The New WorldCenturies ago, the land that is America today was wild and untamed, a world free from the shackles of modern civilization. It was a world so different and unbound, that to recall those times is to invite a vision like that of a dream...one like Terrence Malick's The New World. In keeping with the visionary filmmaker's poetic depiction of drama, The New World is far removed from a boring history lesson about the colonization of Virginia by Europeans and their encounters with the natives, but a conflicted love story, set against the backdrop of the conception of these United States.
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The New World is, from a narrative standpoint, the retelling of the myth of Pocahontas, played in the film by Q'orianka Kilcher, and about the love that blooms within her for Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell), who leads a splinter expedition deep into the mainland to seek resources. Although never formally addressed as Pocahontas in the film, her presence is the core of The New World. Along with John Smith and later John Rolfe (Christian Bale), she narrates the film with prayers to the "mother", to whom she entreats in order to understand the world. What Pocahontas learns is, from the moment the "floating islands" that are the seafaring vessels of the English come to port, that her world is not the only one, a sentiment shared by the invaders of her land. At the core of The New World is the clash between these two worlds--more than just the technological advances of Western civilization, but the cultural mindset and sense of property and possession. It is important that John Smith is a reformed pirate, once accustomed to seizing property for his own on the high seas; in this frontier, during his time with the both the natives and Engligh who take him prisoner, he learns that the concept of property and possession is as futile and meaningless in the battle for survival as it is to the natives. For people like the Chief Powhatan (August Schellenberg), their concern is that men like Smith are used to having ownership of things in order to feel secure...that they are ill-equipped to survive in the wilds of native America and that they are born to ravage and despoil their land, and ultimately drive the natives from their homes. History has proven this to be the case, giving the real tension between these two camps a sense of dramatic irony. The colonists suffer as they attempt to weather the winter, nearly starving to death. But Pocahontas in her love for Smith and desire for him to survive solicits the natives to come bearing food for their invaders, predating the traditional Thanksgiving precedent set in Massachusetts by over a decade.
John Smith is given a new lease on life by the stern commander, Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer), who spares the purportedly mutinous Smith from hanging by virtue of a new covenant with the new world. The sense that this, along with the majesty of the aptly-named "virginal" Virginia, makes Smith introspective, a sentiment expressed in the direction of the film. He documents his wishes and hopes that this new world will be devoid of the vice and greed which he feels had led him to his prior life of rapacious greed...like Saul of Tarsus, he believes he has moved on from that life. His narration is of the diary he keeps, which feels like a declaration set to the new land, a testament of a world which he proclaims will be held above the pettiness and sin which inevitably overtakes his camp as they struggle to survive in this wilderness. During Smith's stay with the natives, he connects with them, playing games, comparing markings, and even teaching Pocahontas his language. It is in this time that the two fall deeply in love, and it is here where The New World reveals itself to be more than just a period piece. Scenes between the two lovers are tender and heartfelt, with intimate shots of closeness between them accompanied by contemplative narration, representing the partnering of their souls. Smith's mission to go up river to entreat with Powhatan comes after the colonists fall out of favor with the "naturals" (as the English call the natives), and via a rumor. The sense that this is ultimately a trap is clear, a way to divide and deal with splintered parts of the whole in their native habitat by the residents. It recalls a similar paradigm at the core of the story of Werner Herzog's own tale of failed colonial expedition, Aguirre, the Wrath of God. It is here, at a crucial moment, when Pocahontas saves Smith for reasons which remain hers and hers alone. She senses something within him, and yet in the end, he disappoints her when Smith later believes that his presence has only caused suffering and ruin to the woman he loves so much, and he abandons her. Smith's harrowing trial to keep the peace and the camp of formative Jamestown alive is a herculean task, especially when faced with devastating in-fighting and an expedition unprepared to fight for their own survival. Smith was supposed to leave once the spring came, but when a secret crop of corn is discovered, Powhatan feels betrayed--not just by Smith, but later by his daughter, Pocahontas, who loves Smith and warns him to prepare for their deadly assault.
The New World is filled with gorgeous vistas of an untamed wilderness, so wild and untouched by civilization that it were as though the camera's eye were truly looking back across time to four hundred years past. Perhaps the most striking image is one from the start of the film, where the English ships come into the bay, and we see them come forth from the perspective of the natives. To them, they appear as alien as if extra-terrestrials were to land in our cities today, evoking the same feelings of mystery and potential for terror. The scene plays out to the often heard music of Richard Wagner's "Das Rheingold", giving this--and scenes like it--a sense of awe and majesty. Much of the travel taken is done by boat, and the waters are so reflective that they make the new world appear twice over, in the mirror-like reflection on the river's surface. This is a visual metaphor for the duality of these worlds and the conflicting desires which tear Smith and Pocahontas apart. There is the paradise which is what John Smith so eloquently describes in his narration--and even the opening quotation by him--of this Arcadian world; but when the fires of war spring forth, this halcyon vision of the new world becomes a manifestation of Hell on Earth. The fighting between the natives and the colonists is brutal and fierce, and it becomes clear on Smith's face that he blames himself for letting it all get so deadly out of hand. This is why he painfully removes himself from this world--in part a punishment for the suffering he (and his people) have brought, and convinced he must not love again nor any longer, torn between his love for the new world and for Pocahontas. Pocahontas is ultimately portrayed as the spiritual victim of the clash of these two worlds, torn between them and never fully belonging to either following her heart's commitment to John Smith. Disowned by her father and abandoned by Smith, she is essentially stranded in Jamestown, although cared for by the newest residents to come from across the Atlantic. It is John Rolfe who falls in love with the melancholy native, and tries to give her a new life in the pioneer settlement, teaching her English. She is dressed in European clothing, and has a child with Rolfe. She is invited to meet with King James (Jonathan Pryce) in England--in part because she is described to be a "princess", but also as a curiosity and key player in the advent of the colonization of America. But true to history, Pocahontas never returns home, falling deathly ill in England, mirroring the kinds of diseases which the Europeans regretfully introduced into the new world. Pocahontas could never truly exist between the two worlds, but found herself so full of love that it was impossible to live in one exclusively once she knew there was more.
