"The Village"....Part 2.....Does contain spoilers.....

OK, I just got back from my second viewing and a lot more is clear. William Hurt's character is married. The very 1st scene with the elders they refer to some activity and his wife missed it too. His wife is the lady who was reminding hm that he took an oath and couldn't go back to the towns when Lily asked to go for medicine. I guess he couldn't get divorced or have an affair in his utopian world so he could only love Sigourney from a distance.

Second, Noah was definitely the one who was killing the animals. The elders were a little anxious and made up a stupid coyote excuse when the first few animals were killed, but couldn't explain the slaughter of the livestock on the wedding night. Here's the clues that prove Noah is responsible:
1. There is a scene between William and Sigourney where they are visably shaken after finding the livestock. Sigourney says the marks on the doors are too high and couldn't be made by a coyote.
2. The elders have to hold a meeting the next day. They are trying to find out who was and wasn't at the dance. I paid attention this time through. All of the elders are shown at some point during the dance. Noah is nowhere and is the only one that could be responsible.
3. When William is about to send Ivy out into the woods and she asks about the death of the livestock, he pauses and emphasizes that it is one of the elders but that it won't happen again. He hesitates a lot during this statement as if he is trying to figure out what happened. He doesn't really know anything for sure at that point. He doesn't suspect anyone but an elder because everyone else was raised in utopia and shouldn't be violent according to all of his theorys.
4. Noah's mother says "my God, the animals" when they discover Noah is no longer in the quiet room and has found one of the suits. She knows for sure at that point who was responsible.

A few other random points to ponder:
1. I noticed the amount of torches and lanterns that were lit during the night. Seems the violent death of their loved ones has left the elders afraid of the dark.
2. Noah only laughs when someone is afraid or hurt.
3. Lucius grabs Lily's hand two times in the film to save her. First, it was during the night of the monster's visit to the town and she is standing at the door with her hand stretched out. Second is during the dance when everyone is confused and rushing around. He grabs her hand and leads her out of the crowd. Lily grabs Lucius' hand two times in the film. The first is when she finds him stabbed and hurt. The second is when she returns from the towns with medicine. Not sure why, but that really stood out to me this second time through.

Excellent, mpal.........it does make sense that Noah would be killing the animals especially after the way he attacked Lucius.......He has a form of ADD (I'm sure), among other things that doesn't include remorse or responsibility for his actions.....

I thought perhaps the torches lit at night were to define the boundaries and to ward off the "creature" in the woods, but your deduction makes sense too......42

Oops, I just remembered Noah laughing when he was with Lily and no one was scared or hurt. So I only half lied.

Another reason why William Hurt suspected an elder of killing livestock is the boys said the creature that was killing the animals saw them. I guess Noah had found the suits before his escape to the woods.

Show,

I originally thought the same thing about the lights one my first viewing of the movie. This second time through it occured to me that there was an excessive amount of light for simply setting up the boundaries. Absolutely nothing was going to get through without being seen even at night. In fact, the only time I remember seeing people without some kind of lantern or torch at night is Lucius and Lily when they are talking on the porch (the two bravest people in the village).

I still love the part when he asks her why she can't keep quiet about every thought she has.

I just saw this movie today and I am still confused. Reading this thread certainly helped. I have three questions about the end. Just before Ivy comes in with the medicine, everyone in the room (one by one ) stands up. (My first question) What does that indicate? Just before that, Noah's mother realizes what happened to him ("Ivy was attacked by the creature and she killed him"), and then William Hurt's character makes his speech that Noah helped the elders make the story about the creatures believable- or something to that effect.

My second question is: Does Ivy know at that point that the creature she killed was Noah?

My 3rd question is:

Did Lucius survive?

Vash

I liked all 3 of M.Night Shyamalan's films and I had seen the preview of The Village when ABC showed The Unbreakable a few months before the film was released, so i was anxiously waiting for it. I don't read reviews before seeing a movie because i want to go in with an open mind. First, I was disappointed that there were hardly 15-16 people in the theater, and it felt like there were just 5-6. However, after the movie started, I could sense that others were into it. When Noah stabs Lucius, there was a gasp. After the second stabbing there was a bigger gasp. The ending left me a bit confused and I asked about it in an earlier post. May be that is why I could not say if I liked the movie or not. The atmosphere in the movie was spooky, and it had some pretty well known actors. I was less impressed with Bryce Dallas Howard than some others on this board seem to be. It took me a while to realize that she was playing the role of a blind girl. She did well in some scenes. Her blindness was not believable though, and that took away a lot.

