SimplyScripts Discussion Board
Blog Home - Produced Movie Script Library - TV Scripts - Unproduced Scripts - Contact - Site Map
ScriptSearch
Welcome, Guest.
It is March 28th, 2024, 4:00am
Please login or register.
Was Portal Recent Posts Home Help Calendar Search Register Login
Please do read the guidelines that govern behavior on the discussion board. It will make for a much more pleasant experience for everyone. A word about SimplyScripts and Censorship


Produced Script Database (Updated!)
One Week Challenge - Who Wrote What and Writers' Choice.


Scripts studios are posting for award consideration

Short Script of the Day | Featured Script of the Month | Featured Short Scripts Available for Production
Submit Your Script

How do I get my film's link and banner here?
All screenplays on the simplyscripts.com and simplyscripts.net domain are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. This screenplaymay not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.
Forum Login
Username: Create a new Account
Password:     Forgot Password

SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Reviews    Movie, Television and DVD Reviews  ›  The Village Discussion -- Spoilers within! Moderators: Nixon
Users Browsing Forum
No Members and 2 Guests

 Pages: 1, 2 » : All
Recommend Print
  Author    The Village Discussion -- Spoilers within!  (currently 1768 views)
George Willson
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 5:22pm Report to Moderator
Of The Ancients


Doctor who? Yes, quite right.

Location
Broken Arrow
Posts
3591
Posts Per Day
0.51
The Village became a hot topic on another thread, so I thought I'd begin a new one about that movie by itself. People have mixed feeling about what Shyamalan did right and wrong here and I'm very curious about it.

Personally, I felt the big twist of the creatures not really existing simply destroyed the film's rewatchability since 100% of the suspense was gone. Those creatures were the only thing that created any fear or suspense in the film, so knowing the truth just makes it laughable the second time through.

This didn't ruin the film for me, though. I actually felt the later revelation of where and when they were was an even bigger surprise and made the film very interesting in retrospect. I think their motives could have been better explained in some scene, but overall, I didn't have a problem with the film, and I thought Shyamalan did a good job with the idea, as un-re-watchable as it is.

Opinions?



Revision History (1 edits)
Don  -  March 26th, 2006, 8:26pm
Logged Offline
Site Private Message
James McClung
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 5:37pm Report to Moderator
Of The Ancients



Location
Washington, D.C.
Posts
3293
Posts Per Day
0.49
I hated The Village. I thought it was mediocre from the start but the twist is really what ruined it for me. I felt cheated.

Anyway, what's the Village have to do with music? Wrong board, dude.


Logged
Private Message Reply: 1 - 24
bert
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 5:39pm Report to Moderator
Administrator


Buy the ticket, take the ride

Location
That's me in the corner
Posts
4232
Posts Per Day
0.61
I think George actually meant to spark a discussion regarding his favorite band --

The Village People....


Hey, it's my tiny, little IMDb!
Logged
Private Message Reply: 2 - 24
Martin
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 5:45pm Report to Moderator
Been Around



Location
Frankfurt, Germany
Posts
607
Posts Per Day
0.09

Quoted from George Willson
so knowing the truth just makes it laughable the second time through.


Laughable the second time?

My major problem with this is that, not only is the twist wholly unsatisfying and poorly executed, it comes about halfway through the movie (if I remember correctly). I just wanted to turn off as soon as the reveal came along.

A waste of some great cinematography, strong performances and some decent suspense building.

Bitterly disappointing movie.
Logged
Private Message Reply: 3 - 24
Herodreamer79
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 5:49pm Report to Moderator
New



Posts
136
Posts Per Day
0.02
he took a huge risk...it didnt work....  Hopefully his next movie "Lady in The Water" will be better...


Logged Offline
Private Message Reply: 4 - 24
Old Time Wesley
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 6:20pm Report to Moderator
Old Timer


Location
Ontario, Canada
Posts
2908
Posts Per Day
0.38
I enjoyed it for what it was mindless entertainment. That's what cinema is and will always be.