Recommended for: Fans of a fantastic and captivating paean about the majesty of nature and love, and the delicate balance that must be maintained between them. It is a hypnotic vision by one of cinema's truly poetic filmmakers, combining a lush interpretation of history with a compelling and dream-like mythical quality.
John Smith is given a new lease on life by the stern commander, Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer), who spares the purportedly mutinous Smith from hanging by virtue of a new covenant with the new world. The sense that this, along with the majesty of the aptly-named "virginal" Virginia, makes Smith introspective, a sentiment expressed in the direction of the film. He documents his wishes and hopes that this new world will be devoid of the vice and greed which he feels had led him to his prior life of rapacious greed...like Saul of Tarsus, he believes he has moved on from that life. His narration is of the diary he keeps, which feels like a declaration set to the new land, a testament of a world which he proclaims will be held above the pettiness and sin which inevitably overtakes his camp as they struggle to survive in this wilderness. During Smith's stay with the natives, he connects with them, playing games, comparing markings, and even teaching Pocahontas his language. It is in this time that the two fall deeply in love, and it is here where The New World reveals itself to be more than just a period piece. Scenes between the two lovers are tender and heartfelt, with intimate shots of closeness between them accompanied by contemplative narration, representing the partnering of their souls. Smith's mission to go up river to entreat with Powhatan comes after the colonists fall out of favor with the "naturals" (as the English call the natives), and via a rumor. The sense that this is ultimately a trap is clear, a way to divide and deal with splintered parts of the whole in their native habitat by the residents. It recalls a similar paradigm at the core of the story of Werner Herzog's own tale of failed colonial expedition, Aguirre, the Wrath of God. It is here, at a crucial moment, when Pocahontas saves Smith for reasons which remain hers and hers alone. She senses something within him, and yet in the end, he disappoints her when Smith later believes that his presence has only caused suffering and ruin to the woman he loves so much, and he abandons her. Smith's harrowing trial to keep the peace and the camp of formative Jamestown alive is a herculean task, especially when faced with devastating in-fighting and an expedition unprepared to fight for their own survival. Smith was supposed to leave once the spring came, but when a secret crop of corn is discovered, Powhatan feels betrayed--not just by Smith, but later by his daughter, Pocahontas, who loves Smith and warns him to prepare for their deadly assault.
The New World is filled with gorgeous vistas of an untamed wilderness, so wild and untouched by civilization that it were as though the camera's eye were truly looking back across time to four hundred years past. Perhaps the most striking image is one from the start of the film, where the English ships come into the bay, and we see them come forth from the perspective of the natives. To them, they appear as alien as if extra-terrestrials were to land in our cities today, evoking the same feelings of mystery and potential for terror. The scene plays out to the often heard music of Richard Wagner's "Das Rheingold", giving this--and scenes like it--a sense of awe and majesty. Much of the travel taken is done by boat, and the waters are so reflective that they make the new world appear twice over, in the mirror-like reflection on the river's surface. This is a visual metaphor for the duality of these worlds and the conflicting desires which tear Smith and Pocahontas apart. There is the paradise which is what John Smith so eloquently describes in his narration--and even the opening quotation by him--of this Arcadian world; but when the fires of war spring forth, this halcyon vision of the new world becomes a manifestation of Hell on Earth. The fighting between the natives and the colonists is brutal and fierce, and it becomes clear on Smith's face that he blames himself for letting it all get so deadly out of hand. This is why he painfully removes himself from this world--in part a punishment for the suffering he (and his people) have brought, and convinced he must not love again nor any longer, torn between his love for the new world and for Pocahontas. Pocahontas is ultimately portrayed as the spiritual victim of the clash of these two worlds, torn between them and never fully belonging to either following her heart's commitment to John Smith. Disowned by her father and abandoned by Smith, she is essentially stranded in Jamestown, although cared for by the newest residents to come from across the Atlantic. It is John Rolfe who falls in love with the melancholy native, and tries to give her a new life in the pioneer settlement, teaching her English. She is dressed in European clothing, and has a child with Rolfe. She is invited to meet with King James (Jonathan Pryce) in England--in part because she is described to be a "princess", but also as a curiosity and key player in the advent of the colonization of America. But true to history, Pocahontas never returns home, falling deathly ill in England, mirroring the kinds of diseases which the Europeans regretfully introduced into the new world. Pocahontas could never truly exist between the two worlds, but found herself so full of love that it was impossible to live in one exclusively once she knew there was more.
Recommended for: Fans of a fantastic and captivating paean about the majesty of nature and love, and the delicate balance that must be maintained between them. It is a hypnotic vision by one of cinema's truly poetic filmmakers, combining a lush interpretation of history with a compelling and dream-like mythical quality.