Tagline: Run. The truce is ending.
The Village depicts the tale of an isolated town confronting the astonishing truth that lies just outside its borders. At first glance, this village seems picture perfect, but this close-knit community lives with the frightening knowledge that creatures reside in the surrounding woods. The evil and foreboding force is so unnerving that none dare venture beyond the borders of the village and into the woods. But when curious, headstrong Lucius Hunt plans to step beyond the boundaries of the town and into the unknown, his bold move threatens to forever change the future of the village.
The Village is a 2004 American psychological horror film, written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Bryce Dallas Howard, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, and Brendan Gleeson. The film is about a village whose inhabitants live in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it referred to as “Those We Don’t Speak Of.” Like other films written and directed by Shyamalan from the same time period, The Village has a twist ending.
The film received mixed reviews, with critics especially divided about the plausibility and payoff of the ending. The film gave composer James Newton Howard his fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. The film grossed $114 million in the U.S., and $142 million in international markets. Its worldwide box office totalled $256 million, the tenth highest grossing PG-13 movie of 2004.
About the Story
Covington is a 19th-century Pennsylvania village that is isolated from the rest of the world. The woods that surround the village are off limits to all the villagers because mysterious creatures live there. Many years earlier, the town elders and the creatures reached an understanding that the villagers would not go into the woods, and the creatures would not enter the village. A boundary was set up around the village, along with warnings on etiquette and colors to wear regarding keeping the creatures at bay.
After one of the elders named August Nicholson (Brendan Gleeson) loses his son to an untreatable disease, one of the town’s young people named Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) goes to the village elders, and requests to leave the village and travel to “the towns,” in hopes of finding medicines and other remedies that may prevent further losses, or possibly cure the mental ailments of one of the town’s other young persons, named Noah Percy (Adrien Brody). His request is quickly denied by the village elders.
Lucius himself is considered a rather strange young man by the village. He keeps to himself, rarely speaking to most people. When Kitty Walker (Judy Greer) comes to Lucius in hopes he will marry her, he refuses her request. Lucius has been childhood friends with Kitty’s youngest sister, named Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard). Blind since she was very young, Ivy claims that Lucius has a ‘color’ around him, that she can sense.
One day, while in a small area near the border to the woods, Noah presents Ivy with some red berries. They do not grow in the village, and Lucius believes that Noah has travelled into the woods, and has not been harmed by the creatures in it. This causes Lucius to grow more determined, and he again goes to the elders to request again to travel to “the towns.” Lucius believes that if the creatures allowed Noah into the woods without causing him harm, they will do the same to him.
Lucius’ second request is denied, and his mother Alice Hunt (Sigourney Weaver) advises him to stay home and forget about the outside world, claiming it to be a dangerous place that took the life of his father. Upset by these proclamations, Lucius explains that he sees that his mother eyes Ivy Walker’s father Edward (William Hurt) in a ‘certain way,’ even though he is married. Lucius also makes note of a black wood box that his Mother has, which is locked. Each of the elders has a box, that contains remnants of the elder’s pasts before they established Covington. Lucius wants his mother to open the box and reveal her past secrets, but she refuses this as well.
The next day, Lucius has patrol duty along the borders of the village. Unseen by the others, he steps over the boundaries, and wanders a ways into the woods. The sound of something nearby catches his attention, but all that is there when he looks are some wavering branches. Later that evening, Lucius visits the Walkers’ house, where he has a conversation with Ivy. Ivy explains that in the time that has passed, her sister has decided to marry another young man in the town. Ivy says that Lucius is brave for wanting to go beyond the village, but she feels his actions are unwise. Before Lucius leaves, Ivy informs him that now that her sister is to be married, she is free to have suitors court her.
The Village (2004)
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Judy Greer, Jayne Atkinson, Cherry Jones, Celia Weston, rank Collison
Screenplay by: M. Night Shyamalan
Production Design by: Tom Foden
Cinematography by: Roger Deakins
Film Editing by: Christopher Tellefsen
Costume Design by: Ann Roth
Set Decoration by: Larry Dias
Art Direction by: Tim Beach, Michael Manson, Chris Shriver
Music by: James Newton Howard
MPAA Rating: PG 13 for scenes of violence and frightening situations.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: July 30, 2004
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