Film Review

Terence Malick has only made four films in 32 years, not exactly prolific! His latest offering is The New World, his version of the John Smith/Pocahantas story. Set in Virginia in 1607 the film opens as most of Malick's movies do, with long, lingering shots of nature. Much like his last film, The Thin Red Line, water features heavily in The New World. As natives wade in the waters of their peaceful world, three wooden ships draw anchor.

Onto the land come a rugged and worn out bunch of settlers, amongst them Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell). The story of Pocahantas and John Smith holds a spot in the grand tale of the beginnings of the American dream, and has been told many times, most recently by the Disney company but Malick's telling of the tale is not anything like the Disney cartoon version. The natives are creation-worshippers, calling daily upon 'mother' nature and innately connected to the world around them. They are compassionate and caring people without guile, who love each other unconditionally. The settlers on the other hand are disconnected from everything and unable to make any connection with the new land. The soil is unforgivng in their hands, crops fail--tensions rise and aggression marks their colony.

A subtle contrast between two divergent views of civilization and God is offered by Malick. The natives worship a tender spirit, feminine, mystical and immanent. The settlers hold to a patriarchal view of everything from God down to the lowest member of the colony. As with many movies over the past 10 or 15 years, ethnic peoples, particularly native peoples are undergoing a transformation in the movies and broader culture. Maybe starting around the time of Dances with Wolves, the Native-American peoples have been slowly transformed from ignorant savages into noble and compassionate peoples with lessons to teach the arrogant and supercillious Westerners-this idea is picked up by Malick and forms a strong thread in the film.

The film moves at glacier pace--every shot seems to last for ages, and there is a dreamlike quality to the film, which is exaggerated at times by the use of slow motion and other edit devices that cut and paste time.

In a bit of advertising hubris the film has been billed as the 'greatest conematic love story since Titanic,' it is a love story but nothing like the popcorn version James Cameron unfolded. At times, I found th erelationship between Smith and Pocahontas as completely unbelievable. Q'Orianka Kilcher, the young unknown actress playing Pocahaontas is only about 15 I think and this may have affected the amount of romantic contact betwen her and Farrell. Christian Bale plays John Rolfe, the man she eventually marries when Smith goes off in search of new trade routes at the command of the king.

You will need a great deal of patience to sit through The New World, I think it is worth it even though the film is not his best as far I am concerned. It is unlike any other film out there at the moment. Malick is an auteur of the first order and his lyrical, natrue-focused films, move so slowly and carefully, they almost feel like slow movie slide shows than movies--everything important occurs in slow time--even the 'action.' The soundtrack by James Horner, also promises much but never delivers, which only adds to the frustration I felt by the time the movie was over.