On DVD, released 2006. Rated PG-13, 150 minutes.
Walking into a Terrence Malick movie is like buying a Radiohead album. You give him the benefit of the doubt, but you have to be careful not to fall into 'fart into a bag syndrome', which holds that Radiohead could release an album of songs featuring farts into a bag, and it would still make all music critics top 10 lists. All sycophantic urges aside, you have to be aware of the talent of the filmmaker involved.
All that being said, The New World is essentially a depiction of the love story of John Smith and Pocahontas during Britain's initial colonization of America. As is expected in any Malick feature, nature and the natural elements are featured so prominently as to become almost the central character in the film. Collin Farrell walks around looking pained the whole time as John Smith, and Q'Orianka Kilcher hits the mark portraying the innocent, inspiring, and lovelorn Pocahontas.
The film works as a study and commentary on the nature v. progress themes as well as innocence and man's attraction thereto. The cinematography is top notch, and Malick uses the environment, especially tall grasses and trees, to surround the story. This is the strongest element in the picture, and is hypnotizing (in a good way). Unfortunately, I found the basic structure and plot of the film extremely lacking. I don't need a perky story, but I need something interesting to at least let me enjoy the nature and subtext.
1 comment:
I liked it quite a bit more (A-) but will admit Colin Farrell's screen presence is lacking vitality. I love unconventional structure in films and will easily take this over the routine Brokeback Mountain. If that couple were heterosexual, it would merely be a well-photographed Lifetime movie of the week, a morality play where adulterers suffer.
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