Replies

1) Ivy was um... BLIND, yet she ran through the brambles and woods like a deer.

Not in the film I saw.

Heck, after several hours in the forest, her cloak was only muddy at the feet, not the knees, so yes, dear viewer, a BLIND girl didn't fall down ONCE on her sightless bushwhacking trek.

Except for the time she, you know, fell into a muddy pit.

how did he a) run thru the Village to the woods undetected with the suit, b) find Ivy, c) Not have the presence of mind to take off the stupid mask, etc.

He probably left The Village in dark of night (remember Ivy had already camped one night in the forest). I don't know why you think he would have wanted to take off the mask. He liked playing the monster. Was that not clear?

3) Why pay high priced actors (Brody, Hurt, Weaver) for this movie? No skills were required.

This comment is pointless and has nothing to do with anything.

4) In 2004, no way this place stays secret.

It's a movie. It's not real. You understand that, right? All we know is that Walker's father was "rich" and that these funds were at times used to pay off people when necessary to keep the place secret. I suppose it's implausible, but certainly no more so than seeing dead people.

5) If men created this secret world, and pardon my crassness, why would they bundle the women up in frontier clothes? Bikinis all around (on the younger women.)

Heh heh. But of course, that's your take on it. Clearly the guys in this Village were, uh, going for something different than Florida Spring Break when they created this place. And besides, "men" did not create this secret world in the first place. There were men and women in on the original founding of the Village. You didn't know that?

6) Why would you, ever, send a blind girl off on an adventure in the woods, with poor directions, to a place she knows nothing about and can't possibly understand. What is a "town" to her anyway?

It's a risk, yeah. He sent her because the only other option was watching her suffer as her true love dies. The fact that she was blind was actually a bonus because it increased the likelihood that she would not be able to report anything from "the towns" which would arouse suspicion from the other Villagers. But yeah, the whole thing was a risk.

I'm puzzled why so many people seem to think 'one of the characters did something risky and not logically ironclad or failsafe!' is actually a criticism of a movie. Have you seen any other movies?

7) What happened to the two wimps who left her alone in the woods?

They were scared and so went back to the Village.

9) Where did all the kids in the Village come from? Way too many for the small number of adults there.

I doubt the Elders brought a supply of birth control pills with them.

10) On adn on and on and on.

Yup, keep on picking those nits.

I thought it was going to be a good social comment on American puritanism, or even religious symbolism gone awry.

Why did you think that?

That is, ok, they decided to make the color red "bad," much like some religions think dancing or the number 7 is bad or some other arbitrary thing, and the lesson would be that hey, "red ain't so bad, see, we live fine with red in our lives."

Hmm. Sounds pretty lame, I liked Shyamalan's movie better. Essentially the movie you're describing has already been made, it was called Pleasantville.

This movie gave us nothing intelligent or even much to think about

Well I disagree, but of course different people think about different things and to different extents.

Ok, so you both called me out for "missing the point" of The Village. Usually, I'd let it go and chalk up our difference of opinion, but since Ichneumon has wowed me on more than one occasion before on the science threads, I felt I need to re-examine my post.

1) I lamented that Ivy was blind yet could somehow negotiate the forest. This has nothing to do with the plot, but it still bothered me. Yes, Dr. Frank, she fell into the muddy pit, but if beforehand, after several hours in the woods, her knees and palms were clean. My point was that she absolutely would have fallen before the muddy pit scene and her knees would certainly have been dirty already. Hitchcock would have nailed this trifle. At the least, she has an incredible sense of direction (even though, yes, she'd eventually hit the wall no matter how many missteps, I suppose).

2) Sure, Noah "liked playing monster." But he also liked Ivy. I can't presume the retarded mindset, but I'd think once he detected her sheer terror, he'd have exposed himself in some way... rather than making those gutteral sounds he seemed incapable of while uncloaked.

3) My point about the "high priced actors" can be retracted. My wife pointed out to me that she felt the adults were stilted in their speech on purpose, making the very capable Jeff Bridges come off as 2nd rate. In the exchange b/w Bridges and his daughter regarding her intent to marry Lucious, he was robotic with forced speech patterns, whereas the girl was much more natural. Explanatoin being that he has to force it, having lived in the "real world" previously, whereas his daughter only knew that manner of speech. Still, what's the point in creating such Puritan-speak? One can be devoid of curse words without sounding hokey.

4) I commented that the Preserve's secret would not remain in 2004. Dr. Frank compared it to the 6th sense and challenged me to suspend my disbelief. However, hte 6th sense was a ghost movie and it worked. This was, ostensibly, a drama. Weak argument, yes, but I can justify it if only in my own mind. Ichneumon said that the set-up, ownership, and guard duty would have been sufficient. I guess, since I grew up outside of Philly, I couldn't shake the knowledge that I've combed those very woods and I know how teenagers are. The rumor would be out there, and stupid kids would breach the wall at some point.

5) Ok, so you both justify sending a blind girl (with guides). Even though Hurt could have jogged himself to the very same guardpost, and gotten the very same medicine. Since the guard reading the paper was "in on it," it wouldn't have been a big deal. And yes, I know the two kids got scared and turned back (which gives credence to the "secret") but I wanted to see them punished. Even if there were no monsters, leaving a blind person alone in the woods is shameful. None of us would do that.

*****
Ok, I'm done. I still think the movie could have been much, much better. The idea, the intent, and the styling were all great. The end product, though, didn't do it for me at all. Too hokey... I still think he should have focused in more on societal taboos or religious/cultural symbolism gone awry.