Since I was not looking for another 'Sixth sense' I was not disappointed. After I came home I read some comments on another board and I was disappointed that this was considered Shyamalan's worst work. I don't know where I would put it right now. I may have to see the movie again. This is happening to me too frequently right now....LOL. I will wait until this movie goes to the $2 cinema, which should be soon, judging from the poor attendance.

Vash

Vash, totally understand where you are coming from......I'm still not sure if I liked the movie or not, it definitely was intriguing, though........I don't think Ms. Howard, (can't remember her movie name) realized that she had killed Noah....she still believed in the monster in the woods and I think it is intended that Lucius live (although recovering from two stab wounds to the abdomen seems rather serious, more than antibiotics could readily cure). As to why the elders stood, I am assuming that that were shocked that a blind girl could navigate the woods, climb over a fence, flag down help, and make them get medicine, and then make it back (in this lifetime, or there's) to the village. Bryce was able to see a person's "light", so perhaps this helps her to "see" her way around the village, maybe making her seem less like a blind person (just guessing here of course.) I'm definitely going to see this flick again when it comes out on video.......42

Show42, thanks for the explanations. Yes, Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) could see 'light' of a person- she says that at one point (to Lucius, I think). Yet, at some points she looks totally blind and at others like someone with eyes. It is less believable that she made it back to the village through the woods, considering the difficulties she had, finding her way to the tall wall. Of course the ladder helped but it only took her to the other side. She still did not know there were no monsters. When Noah was killed, did he not make sounds that she could have recognized as his? That's another question on my mind.

Someone on another board posted a rather lengthy and interesting interpretation of the movie. The moral of the story is that we cannot run away from our fears. It is much better to face them. That poster even likened this to 9/11 and the fear we all felt/feel. The colors in the movie are like the yellow-orange-red codes we have (Yellow is safe, Red is bad). Like this poster, I too am not sure that it was Noah alone that killed the animals. Could it have been a combination of Noah and a couple of elders that other elders did not know about?

I think this movie has a really interesting idea behind it. It is not terror for the sake of terror. It has a message to give. I am not sure it came out that strong, but I give Shyamalan credit for trying. He has his moments of brilliance (the stabbing scene, for example), whether one likes the movie or not.

Vash

He has his moments of brilliance (the stabbing scene, for example), whether one likes the movie or not.

Click to expand...

Exactly..........this movie definitely moved me, the stabbing scene in particular, I think because it was so senseless and committed by a person who had not mastered his.........42

Vash,

The elders stood up at the end to indicate that they would all continue to keep their secrets and continue with the village. The decision to find Noah's body and say the creatures killed him along with Ivy's story of being attacked would keep people in the village for a very long time.

Remember that Ivy's father told her there were rumors of creatures not that they didn't exist at all. She more than likely believed that she was attacked by a real creature and not one of the elders because she was so far from the village by that point.

I tend to believe that Lucius survived just because I need some sort of happy ending after all the gloom and lies. If you want to be pessimistic about it, I'm sure you could make a case for him dying. I just don't want to think about it like that; I need hope!

Thanks mpal2. That sounds like a sad end to the tale- the lies continue.

I think they should have shown that Lucius lived. May be he and Ivy could bring hope to the second generation in the future.

Vash

I'm guessing that Lucius will live. His wounds must have stopped bleeding, but fever and infection have set in which is why antibiotics were needed. I'm clinging to this belief as well.........there's got to be something redeeming to this flick..........42

Ok, it's a month too late.. but I thought of it at work (I am a chemist): what about the labels on the "medicine"??? How about the expiration date?? as in 21st century? How would the elders dispose of the evidence?

Yana

Rebottle the medicine in their own early American bottles and labels and then bury the modern ones in the woods. After all, who's going to go into the woods now?