Doesn't change my life either way.


Practice safe lunch: Use a condiment.
Logged Offline
Private Message Reply: 5 - 24
George Willson
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 6:31pm Report to Moderator
Of The Ancients


Doctor who? Yes, quite right.

Location
Broken Arrow
Posts
3591
Posts Per Day
0.51
Crap. My bizarre view of the world thought it said movie reviews and discussion. Can someone please move this into movie boards? I feel like such a putz.

Thank you...



Revision History (1 edits)
George Willson  -  March 26th, 2006, 7:44pm
Logged Offline
Site Private Message Reply: 6 - 24
sfpunk
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 7:02pm Report to Moderator
New



Location
US
Posts
102
Posts Per Day
0.01
i thought the village was an excellent movie and i have it on DVD and have watched it numerous times... although the creatures being fake does take away suspense its still good to watch simply for the execution of the directing and secondly because the story never fails to amaze me even though i know what will come... there are new details i notice everytime that just add to the enjoyment.... i can totally understand why some people view it as a gimmick but to me the twist isn't the main point of the story and isn't as bad as some people say


My Scripts
'Trail Of Ashes' - (Drama/Horror)

Logged Offline
Private Message Reply: 7 - 24
Stephen Wegmann
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 7:29pm Report to Moderator
New


huh.

Location
The Americana
Posts
78
Posts Per Day
0.01
True, the Village may have next to zero rewatchability, but you have to give him credit for a good story - and I'm not talking about the whole "Hey, we're in the year 200-whatever instead of the 1800s." M. Night did a fantastic job of expressing a theme of fear with this script, and he did it in a way that most Hollywood films wouldnt even try hard enough to do.  He created a smart story,  he just added a twist that ruined it (sort of).


Dead Babies!

Scripts completed:

Porello's
http://www.simplyscripts.com/scripts/Porello.html
Logged Offline
Private Message Reply: 8 - 24
MacDuff
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 8:53pm Report to Moderator
Been Around


I should be writing...

Location
Beautiful BC
Posts
745
Posts Per Day
0.10
I love Shyamalan and I love his work. In regards to The Village - I must admit I thought it was fantastic. As the movie unfolded, I remember sitting in the theatre thinking "Uh-oh, a lot of people are gonna be pissed at this movie...".

It's fantastically filmed and the acting is top notch. What killed it for people was two things:

1. It was falsely marketed as a horror movie - which it is not. Yes, it deals with fear and terror - but I wouldn't classify it as a typical horror movie.

2. The first twist. Although I don't think it kills the movie, what it does is kills the premise. That's why it was so important to have the sub-theme and the second twist. Roger Ebert gives a review, a harsh one mind you, but a fair one in retrospect. Let me quote him:

"The Village is a colossal miscalculation, a movie based on a premise that cannot support it, a premise so transparent it would be laughable were the movie not so deadly solemn. It's a flimsy excuse for a plot, with characters who move below the one-dimensional and enter Flatland."

AND

"Eventually the secret of Those, etc., is revealed. To call it an anticlimax would be an insult not only to climaxes but to prefixes. It's a crummy secret, about one step up the ladder of narrative originality from It Was All a Dream. It's so witless, in fact, that when we do discover the secret, we want to rewind the film so we don't know the secret anymore.

And then keep on rewinding, and rewinding, until we're back at the beginning, and can get up from our seats and walk backward out of the theater and go down the up escalator and watch the money spring from the cash register into our pockets."

I don't agree with his one-dimensional characters critique, I thought they were good and acted/re-acted with honesty to their situation.

It was a calculated risk - and to most, it failed. I'm one of the folks who liked it and will watch it again.




Logged Offline
Private Message Reply: 9 - 24
Higgonaitor
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 9:09pm Report to Moderator
Been Around



Location
(40.717261, -73.600087)
Posts
934
Posts Per Day
0.13
It just bugged me how the blind girl ran through the forest without hitting a single tree.  I was like, shit,this is just ridiculous.  She didn't trip or anything.


