Ahh... it brings me so much joy to see a wonderful movie, full of wonderful actors and made by wonderful filmmakers.
And, so, today I saw The Village! YAY! It... was... incredible. I'm gonna be honest, at first it was really slow. At first I kept asking myself, "M. Night, what did you do? What is this?" It didn't feel up to his standards. Like, it was all heart-felt, happy for the most part. Silly and funny at times, with one or two startling moments. Well, after awhile, it started getting more interesting, but still slowly. You knew it was going somewhere, but it didn't feel like it. In the last hour to forty-five minutes, it just lept off the screen. Hearts were racing, the people around me were screaming, but true to Shyamalan form, nothing "scary" was going on. It wasn't "scary", it was "suspenseful". It was smarter than scary. And, oh, the end... I guessed it from the beginning, but it was still just sooo good.
If you don't want to find out too much about the end (I won't give it directly away, but I wanted to mention some of the finer points), skip to the next paragraph. At first what struck me was why could the audience see the monsters so early in the movie? Usually, during one of Shyamalan's films, we don't see what's so fear inducing until the very end, and that's what's so intruiging, that everyone (including the audience) is so frightened by something that can't be seen. But, we could see the monsters very clearly close to the beginning. And another thing that struck me, is that I've never seen a Shyamalan film to take place outside of modern day, and usually the lessons taught in his movies tie in with what we know as a modern society, I couldn't imagine one of his stories outside of that realm. That's how I guessed the end, I knew what was fake (basically everything about the village). But I could never have guessed what happened to Noah (the character played by Adrien Brody), it really surprised me, but I think that it needed to happen. I also love where Shyamalan placed himself in the movie. He seemed to know everything that was going on, in the five minutes that he appeared, almost like he controlled everything that occured, and understood it with a depth that no one else did, which wouldn't make sense considering where you see him. He shouldn't, as a character, know anything about what was happening, and he had no hand in what went on, but the way he spoke, and the look of his reflection, gave him an upper-hand (which he did because obviously he created the story, itself). And I love, just love the openness at the end. You don't know how it ends, that's so, so, so great! In Sixth Sense, in Signs, you find out what the end is. This movie is very different, and I enjoyed it very much. And I love Ron Howard's daughter, she's so pretty, and a wonderful actress, I hope she does a lot more in her career. She was pretty much the main character, though the commercials and even the credits would have you believe that it's Joaquin's character, which I think was done on purpose so you don't know what really happens to him. And the final message isn't even what you think it would be. What most people will think the message is, is something of not being able to escape heartache, death, and crime, no matter what you do or where you go. It's about believing, and the hypocritical pain inflicted upon others by making them believe. You'll understand if you see it.
If anybody does see it, I'd love to talk about it. Or if you don't mind hearing the ending, I'll still love to talk about it. I'd just feel so bad if I gave it away.
And, ironically, that ties directly in with my life right now. It feels like, lately, no matter what happens that's good, there's something bad to counter-act it. We got a new fence, and now we're getting sued over it. The summer begins, but there's so much work to be done, that it's just not enjoyable. My mum, my brother, and I finally get out of the house together, and we finally have a good time over something we all connect to, and we feel so much better about life, discussing a movie on the way home in the car, laughing, wishing we could go somewhere else together so it wouldn't end, and we come home to my pet dog eating a baby bird out of its nest. It was so metaphorically symbolic that it has me scared! A baby cardinal, the state bird, straight out of the nest, and its mother was calling for it. My pet dog swallowed the baby bird.
On top of that, we have to put up with the constant bitterness around us. Gammie, I love her, I do, but she's just so mean. She talked on the phone with greatgrandma about how terrible my mum's life is again. "My daughter, all she wants is a good marriage, even after all she's been through. And you know, she's going back to school so she can get a degree, and the teachers are putting her down because she makes straight-As." For heaven's sake, she tells the world about my mum's problems! Leave her alone, already! Stop rubbing our faces in our problems, we know we've got problems, but we can't get over them if no one lets us forget them! To overcome the grief life has handed us, I know that forgetting isn't what's best, but to be reminded everyday of your failure brought on by the hands of those who are supposed to love you hurts me, it's got to hurt Mum. Half of her sorrows are because of Gammie, but Gammie's weilding them to gain attention for herself. It makes me so angry. I wish sometimes that it could just be the three of us, Mum, Ben, and I. Just us three, because we're eachother's crutches. No matter what happens, we're always there to support ourselves. And what happens is usually because of Dad or because of Gammie, because they're just so bitter and so juvenile. And it reminds me of The Village, like people are trying to protect me, but all it is is causing more grief. To stop fear, they induce it.
So, I guess it was a good movie to see and connect with! Yay for M. Night Shyamalan! I've even decided to use a quote from The Village in hopes that everyone see it and feel my pain. It's a very good movie. And, remember the symbolism of the clashing colours, and the motif of blindness if you do. Thanks! And come again!
But, remember, it's not what you think it will be. It's not going to seem like the movie you see on the trailers, it's not as quick as his others until the end, but it's worth your time. Trust me.
SILENCE, TRAITOR! - 2006-05-10
Irish History - 2006-05-02
Goodbye Bio! - 2006-05-01
DANCE, WATER! DANCE! - 2006-04-26
Gaaaaaah. - 2006-04-24