Plot: What’s it about?
In my honest opinion, M. Night Shyamalan is perhaps one of the most overrated filmmakers in recent history. That’s not to say that his movies aren’t intriguing and well-made, because they are. It all started with “The Sixth Sense” back in the late 90’s. That phrase “I see dead people” was, and in many cases, still is everywhere. As for me, I figured out the movie half way through and that was that. I just didn’t see what all the hype was about. “Unbreakable” wasn’t much better and “Signs” was more of an alien movie than about the crop circle phenomenon. So this brings us to “The Village”, a new kind of thriller with a great cast and a promising debut by young Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of Actor/Director Ron Howard). Again, the material is based on something previously aired (on a 60’s episode of “The Twilight Zone”), though this does have it’s own unique spin to it. Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Adrian Brody, the woods and the creatures who live in them. This is…”The Village”.
The movie opens at a funeral and we quickly deduce that the way the people are dressed that it’s in the late 19th century or in current day and these are Amish people. Either way, their language is such that we feel like we’re watching a Shakespearian play of some sort. I dunno. You see the town (or “village”) borders on an imposing forest with creatures that inhabit it. They have had a truce of sorts with the creatures and have managed to maintain the status quo. Now, of course, something has gone wrong and Lucius Hunt (Phoenix) wants to go in the forest to check things out. This is one of the most maddening things as I can’t really reveal much more without ruining the entire movie. “The Village” rests this premise, and a paper thin one at that, thinking that it will work and it really doesn’t. As a critic, I try to be as subjective as possible – though I’ll admit that Shyamalan’s movies aren’t at the top of my list. “The Village” was panned by critics and really failed to light up the box office, but perhaps it will find new life on DVD.
Video: How does it look?
Anyone familiar with Shyamalan’s work will know that he has this disposition to the color red. There was a featurette about it on “The Sixth Sense” disc and something that really stuck with me. The color red is prevalent here, but somewhere and somehow this transfer didn’t quite strike me as being all too good. The 1.85:1 image is anamorphic and for the most part the picture looks clean and solid, but (yep, there’s a “but”) it just didn’t seem to be representative of what new to DVD movies should look like. There are a few instances in which I saw some dirt on the print and the colors are so muted that nothing really jumps out as being “good”. Granted, the color palette is a choice of the director, but I was much more impressed with the other discs. This isn’t to say that it’s bad by any means, just not what we’d expect for such a high budget movie and a new to DVD disc. A full-frame version is available separately.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio, on the other hand, is quite the experience. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track quite simply rocks. A majority of the movie is dialogue-driven, though the front stage handles a lot of the shocking sound effects. Those familiar with the way Shyamalan directs will not be surprised by a few instances in which the speakers seem to “shout”! Surrounds are very active throughout and the LFE are quite prevalent as well. While this isn’t a reference disc, the sound is used wisely and not to the point where it’s overused. It’s a very solid track that compliments the movie in many ways.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Though I’m sure another version of this DVD will come around, this one contains only a few extras. First is “Deconstructing the Village” which is a 25 minute behind the scenes look at the set design, costumes, music and so forth. I found this informative and better than the average fluff that’s so accompanied with most DVD featurettes. Next up is “Bryce’s Diary”, a four minute video diary of actress Bryce Dallas Howard and her reactions to the movie, her character, etc. “M. Night’s Home Movie” is yet another movie that Shyamalan did when he was younger. You’d figure that we’d have them all by now, but evidently he was pretty active as a youngster. Four deleted scenes are introduced and explained by the director (a format that I think all deleted scenes should be in, instead of letting us figure out why they were cut), and he provides some insight as to why they didn’t make the final cut. A gallery of production stills rounds out the supplements.
