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.
The Village (2004)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard
The villagers don't live in 1897, but the present. The village is actually a project devised by wealthy John Walker (Elder Walker). The village elders all suffered tragic losses in their modern lives. To escape violence, they started a village inside a wildlife preserve, walled off from society. The elders masquerade as the monsters to keep the younger and unknowing members within village boundaries. Lucius Hunt is seriously injured and needs medicine. The elders have sworn never to return to the 21st C, so Elder Walker sends his blind daughter, Ivy for the medicine. Surviving a perilous trek, she meets up with a security guard patrolling the preserve's perimeter. He gets medicine for Ivy, and she returns to the village still knowing nothing about the outside world and believing she has killed a monster who tried to attack her. The guard was unaware people were living inside the preserve.
M Night Hater
More mistakes in The Village
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.
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.
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.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
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