NEW!Everquenching Lemonade:Thirsty for a comedy short?
And the Rest!

Watch Squirt! (My web-series!)
Logged
Site Private Message AIM Reply: 10 - 24
sfpunk
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 9:25pm Report to Moderator
New



Location
US
Posts
102
Posts Per Day
0.01
it doesnt show her running through the whole forest and she did almost fall down that hole... if theyd have shown her running into trees it would have changed the whole tone of the film, she made mistakes but not big ones which also go to show her character... although she's blind she's just as capable as anyone else in the village and is alot braver


My Scripts
'Trail Of Ashes' - (Drama/Horror)

Logged Offline
Private Message Reply: 11 - 24
George Willson
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 9:29pm Report to Moderator
Of The Ancients


Doctor who? Yes, quite right.

Location
Broken Arrow
Posts
3591
Posts Per Day
0.51

Quoted from MacDuff
1. It was falsely marketed as a horror movie - which it is not. Yes, it deals with fear and terror - but I wouldn't classify it as a typical horror movie.


I think this sums up its biggest problem. If it had been marketed to a different audience, it might have fared better. However, when you try and hit the horror audience with something like this, you're bound to get nailed to the wall, because the horror audience doesn't want this. Kind of a case of misfired expectations. You EXPECT Shyamalan to put out a certain type of film, and when one is marketed as a film like those he has put out before, you go in with the expectation that this is what you're getting.

Then you get zinged with a film that relies on something other than its shock value to survive. Once you pass that first twist, the genre (by necessity) changes. You move from the original horror to one that is more straight drama. And it's hard to get the horror buffs to sit through a drama and hard to get drama buffs to sit through a horror.

As a result, ka-boom!



Logged Offline
Site Private Message Reply: 12 - 24
Higgonaitor
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 10:36pm Report to Moderator
Been Around



Location
(40.717261, -73.600087)
Posts
934
Posts Per Day
0.13

Quoted from sfpunk
it doesnt show her running through the whole forest and she did almost fall down that hole... if theyd have shown her running into trees it would have changed the whole tone of the film, she made mistakes but not big ones which also go to show her character... although she's blind she's just as capable as anyone else in the village and is alot braver


Doesn't matter how brave she is, a blind person running through a forest is bound to hit a tree.  It's imperturbable.  The probability of a lone blind person running through a forest and not hitting a tree, is just about as improbable as me turning into a million penguins right now.  Which would actually be pretty cool.



NEW!Everquenching Lemonade:Thirsty for a comedy short?
And the Rest!

Watch Squirt! (My web-series!)
Logged
Site Private Message AIM Reply: 13 - 24
Heretic
Posted: March 26th, 2006, 11:50pm Report to Moderator
January Project Group



Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Posts
2023
Posts Per Day
0.28
I thought the movie was sub-par.  Nicely photographed with some creative sequences, but for the most part it wallowed one step above mediocrity.

For me, there just wasn't very much entertainment value.  I didn't think the suspense was particularly good, I didn't identify with the characters, and it moved far too slowly for me.  Now I'm not the type who gets bored when I'm not watching Michael Bay, but all the same, I felt like yelling, "Get on with it!"  This meant that when the first twist came around, it just sort of crushed any hope I had of being entertained.

I thought some of the acting was great, and some of it was downright laughable.  Same goes for writing.  I dunno...in the end, I just thought it was too much of a non-event.
Logged Offline
Site Private Message Reply: 14 - 24
 Pages: 1, 2 » : All
Recommend Print

Locked Board Board Index    Movie, Television and DVD Reviews  [ previous | next ] Switch to:
Was Portal Recent Posts Home Help Calendar Search Register Login

Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post polls
You may not post attachments
HTML is on
Blah Code is on
Smilies are on


Powered by E-Blah Platinum 9.71B © 2001-2006