in the first place? It was to preserve the secrecy of the village. Allowing anyone else to go risked betrayal of that secret. But Walker did, so how is it that he kept his oath? It is the difference between the letter of the law and the intent. Walker kept the letter and said "screw the intent" because he couldn't bear to see his daughter suffer when a solution was readily available. In doing so he risked everything (but by golly he kept his oath). The lack of rational thought by people who structured such an elaborate escape is the frustration of the film.
As to why they didn't bring palm pilots, the answer is obvious - it would have wrecked twist at the end. Surely that cannot be allowed after going to such ridiculous screenwriting lengths to provide one.
Now, before I begin my post, please avert your eyes, those of you who have yet to see the movie, are playing in the match this afternoon and are moving your clothes down onto the lower peg immediately after lunch, before you write your letter home, if you're not getting your hair cut, unless you've got a younger brother who is going out this weekend as the guest of another boy, in which case, you plan to collect his note before lunch and put it in your letter after you've had your hair cut, and will make sure he moves your clothes down onto the lower peg for you. All others may continue reading. Now…
Further, why did the "preserve" have the supplies needed in such quantity if they were meant only for "first aid"?
My take is that the preserve had the supplies needed in such quantity because they knew about the village. When Ivy is talking to the park ranger, he informs her that there is a guard station posted every few miles and each station is readily stocked with the supplies she needs. The stations were stocked with those intentionally. The government (or members of the government) was (were) in on founding the village. Later, when the park ranger goes to the guard station, his supervisor (M. Night) warns him repeatedly not to get involved in conversations about his job with anyone. The supervisor also mentions the trouble he went though a year earlier when (I think it was) the media discovered that a no-fly zone was established around the preserve. So, as I saw it, at least the supervisor knew about the village.
I like the use of the reflection of Night's face in the glass door of the refrigerator. I could not tell if he was intentionally ignoring the guard pilfer the medical supplies. I also liked the scene wherein the park ranger is sitting in his truck with a blank expression on his face. To me, he was struggling with his choice not to inform anyone about what he learned. Anyway, good movie.