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The New World |
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By : Suzanne Philips |
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THE NEW WORLD Written & Directed by Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line) Starring Colin Farrell (Alexander), Christian Bale (Batman Begins), Christopher Plummer (Syriana), Q'Orianka Kilcher (How the Grinch Stole Christmas) Running Time 2 hours 30 min. Set in the year 1607, THE NEW WORLD tells the tale of one of the greatest love stories of all time, Pocahontas and John Smith. A group of English settlers led by Captain Christopher Newport (Plummer) lands on the coast of Virginia intending to start a new colony. They run into the Native Americans who already inhabit that area and must find a way to make peace. An envoy, John Smith (Farrell), is sent to talk to the King of the region and is saved from certain death by the King's most beloved daughter, Pocahontas (Kilcher). The two fall in love and this threatens to destroy not only the two of them, but of the peace they are so trying to achieve. Terrence Malick has a history of making visually interesting films with important themes, and THE NEW WORLD is no exception. The scenery in this film is breathtaking. Malick picks shots that are so visceral it is almost like looking at a photograph instead of a motion picture. Every scene is rich with color and nature. This film does a good job in depicting what the early settlers might have gone though when trying to colonize America - the weather they were not used to, natives whose language they did not understand, a shortage of food and fresh water - all of these difficulties helping to inflame an already volatile situation. Malick does an excellent job of not directly showing violence in a great portion of the film, he merely alludes to it. Then when violence does erupt on the screen, it makes the images that more powerful. The casting is really excellent. The scenes between Farrell and Kilcher are outstanding and truly depict the love these two people had for each other. Malick takes the high road and doesn't go for the gratuitous sex and nudity that many other directors would have naturally sought. This actually serves to make the scenes that much more erotic. Christian Bale is, naturally, outstanding as Pocahontas' husband, John Rolfe. Both he and Farrell look really yummy in this film and their performances are quite good. This film is worth watching just to see their performances. While all of these things taken together would seem to make a good film, there are a few key points that THE NEW WORLD doesn't get right. While the scenes are beautiful and vibrant, there are many scenes that are in the film that just do not serve any purpose. Certainly they are beautiful to look at, but the length of the film could be shortened and the pace would pick up if these unnecessary scenes were deleted. The Smith/Pocahontas love story is accented by a quite well known Mozart composition. Unfortunately, this is distracting to the audience and somewhat over dramatic. By the third or fourth time we hear it, the audience was actually snickering. Had the film's composer chosen something a little less well known or had added something new, this problem could have been completely avoided. My biggest problem with this film was the overabundance of voice overs. You really can't go more than a few minutes without one of the characters having some internal dialogue that we all have to hear in a breathy voice. Instead of having conversations, two characters can be in a whole scene and never speak to each other but we have to hear their "innermost" thoughts. It really gives the whole film the quality of a cheesy soap opera or movie of the week. I think Malick would have been better served to find another way to get the characters to get this information across and leave out the voice overs. Is the film historically accurate? Sadly to say I am not versed enough in early American history to say. But it is a dramatized story so it wouldn't surprise me to find out that some liberties had been taken. THE NEW WORLD is an interesting film, just shy of being a great film, but certainly worth a look. 2 1/2 out of 5 |