Film Review – The Village (2004)

This wasn't mentioned on the list of stuff to come, mostly because I hadn't decided to write it then. They are still coming (a few are written but i've had internet problems!)

I was re-watching this film the other day and its criminological aspects struck me. Here we have in the film a group of people who have had family members who have been victims of horrific crimes and have taken upon themselves to live in isolation. ‘The Village’ is the ultimate gated community.
Of course, living in a gated community is only an option for the rich, with its private security. During the film we find out that the village ‘leader’ (although decisions seem to be made in a council of elders) came from a wealthy family and was able to enclose a large woodland area with the valley containing the village in the middle, pay for a security firm to protect woods, and bribe the government to create a no-fly zone over the woods.
Of course, in their desperate attempt to evade crime, crime finds them. Not only several characters cross over into the forbidden woods, but there is a stabbing in the village that is the catalyst for the secrets of the village being revealed.
Indeed there is a certain tension between the elders and their children over the arbitrary rules they have created to seclude the village. Indeed in their quest to avoid crime and live a simple life they are hooked up in a web of deception, having to instill fear in their children to avoid them venturing into the woods (and hence possibly revealing the existence of the village to the outside world).
Of course, no place like that could remain secret forever. For a start their financial resources can last only so long to maintain their protection. Then there is the question of accidental discovery too. All in all, one cannot run away from crime forever – only dealing with its material root causes can one have the hope of a crime free existence.