The Village

The Village (2004) takes place in a settlement ringed by woods with no contact with the outside, whose people believe they have an arrangement with something in the trees. The rules are simple: the colour red is forbidden, nobody enters the woods, the boundary is not crossed. In return the creatures stay out of the village. Then a young man is wounded and someone has to cross the woods for medicine. A blind girl takes it on. That is the best section: someone who cannot see the woods walks through them, and the fear comes from sound rather than image. Shyamalan has a twist and the marketing hid it. Once it was out, the film split its audience. Some felt cheated; others argued its real subject was never fear but how fear gets used. The second reading holds up better: this is a film about a fear manufactured to hold a community together. Roger Deakins photographed it and the way the film looks is his work. Hilary Hahn played James Newton Howard's score, which was nominated for an Oscar. It was Bryce Dallas Howard's first major role. It runs 108 minutes. Good for: atmosphere, slow tension, and Shyamalan. Less good for: knowing the twist weakens it badly, and the pace is very slow.