I feel like M Night has a very specific voice and it is just becoming more and more specific. I know that with each movie it's like he is speaking directly to my aesthetic more and more. But I think that the more specific and refined his voice becomes, the less interesting he is to critics/audiences who enjoyed his earlier and more broad perspective. A lot of what critics have said about The Village(and Lady in the Water as well) I can understand and see what they are talking about, but it doesn't mean I feel the same way. Here is an example: A producer told me he didn't like The Village because he didn't think Ivy's father would let her go off into the woods by herself because she was blind, even though she took 2 guides with her. There are so many reasons why it was completely within reason to have her do that on both a story level and a thematic level, yet this person just couldn't see that happening in real life. Where he sees a weakness, I saw a strength. I think the gesture of letting a blind person do something like that emphasized Ivy's strength as a person that will be a leader in the village and it show's her father's trust in her. That is a pretty powerful idea I think, especially that the 2 people with sight were too afraid and turned back! As well, it works on a story level perfectly because she can't see the "outside' world. And this same producer's problem with Lady in the Water was that the character's had no motivation to do what they were doing. Again, that is what I loved most about Lady in the Water. I felt there was a sense of community and desire to believe in something and the willingness to comply with someone who they appreciate, and that moved me. I think his voice is just becoming more specific.
Also Mr. Glass.1, there is definitely a political point in The Village, if only in the subtext. The bad color? It's like the Bush administration all over again.