The New World (2005)

My take on this movie is mixed. I loved the story of the movie, the sets, and the cinematography. However, i am not satisfied of the presentation of the move and the way the plot was presented and sometimes the scenes got confusing. Also i am not happy with Will Farrel's acting. Christian bale was classic as usuall. By the way, this is my first review ever, so i might be a bit off on some points.

Who could possibly have thought of starting and ending the movie with an impossibly long monotone? Who the heck thought it might be cute to use a Mozart Piano Concerto as the love theme, even though it was written 150 years after the action depicted? This picture was created by morons. It has so many longeuers that the entire film becomes one. Pocohontas was never believable and Farrell obviously loathed her: no magic whatsoever. Farrell just made doe eyes and thought that would do. By the way, barely a word he said was intelligible, being delivered in some awful Irish brogue. The natives are depicted according to the Puritan psychosis: painted, unpredictable imbeciles. They appeared to have only one breeding-age female: the star of the show (Q'orianka Kilcher), a half-Inca actress who was fourteen years old shooting this pic. She's done nothing but bits and pieces since. The "development of Virginia" theme is rubbish, because the entire film is about Pocohontas, who has a by no means inspiring story, I assure you: a native princess whom the Puritans turned into a little "ladyship". If that turns you on, get this film, if not utterly forget it. It's worthless, and directed by an ignoramus, Terence Malick. Poor old Paramount, what a pack of losers.

For my second Terrence Malick film (and there aren't too many), I have chosen THE NEW WORLD. It's basically the story of Pocahontas, starting from the settlement of Jamestown when she met John Smith to her later life when she married John Rolfe and moved to England. Of course, being that this is Terrence Malick, the minutiae of historical details aren't really adhered to and the story is told in rather broad strokes, making sure to hit all of the important historical moments but generally being a slower and more contemplative meditation on the themes that its director is interested in. While I was perfectly fine with the abstract story in THE TREE OF LIFE, I felt that it didn't quite work as well here. Still, Malick has crafted a stunningly beautiful film that explores themes of discovery, conflict, the search for happiness, and making the most out of difficult situations. What I thought worked very well was a restrained use of voice-over that served as internal monologues. Absent a lot of dialogue, this provided an essential window into the various characters. I also loved the numerous shots of natural beauty which were expertly captured by Malick's frequent cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezski. As far as acting is concerned, everyone gave a really good performance, although the cast was subordinate to the imagery. The score was also excellent, and in particular I liked the simple piano theme that played when John Smith and Pocahontas were on screen together. However, despite all of this really positive stuff I do think that the film dragged a bit in places and I found my mind wandering somewhat. I suppose it would have helped if this wasn't a story based in historical fact. That way I wouldn't have had expectations about how it should have been presented. Honestly, I would have a preferred a more straightforward telling, but what I got wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. Overall, this is a technically superb film that has some interesting observations on life, but it did subvert my expectations a little bit.

If we take the time to look at it, really see it. The wind blows ever so, the river runs ever onward, ever the waves ride on the ocean. Snakes slither in the sea, baby turtles run up our bodies. If we let them. Does this not have the power to change us? The land is a way of life, the people just come and go. There once was a time, where people lived. They lived so. What did they talk about? What did they dream of? That time is gone, those people are gone. What they talked of is not important. The land is. It's eternal. Malick understands this. Often, his camera will break away from a conversation to look at the grass sighing in the wind. Most of his shots of people are of them walking in the grass, touching them, feeling them, feeling other people, talking by touch. People love each other, they sit together in the grass, stare at each other, smile a lot, touch each other's bodies. They hardly ever talk. Love is an exploration, of the other's body, of the other's mind. Silence is the best language to communicate. "What else is life but being near you? Do they suspect? Oh, to be given to you; you to me." Such passion opens up unknown vistas. Of the mind. Of the soul, if that exists. It's a New World for Pocahontas.