M. Night Shyamalan knows that his 2004 movie “The Village” is experiencing a critical reevaluation.
Despite being a hit, the movie was not particularly well-liked upon its initial release. Roger Ebert called it “a colossal miscalculation,” basically summing up the critical and audience reaction to it at the time; many viewers who didn’t immediately guess the movie’s twist ending felt it wasn’t strong enough to support the rest of the film around it. But in the years since, the tide has slowly begun to turn and folks are coming around to what some of us at /Film have long shouted from the rooftops:Â “The Village” rules, actually.
“A lot of people keep coming up to me on the street,” Shyamalan told us in a recent interview, speaking about his awareness of the film’s slow reappraisal. He’s so aware, in fact, that he’s actively working on getting the movie a proper Blu-ray release at long last — even better, he’s aiming for a 4K version to become available. When we asked if either of those options was in the works as we wrapped up a discussion about his new film, “Trap,” Shyamalan responded, “I’m on it. Yeah, no, that’s my next thing […] That’s interesting that you asked — yeah, I’m literally on it right now to get a 4K release.”
The Village is finally getting the release it deserves
“The Village” fans, our time is almost here! Prepare to revel in Roger Deakins’ immaculate cinematography, luxuriate in James Newton Howard’s Oscar-nominated score, marvel at Ann Roth’s spectacular costume design, and fall in love with Tom Foden’s gorgeously autumnal production design all over again. And don’t forget about the terrific performances (as if we ever could): Bryce Dallas Howard is phenomenal in her first starring role, William Hurt brings a combination of sadness and authority to his patriarchal leader figure, Joaquin Phoenix hadn’t gone off the deep end into full-blown “serious actor” territory yet, and there’s an absolutely killer line-up of character actors fully committing to their roles, including Brendan Gleeson, Sigourney Weaver, Judy Greer, Adrien Brody, and many more familiar faces.
We’re obviously excited about Shyamalan’s stated intentions here, and the fact that he says it’s his “next thing” and that he’s “literally on it right now” should hopefully mean that we won’t have another multi-year wait between when a movie gets the hint of a 4K release and when it actually arrives on shelves, as was the case with “The Abyss” and “True Lies” from director James Cameron. Shyamalan is a master of suspense behind the camera, but here’s hoping this long-awaited process is as straightforward as they come.Â
And hey, if this does go smoothly, maybe he can be convinced to work on a 4K release for “The Sixth Sense” next.
You can listen to our full interview with Shyamalan on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which also contains a discussion about “Trap.”
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