MN shyamalan was considered by some as a type casted director who is infatuated by the supernatural ... though they all agree that he is really good at it .... this movie is not based on his usual theme ... and I remember reading in papers that many felt let down by this movie ... I was not ... and still I can’t understand as to why !
THE MASTERS WORK
MN Shyamalan is a masterful storyteller ... and this I feel is his tribute to the world. The movie starts with a setting of a typical early 19th century village ... life is normal, dull but still normal ... but there is a touch of horror in the fact that there among the woods live some sort of animals that haunt the people of the village ... they give the animals regular offerings ... The people wearing yellow colour hoods are safe from the animal and those who take or have anything resembling the red colour of berries is inviting the animals on to him ... so the movie goes on showing the details of horror that these animals enforce on the villagers ( if you can call them that!)
The village has many elders ... who are responsible for the decision making for the entire village. The next generation has Joaquin Phoenix ( as the young adventurer), Bryce Dallas Howard ( as the young blind girl) and Adrien Brodie ( as the mentally challenged Noah Percy).
THE REAL STORY
If you have read so far ... which I hope you all have ... I have a request, if you have not seen this movie yet(somehow) then I plead that do watch it and then read further ... cause this is my interpretation of the movie ... and I want you to develope your own thoughts and then read ...
So actually there is no animals as such ... and the story is not based in the early 19th century... actually it is set in current time ... the elders were all experts in various fields ... John Hopkins, MIT passouts .... they had one thing in common ... they all detested the crime in the big city, they became friends and decided that their future generation should not be a victim of such world ... so they moved into the conserved woods and formed the village. The animal was created by them to create a fear that would stop persons from venturing into the woods and discovering the real world. The elders took turns by donning the suit of the animal and scaring the people.
Joaquin Phoenix’s character is an adventurer, he wants to venture into the woods ... but he is held back by the elders ... trouble erupts when the mad man Adrien Brodie stabs Joaquin... now his wounds are too deep and need some recent medications ... so some one has to go into the real world to get them ... they decide on sending Ivy, the blind girl ... she gets them ... and the secret is maintained.... her innocence and honest heart guides her through the rigorous journey ... the pain is very obvious when the mad man somehow slips away with the dress of the animal and is killed by Ivy in self defence ...
MY WORDS
The movie has a great story and is extremely well made ... hats off to MN Shyamalan ..
Is this the solution to the real life problems ??? well I don’t know .. its upto you all to decide how to interpret this film ... but one thing for sure .. watching this movie was a treat to the senses ....