The Village (film) Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Village (2004) is a thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan that explores the dynamics of an insular 1897 colony and the collective fears of its members.
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2 Plot 3 Proposed legal action 4 External links |
Cast
As is usual in his films, M. Night Shyamalan is seen in a brief cameo. In one of the final scenes his voice is heard for a time and eventually his reflection can be seen in a glass cabinet.
Plot
The film centers around a small agrarian village surrounded by a forest. According to the governing elders, the villagers have a long-standing truce with "creatures" that live in the woods – neither faction will enter the territory of the other.
With illness and death on the increase amongst the villagers, Lucius Hunt, son of one of the elders, volunteers to head to the towns for medical supplies. This means travelling through the forest and his request is turned down by fearful elders as the creatures of the woods start to leave warnings. Meanwhile Ivy Walker, daughter of another elder, begins to express her feelings towards Lucius. Being mostly blind she can only see vague lights and shapes, but is able to see Lucius as a colour. Things go horribly wrong when Noah Percy, a man with mental disabilities, jealously attacks Lucius, stabbing him and leaving him close to death.
Knowing that the love between Ivy and Lucius has grown strong the elders agree to allow Ivy to pass through the forest and seek out the medical supplies. Before she does, however, her father explains the secret of the creatures – they are fabrications created by the elders in an attempt to block out the rest of the evil world, where all the founders of the colony suffered family deaths and losses.
While travelling through the forest a creature suddenly attacks Ivy. Without sight, and with the stories of the creatures so deeply ingrained in her thoughts, she runs away extremely frightened. Her cunning allows her to trick the creature into a gaping hole and the fall is fatal. Soon, however, we discover that it was Noah in a costume.
Ivy's directions bring her to a large wall. She climbs up, jumps to the other side and the final plot twist is revealed: the film is set in a much more modern time than was implied. A helpful park ranger, driving along the perimeter of the "private reservation", spots Ivy and is shocked to hear that she has come out of the woods. Asking her name he finds that her surname matches the security company he works for – Walker. He quickly agrees to help and gets the medicine she has asked for.
Explanation of the storyline
Edward Walker is the son of a millionaire and professor at a university. After the murder of his father he goes to a counselling center where he meets people in similar situations to him. He proposes that they all retreat away from the "cruel society" that have taken away their loved-ones and invests his inheritance is creating a village surrounded by woods. The perimeter of the forest is patrolled by his security team (hence the appearance of "Walker" on side of the vehicles), stopping people finding the new, peaceful location. He also manages to bribe the government to create a no-fly zone over the area. All they have to do now is figure a way to stop people from leaving, hence inventing the creatures...
Proposed legal action
On August 10, 2004, Simon & Schuster;, the publishers of 1995 children's book Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix, claimed that the film had stolen parts of the storyline. See external link Shyamalan may face legal action over Village.