The Village

• (2003) imdb by M Night Shyamalan
• Notice: Following text may contain plot spoilers
• Other critiques
  • jeff werner

A core group of couples who have gone through counsuling together to deal with traumatic experiences in their lives create an idealic village and adopt the language, clothing and way of life of late 1800s society. Fear tactics are used to keep everyone in the village and to prevent them from venturing out into the woods where “those we don’t speak of” (beasts) live. The children all trust their parents fully and seek their permission before engaging in romance. When a crime is committed and a loved one’s life is on the line, and the success of the whole village’s future, one brave blind soul must dare to embark into the forest and journey to the neighboring towns for medicine.

• Shyamalan puts himself in the film as the park security main officer, his facial reflection seen in the glass refrigerator door. Just another example of an artist cleverly embedding himself in his work.

• Noah is laughing at the howling in the woods at first, perhaps because he knows - or is just an idiot? His rocking chair is always seen sitting outside somewhere, and it’s given as a clue in timing early on that it is his and associated with the beasts coming out. He’s the wacko one who goes around killing things, and when he does this the village council needs to question everyone to find out who did it.

• “Perfect Village on a Hill” theme, to create a “safe” place out in solitude, away from crime. Reminds me of the PBS experiment to recreate living in the 1600s in the great Colonial House series, though this time piece is probably the 1800s in the film. There was noticeably no religion or church though in this film, while it was the community foundation and focus in real world times.

• Of couse there are plenty of clues leading up to the revelation of the beasts, the color of red, the sounds, and the claws are given as sighting clues to it’s existance.

There is some strong use of color, particularly the “golden yellow” worn by all the people, and the “red” which attracts the ‘beasts’.

• I also don’t believe this yellow/red has a direct relation to the “terrorist threat color codes” used in the U.S., though other themes of using fear to control people I would agree with. I do think the color is perhaps used as a simple technique for teaching what is forbidden to young ones. So, similiar in a way, intended to create an immediate reaction without thinking... red is bad.

Yellow seems to reflect a glow like that of light, and there is lots of use of light in the film (torches and lanterns keep the village lit all night long) as a sense of safety and comfort. Everything is done in the day and people relax by the fireplace at night, always in well lit areas. No one should go out at night to venture into the darkness (of sin) or the fearful unkown of what is out in the woods. Even in the dark, villagers wear golden cloaks (as a symbol of light) to protect them from the beasts in the darkness.

Red seems to reflect evil and pain, it is the “forbidden” color. When the animals are slaughtered, we are introduced to red, as well as everyone who lives knows that blood is red and comes with the pain of being cut. The red berries only exist out in the woods, and is said to “attract” the beasts. The beasts wear red cloaks and are something to fear. Instinctively, red is a hostile color found in nature - a color of attack and beware (stop signs).

I don’t think the red hair of the main character (Ivy) has anything to do with the color meaning.

There was no noticeable shared religous experience for the people in the village, perhaps no belief in God. The meal prayers oddly only said, “Thanks for the time we are given” and the wedding ceremony consisted of the man and woman meeting one village elder moment while the rest of the village gossips sitting in the grass - then it moves straight to the celebration. Perhaps the village is so small, there’s not much of a need for formalities like religious service? Likely the people who formed the village all came from different or no religious background, perhaps they lost faith in God after the terrible crimes they suffered through.

Crime and the psychological damages it had on the original founders of the people, must have left a serious concern in them. They are willing to break their oaths and rules to send one out into “the woods” to save a life, only because a great crime was committed in nearly taking said life. Murder is the traumatic crime most elder villagers must have experienced (mention of Walker’s father being shot through the eye in his sleep for money, the 23 year old sister presumably raped and murdered in an alley outside their apartment) and were under counseling together before creating this retreat in the woods. Murder and blood go hand in hand, and thus the color red which is the forbidden color of the beasts which kill.