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)
1 visible crew/equipment mistake
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)
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.
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."
Question: Does anyone have any insight as to where all the people in the Village came from? I understand the motivation in being there as expressed by the elders, who know of the outside world and are escaping it, but what about everyone else who seems ignorant of that other world? The group scenes show at least a hundred people there. Were they all brought as children and raised with the stories of the creatures to keep them out of the woods? Seems like a lot of children for 8 or 10 elders to bring. Are all the adults, not just the elders, "in-the-know", having brought their children and kept them deceived? Any thoughts, or official insight, would be appreciated.
Answer: That's the rub of why it's a movie. You are exactly right - if the original 9 elders, who were already all probably in their 40s in the Counselling Center pic, even had 3 more offspring each that would have made the village approximately 30 people. The village wouldn't have increased from there for another generation. Also, if you are astute, you will see that Lucius is an infant in the Counselling Center pic, so he would have been the "oldest" non elder, which would have probably made him be in his early 20s. All that being said, I absolutely LOVE this movie, because this actually "could" happen - escape this horrible world by pretending it's maybe 150 years earlier and act like it. Fascinating.
Answer: The guard reading the newspaper mumbles, that a group of people, ex hippies, became disillusioned with the modern world and pooled their resources and established a quiet simple way of life. The Phantom creatures are to put fear into the young ones from getting to curious about venturing beyond the forest.
Answer: As covered towards the end of the film, the elders met at a support group for the families of victims of violent crime (if you listen to the voiceovers, they all talk about how a loved one was murdered, and the photo shows them all standing in front of a consolation centre). At the end of the voiceovers, you hear Mr. Walker talk about how he "has an idea" if they are willing to hear him out. Presumably, this idea is to separate from society as they end up doing. It is assumed that all of the adults in the village are there by choice. As for the children and young adults, they were likely born there, or moved there when they were too young to remember the outside world. Given the clothes and surroundings in the picture of the group, and the fact that the guard at the end is reading a 2004 newspaper, we can assume they have been in the village for at least 20-30 years. The end of the film does a very good job of tying up loose ends. The newspaper and radio reports in the guard shack reinforce the idea of the violent society they are escaping. The conversation between the guards establishes that a wealthy benefactor is both paying them to protect a "wildlife preserve," as well as ensuring the government does not allow flights over the village, which would spoil the illusion. The fact that Walker mentions that his murdered father was an excellent and wealthy businessman, coupled with the fact that the area surrounding the village is called *Walker* Wildlife Preserve, leads us to believe that his inheritance is financing their secret. All in all, it's a tidy bit of storytelling.
Gabbo