The Village (MAJOR SPOILERS!!)

WARNING - CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS PLEASE READ ONLY IF YOU'VE SEEN THE FILM!

Went to see M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Village' last night. I knew nothing, or very little about it before going, I had only seen the trailer which was intriguing and I liked his other films. I quickly became convinced that 'The Village' was an allegorical tale about the US and terrorism and security etc. I assumed that the film was examining the reasons behind creating a pervading sense of doom and ruling through fear. So as I watched the film I tried to figure out what the message was exactly.

I was pretty sure I was on to something and that I was close to figuring out the analogy but I couldn't quite get it... I was trying out various theories such as Brody's character being Bin Laden and Phoenix's character the Twin Towers... I can hear you sniggering, stop it.

Ok so that was stretching it a bit and it falls apart, but in general it fits doesn't it?

For the greater good a group of elders create a society and in order to protect from outside 'evil' influences, create a 'bogeyman' which is ever present and if people don't live by the rules the 'bogeyman' is likely to attack.

However the security measures do not protect from more real and often internal dangers... and the approach is misused by some to terrible effect.

On top of that you have the fact that a disaster of large proportions opens the opportunity to carry on with the Bogeyman approach despite there being several clear reasons to consider revising the approach.

So the film could be seen as a considered and level examination of the current situation in the US regarding their approach to governing.

However, maybe this was a clear case of my interpreting to suit my own beliefs!

I did some searching and didn't come up with much on this - Shyamalan said in interview:

A lot of times it will be like the kernel of an idea, like “The Village” was. I had this “King Kong” idea, which was you come across this group of people who are doing their chores and incorporated in their chores are these rituals to keep them safe from creatures. Then they go back to doing their chores and it’s very normal. And it made me very curious about those people. So I had that, and then they offered me “Wuthering Heights” with these two amazing actors to do. Triple-A list actors in both roles. And I read the book again and I was like, “This is the greatest book ever! No to the movie, but I’m going to write my own period piece.” And so in a way, I guess I get inspired by books a lot. You know, like if I read a book I go, “Wow, this is kick-ass.”

So that doesn't really back up my theories too much, but then maybe he didn't want to go into it, which I think is very possible in case it was seen as anti american (which it isn't by any stretch), or maybe it was a subconcious thing!

I did find the odd comment here and there which at least showed I wasn't the only one thinking along these lines.

In the wake of September 11th and all the terror alerts amounting to nothing since that sad day, it’s easy to see why Shyamalan had the idea for a film about people living in fear.

Any thoughts? Please comment!