Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6890 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-05-22
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 150 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The legend of Pocahontas and John Smith receives a luminous and essential retelling by maverick filmmaker Terrence Malick. The facts of Virginia's first white settlers, circa 1607, have been told for eons and fortified by Disney's animated films: explorer Smith (Colin Farrell) and the Native American princess (newcomer Q'orianka Kilcher) bond when the two cultures meet, a flashpoint of curiosity and war lapping interchangeably at the shores of the new continent. Malick, who took a twenty year break between his second and third films (Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line), is a master of film poetry; the film washes over you, with minimal dialogue (you see characters speak on camera for less than a quarter of the film).

The rest of the words are a stream-of-consciousness narration--a technique Malick has used before but never to such degree, creating a movie you feel more than watch. The film's beauty (shot in Virginia by Emmanuel Lubezki) and production design (by Jack Fisk) seems very organic, and in fact, organic is a great label for the movie as a whole, from the dreadful conditions of early Jamestown (it makes you wonder why Englishman would want to live there) to the luminescent love story. Malick is blessed with a cast that includes Wes Studi, August Schellenberg, Christopher Plummer, and Christian Bale (who, curiously, was also in the Disney production). Fourteen-year-old Kilcher, the soul of the film, is an amazing find, and Farrell, so often tagged as the next big thing, delivers his first exceptional performance since his stunning debut in Tigerland. James Horner provides a fine score, but is overshadowed by a Mozart concerto and a recurring prelude from Wagner's Das Rheingold, a scrumptious weaving of horns fit to fuel the gentle intoxication of this film. Note: the film was initially 150 minutes, and then trimmed to 135 by Malick before the regular theatrical run. It was also the first film shot in 65mm since Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet. --Doug Thomas

Synopsis
In 1607, three ships sailed across the Atlantic to the shores of what became known as Jamestown, Virginia. The arrival of these Europeans changed forever, the history of the native people already living peacefully in this fertile country. Writer-director Terrence Malick, who has been waiting 25 years to tell this story, finally gets his chance in the breathtaking epic THE NEW WORLD. Colin Farrell stars as Captain John Smith, a British mutineer facing execution, who finds a new purpose and a dangerous love in this new land. Smith falls for the young and beautiful Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher, in her first major role), who happens to be the daughter of the Indian chief Powhatan (August Schellenberg), thus laying the groundwork for trouble ahead. The Indians are both fascinated and frightened of the Europeans; uncertain whether they are friend or foe. Suspicion, desire, greed, lust, and power soon combine to make them mortal enemies. Using natural lighting, carefully reconstructed forts (James Fort) and villages (Werowocomoco), realistic weaponry, fabulous makeup and costumes, and even a re-creation of the Algonquin language, Malick has made a majestic historical drama that transports viewers back to early 17th century America. Complimented by James Horner's (BRAVEHEART, TITANIC) percussion-based score and Emmanuel Lubezki's emotive photography, THE NEW WORLD is a compelling exploration into the very beginning of American history.

Customer Reviews

The New World isnt all that Old
I missed this when it came out a few years ago.However i was very intrested in seeing this.It was a realy good film but i was expecting something like King Arthur or Kingdom of Heaven but it actualy was fun.Had some realy good cinematography and a brilliant score to go with it.When the extened edition comes out im going to get it as i feel alot was cut from this movie.

Love and Loss and Life and Death for Grown Ups
You should not measure Terrence Malick's films against those of mere mortals. The opening sequence is astonishingly beautiful. We see the native americans sporting in their 'paradise' whilst the ships arrive - all gloriously sewn together by the swell of Wagner's music for Rheingold. This scene alone is a good enough reason to buy the disc, and is a sequence of pure poetry that other modern film-makers cannot even comprehend.

The story might be Pocahontas - but this is love and loss for grown ups. We believe each touch - the arm placed gently in the small of the back, the little gestures that tell you that people are deeply in love without a word being spoken. There is great truth here - truth woven into the fabric of every scene. The strength is in the main female character. Her ability to endure and to find true love and to follow a great personal journey. No gimmicks, no artificially driven action, just a grown up story, beautifully written, shot and acted. If you do just one thing, go through to the end and behold: the image of a native american indian warrior rising up and dashing in despair into the grounds of an english mansion is simply astonishing in its visual impact and poetic hit. It is difficult to grasp just what makes this special - but each time we come back to that word - truth. Great artists have a truth - that line in a painting or drawing, that key musical phrase, or in this case, in the simple image of hands grasped together.

poetic elegy
This painfully slow movie by the genius Terrence Malick is a strange beast. I found it to be meandering and boring, yet I still watch extracts of it on my laptop on regular occassions; I cant seem to leave it alone.

It's a richly textured, slowly paced, visually stunning epic of the American past that hypnotizes the viewer with its tapestry of sights, sounds (great soundtrack) and colours. This movie is a tone poem that may throw some viewers through its use of interior monologues and lack of action.

Rating : 7.5 / 10