Visible crew/equipment: When the security guard opens and then closes the vehicle door, you can see a crew member's feet.
The Village (2004)
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard
Continuity mistake: When the two villagers throw the slab of meat on the rock for the creatures, it lands rib side up. A second later the meat is shown from a different angle, and now it is lying skin side up. (00:38:05)
Revealing mistake: When Ivy is running along the path in the woods, right before she bumps into the wall there are two large tree branches lying in her way. She shortens her steps and hops over both of them, even though her walking stick never touches them and she should have no indication that they're there.
Trivia: At the ranger's office when the security guard was stealing the medical supplies, you see a cameo of M. Night Shamalayan in the reflection of the glass.
Trivia: When the floor is torn up and Noah has escaped, there are bird feathers everywhere. Next scene when Noah is in the hole and there are bird feathers everywhere as well. Toward the beginning of the movie when Ivy, Noah, and Lucius are at the resting rock, Noah pulls berries out of his pocket. Attached to the berries momentarily are feathers, they fall to the ground almost unnoticeable. I believe that possibly MNS wanted to give the hint that Noah already had access to the monster costume. It is also possible that Noah picked them up in the woods when he found the berries. I am leaning toward the first explanation.
Trivia: M. Night Shyamalan likes to use red in his movies as a symbol of something of significance (see trivia for Sixth Sense and the color red). Here it signified "a bad color" for the people of the village, and they needed to hide this color from one who should not be spoken of, i.e. the "monster."
Ivy Walker: Sometimes we don't do things we want to do so that others will not know we want to do them.
Ivy Walker: When we are married, will you dance with me? I find dancing very agreeable. Why can you not say what is in your head?
Lucius Hunt: Why can you not stop saying what is in yours? Why must you lead, when I want to lead? If I want to dance I will ask you to dance. If I want to speak I will open my mouth and speak. Everyone is forever plaguing me to speak further. Why? What good is it to tell you you are in my every thought from the time I wake? What good can come from my saying that I sometimes cannot think or do my work properly? What gain can rise of my telling you the only time I feel fear as others do is when I think of you in harm? That is why I am on this porch, Ivy Walker. I fear for your safety before all others. And yes, I will dance with you on our wedding night.
Lucius Hunt: [reading a letter to the elders.] My mother is unaware of reasons of my visit today. She did not give her consent or consult me in any form. The passing of little Daniel Nicholson, from illness, and other events have weighed on my thoughts. I ask permission to cross into the forbidden woods and travel to the nearest town. I will gather new medicines, and I will return. With regards to those we don't speak of, I am certain they will let me pass. Creatures can sense emotion and fear. They will see I am pure of intention and not afraid. The end.
Question: Does anyone know if Noah knew all along that the elders were dressing up as the "monsters?" I think he did, and that he thought it was just a game. Is that why he laughed and clapped every time the bell went off and they had to hide? Perhaps the elders didn't hide this from him because he was simple-minded and couldn't talk. So, when he went after Ivy in the woods, he thought it was all for fun. Does anyone else agree with this?
Answer: Noah had figured out shortly before the movie begins that the monsters were a hoax made by the Elders, having found a creature suit in the "punishment room." This can be seen early when everyone is eating. They hear howling from the woods (it's actually sound devices in a big tree deep in the forest that create sounds from the wind), and Noah simply laughs at it. He probably thought it was all a game, never understanding the true purpose of why the Elders created the hoax. During the Covington Woods quest, he most likely went to kill Ivy. Recall the "daring game" played by the children. We learn that creatures imitate their victim before they attack. Noah does the same to Ivy. She snaps her cane, and the creature also snaps something. She throws a rock, he does the same. Noah was actually smarter than we think. He was THE creature, the usurper of the Elders' hoax. So, he tortures Ivy mentally first before trying to kill her. He was kinda sadistic (he also massacred the livestock).
Question: Was there ever a name provided for the character who was dancing with Ivy when she heard the children's screams? He also was one of the men carrying the sacrifice of meat, and might have been the Villager in the tower in the opening credits. He is tall and bearded, and seems to be the "go-to" guy here in the Village.
Chosen answer: There was no name, and I was not under the impression he was indeed the "go-to" guy. Other than dancing with Ivy and participating in the meet ritual, he was not seen in the movie at all.
Question: What is the significance of the dead 7-year-old boy in the opening scene of the movie? Does it have anything to do with the 7-year-old mentioned on Shyamalan's newspaper?
Answer: No, they establish early in the movie that the boy died of a disease. The reason Lucius keeps requesting permission to go to the town to get medicine is to prevent someone else from getting the same thing. They are very effectively cut off from the outside world. The purpose of the newspaper report and radio news heard in the guard shack is to lend credence to their motives for establishing the village (ie, to escape a violent society).
Answer: I had a thought about this. The main elder let his daughter go to get medicine because he loved her. That was not supposed to be allowed to happen, but he made an exception because it was for his daughter. I wonder if the boy that died at the beginning could also have been saved by outside medicine. So, was the main elder OK with this boy's death but couldn't bear his daughter's fiancé to die?
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Answer: When the Elders found Noah missing, they referred to a costume that had been hidden under the floorboards. My guess is that at some stage Noah found that costume and may have figured out that it was a game then. I doubt if the Elders realized this until he went missing. Also, given that Noah had already stabbed Lucius, I don't really think that he was joking when he went for Ivy in the woods.
kendra jackson