So before leaving work I read this article and realize that M. Night Shyamalan's new film The Village — which opens today — was filmed off of Cossart Road in Chadds Ford, Pa.
That's a bit off the main road, but it's also about halfway between the newsroom and my apartment. Cossart Road is also the site of vague local legends. So why not?
The moon is almost full, but by the time I turn off of highway 52 onto Fairville a thick fog has settled in. I flick the high beams to find the street sign for Cossart and all I can see is a white reflection from the fog. There are few lights along Cossart, and between the darkness and the fog I have a hard enough time seeing the road in front of me, let alone scanning the fields to the sides for a glimpse of whatever might remain of Shyamalan's set.
Contrary to the legends, the trees that line the narrow road do not seem to be growing away from it — but they are tall and old and thick with history. After the first deer crosses, I slow down some more. The second deer watches as I crawl by. I catch a glimpse of the reflected eyes of something furtive, maybe a fox, but aside from that the road seems as dark and quiet as the few stone farmhouses that pass by in the fog. But just when I'm beginning to think the drive was nothing more than an agreeable detour, I round a corner and …
No, I don't want to spoil the ending for you.
Anyway, yes, I understand the complaints of those who view Shyamalan as a trickster. But he's a talented trickster and his neighbors here in the Delaware Valley are proud of him.
I hope to catch The Village this weekend at the Columbia Drive In out in Lancaster. That's where I saw Signs. (If you're going to see a creepy movie set in a cornfield in southeastern Pennsylvania, I highly recommend seeing it while sitting in a cornfield in southeastern Pennsylvania.)
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