This epic adventure is set amid the encounter of European and American cultures during the founding of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607.
1607 A.D. was the year European colonialists cheated Native American Indians out of house and home in a protracted series of violent land grabs. Marauding troupes of predominantly English fanatics were sent forth and ordered to begin armed aggressions in Tenakomakah, Virginia. Not all the settlers were villains, but all did partake in the unbridled villainy of imperial conquest.
Terrence Malick's 'The New World' chronicles these early years of imperialism, whilst skilfully depicting the famous, though historically questionable, love affair between explorer Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell at his moody, mumbling best) and enigmatic Native American Powhatan Pocahontas (an impressive debut by teen starlet Q'orianka). After things go sour with Smith, Pocahontas is taken hostage by the colonists, wooed, baptised and renamed Rebecca by pioneering tobacco farmer Captain John Roffe (a small but memorable role for Christian Bale), who whisks the naïve native off to England to meet King James I (he owns the Bible, you know).
'The New World's' cinematography and elliptical, visual storytelling are second to none, for just as Malick bought the lush, fertile plains of war torn Japan to life in 'The Thin Red Line', so too, does he brilliantly capture and allow you to soak up the atmosphere of the Americas. The sights, sounds and captivating serenity of this unspoilt vista only serves to sensitise us to the imperialist's treachery and barbaric takeover. One could argue that attempts made to equate Pocahontas's arrival in England as a fulfilment of her spiritual journey, are either unreliable repetitions culled from colonial-era biographies, or simply refer to a young woman fulfilled by the joys of motherhood, suggesting the 'Mother's home' is the land of her family, and not necessarily her home-land.
'The New World', though made to the highest possible standards, feels like an incomplete masterpiece: A potential classic stymied by unbelievably poor editing, which renders parts of the film incomprehensible or frustratingly amateurish. And though Malick's films tend to focus on creating atmosphere, encouraging viewers to get a feel for the time and immerse themselves in the period, that's still no excuse for the manner in which this film darts about. A style that may've worked to convey man's forced disassociation with humanity in war but proves annoying in a film that wants to paint a bigger picture. For example; Christian Bale's character simply appears out of the blue with only thirty-five minutes left (the film is 135 minutes long, which still feels too short to accurately convey the scope of the story) whilst his journey back to England by sea, which we're informed ought to take four months, seems to occur at light-speed with all the passengers as fresh & fragrant as when they first boarded.
Pocahontas lived up to the meaning of her nickname: "playful frolicsome girl". An endearing ditz who barely made it out of her teens before being tragically struck down by TB in England, tempted away from her roots by wealthy opportunists who'd acquired their riches through the destruction and plunder of a great many civilisations. Powhatan princess Matoaka Pocahontas was, like Marie in Brian Friel's 'Translations', an adventurous innocent, and I imagine the guilt of collaboration isn't fully explored on screen, because she never truly understood the settler's intentions to lord it over her people. For when Captain Smith goes native, his voiceover informs us that: "...they are gentle, loving, faithful; lacking in all guile and trickery, they have no jealously, no sense of possession: real, what I thought a dream".
Its interesting to note that whilst America's native tribes were, according to some, primitive heathens, out of all the other civilisations they'd encountered centuries before 1492 (i.e. Phoenicians, Arabs, North-Africans and Turkmen) only Europeans tried to
enslave, convert or kill them. Malick doesn't dwell on the fact that Pocahontas was shamelessly lauded about England as "the good native"; exploited, abused, discarded and resurrected as a reinvented caricature; a mysterious, sensual icon held aloft in an unconvincing attempt to justify the avaricious terrorism of an Empire. And that's another flaw; one has to go back and do a lot of research to fully understand what became of certain characters and how events bought them together. Oliver Stone had a similar problem with 'Alexander' in that for the viewer to truly appreciate what was going on, they had to have some prior knowledge. I hope 'Criterion' releases an extended and re-edited edition of this fine film, for if you have the patience to take this picture on its own merits, and watch it in the right frame of mind, you'll come away with a unique visual insight into the Americas as they were. 'The New World', in spite of some historical, technical and narrative flaws, is definitely worth discovering.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.
Epic adventure set amidst the first encounter of European and Native American cultures during the founding of the Jamestown Virginia Settlement in 1607. The film follows Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher) and her relationships with adventurer John Smith (Colin Farrell) and aristocrat John Rolfe (Christian Bale). This woman's remarkable journey of love lost and found takes her from the untouched beauty of the Virginia wilderness to the upper crust of English society as we witness the dawn of a new America.
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