Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4178 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

So gentle that it stops
As a huge fan of Malick's "Thin Red Line" I rented this with anticipation. I loved "Red Line's" juxtaposition of delicate, philosophical narration and intimate cinematography cut alongside the set pieces of the progressing battles. For me, "Red Line" is one of the all time great war films.
So approaching "New World", I was excited. However, the juxtaposition I admired so much in "Red Line" is simply absent for most of this film. There is only a sprinkling of kinetic, dramatic scenes - a surprise given the cover depicts Colin Farrell locked in combat. Instead the film is 95% gentle, ponderous "film poetry".
Now I'm not saying this is in itself a bad thing. I am a fan of slow movies, and craftsmanship on display here is exquisite. The cinematography is lush, the script sparse, lending a natural, spiritual quality to the experience. The environment, the eponymous new world, is indeed a central character. And the story drifts at the gentlest of paces through to it's conclusion.
With this in mind, I can see, and respect, why others have loved it so. But I was personally left behind by all this. I felt the lack of drama (in what is essentially an incredibly dramatic setup) left me disengaged and disconnected from the unfolding story. For sure Kilcher is a convincing, and at only 14 her performance is excellent - she truly captures the sense of semi-supernatural connection with the land that Pocahontas seems to embody. Christian Bale too was excellent, as always. However these moments are not enough to rescue what is, for me at least, a film so gentle it stops.
By all means check this out, but do be advised - this is the most ponderous of fare: a film that aims to engage holistically and for me, missed.

Surprisingly slight and insubstantial
The New World is the least of Terrence Malick's limited filmography to date, and could be best described as a monotone poem. It's not exactly bad, just mundane and rather forgettable even while you're watching it, more of a self-indulgence than a genuine attempt to communicate with an audience. Visually it often seems surprisingly flat and uninspired, while the script comprises of far too many trite voice over questions s-p-o-k-e-n v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y i-n h-u-s-h-e-d t-o-n-e-s against selections from his classical music collection, which doesn't magically render them profound but simply makes the film evenly paced to the point where nothing can stand out: even the battle sequence takes time out for more musings. Another big problem is the miscasting of the inexplicably prolific Colin Farrell, a nice enough lad offscreen I'm sure but an extraordinarily limited actor who just cannot carry a picture no matter how many chances he's given. True to form he trots out his two `important picture' expressions - the Bambi-caught-in-the-headlights-of-an-oncoming-car one and the one he thinks looks serious but simply makes him look like he's not been getting enough roughage in his diet. The fact that he's outshone by Q'orianka Kilcher in her first speaking part speaks volumes of his inadequacy, although to be fair he has been worse. Indeed, among the male leads Christian Bale does much, much more with much, much less in the last third of the film, as does a typically underused Christopher Plummer in the first third.

Malick is very good at the madness and mutiny that infects the deluded settlers of Jamestown, but because it happens to people we've barely been introduced to it carries no emotional or dramatic weight. If anything, it just made me think of how much more Herzog could have made of it all. Moments work, most notably the expulsion of the `Naturals' from their land, but on the evidence of the 135-minute version I very much doubt Malick's promised longer cut will solve the problems. I know it's meant to be a work of art, but I just came away with the feeling that I'd watched an old and very average Universal International 50s Western redubbed by first-year philosophy students. The only surprise was that Jeff Chandler and his bouncing Basques didn't crop up.

From the Badlands to the promised land
This is only the fourth film from Terrence Malick since Badlands [1973], a movie that the critic David Thomson ranks alongside Citizen Kane as one of the greatest cinematic debuts of all-time.

Malick's last film, the sublime The Thin Red Line [1998], was a masterpiece; a sensuous tone-poem with one of the finest casts ever assembled [Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, Ben Chaplin etc.]

The New World is almost as good, and looks and feels very similar to this last film. There are the enigmatic voiceovers that have become Malick's trademark; long, languid shots of the natural world [birds in flight, wind moving over the landscape and so on]; and beautifully observed scenes in which the white explorers [or soldiers in The Thin Red Line] come into contact with the natives.

The New World is ostensibly a story about the colonisation of America, seen as a kind of promised land, but actually concerns the love that develops between Pocohontas, the Indian princess, and an English naval captain [Colin Farrell]. Newcomer Q'Orianka Kilcher, as Pocohontas, is an absolute revelation, and it is worth watching the film for her performance alone.

Malick's style is an acquired taste, however, and comparing this film to Braveheart, say, or The Last of the Mohicans would be misleading. The New World will be devoured by Malick fans such as myself, but will no doubt frustrate in equal measure.