The New World Review

Deciding against dressing up in costume to show my zealous enthusiasm, I entered the theatre with only great expectations and a few trepidations (no Golden Globe nominations?!). I learned prior to the show that ‘The New World’ was only 135 minutes long, making it already a more digestible experience than his last masterpiece, ‘The Thin Red Line’ which neared three hours. It was only after the film that I discovered that I had seen the second edit of the film, the leanest of them all; the one for consideration for the Oscars had an additional 15 minutes, and what was to come much later on dvd would be over three hours – did I mention that Malick is a notorious perfectionist? But I am ahead of myself. Very early on in the film, upon the first symphonic rise of the primary score as vignettes of the ‘naturals’ and the Virginian settlers interlaced, some physical reaction to the film overwhelmed me. This faint tremor of emotion lingered in me until the very end of the film, and I can only remember such a sensation taking hold of me on two other film-viewing occasions: ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘Passion of the Christ’. The reasons for it occurring in these two films were readily apparent: I felt an immediate threat of danger through my experience of them, to the point of entertaining a physical reaction. But the reason for this occurring during my viewing of ‘The New World’ is less clear due to the lack of peril depicted in the film (this is a PG film!). In the absence of peril there was only beauty, and while it is perhaps a poetic conceit on my part, I feel it was the sheer beauty of the film that affected me so.

And, oh God, is it beautiful! Much is made of the cinematography of Malick’s films, which is remarkable despite the fact that he has used a different cinematographer on every film; and certainly something should be said about the cinematography, because there is nothing comparable to it, each frame is a finished painting of the highest order. But the real mark of craftsmanship in a Malick film is the editing, and the overall momentum that he as maestro controls with all of the imagery, dialogue, music and ambient sounds at his disposal. Malick makes films like jazz. Scenes become less defined, there is a merging of foreground activity with background environment, and dialogue with monologue. The New World begins and ends with the flowing listlessness of water and air, something the cinematic style of the film seeks to emulate. This is trademark Malick, situating the impetus of narration around the emotional/spiritual crux of the story, and doing away with laborious externalizations of exposition made in lesser films. Part of this situating includes the intermittent use of disembodied voice-overs signifying the internal thoughts of the characters in amongst the spiritual ether of the imagery. Like jazz there are no set rules, and with something akin to poetry the result evokes an active revelry in the passing moments of every scene. I cannot think of another love story that has been depicted so beautifully, threading the viewer along with the cinematic equivalent of a free verse poem.

Which brings me to Colin Farrell and Q’orianka Kilcher: Captain John Smith and Pocahontas, respectively. Kilcher’s physical beauty gives nature (even Malick’s nature!) a run for its money, and the director puts it to the utmost use as a siren to John Smith’s rather simple affections. Once captured, Smith is given an opportunity to live amongst the native tribe for a short period, time enough to fall in love with the Aboriginal princess, Pocahontas (who is not actually named in the film), and with the culture she is a part of. We too fall in love with this culture as the sumptuous anthropologic detail comes alive on the screen in a way never before achieved. I am huge fan of Michael Mann’s ‘Last of the Mohicans’, but ‘The New World’ easily eclipses that work and any other in its depiction of early aboriginal life. Farrell’s John Smith is far less the adventurous explorer I had anticipated him to be, and is more of a simpleton in his ways, one of deep-seated morals and lack of experience; the relationship between he and Pocahontas makes perfect sense as they both share these traits. I have never liked Farrell in anything I have seen him in, but this is the exception, and what an exception! His performance is brilliantly restrained, and Malick plays most of the dialogue through the eyes, and this works best for Farrell, and makes him far more sympathetic than his celebrity would generally allow. Kilcher deserves an Oscar despite saying very little in the film, her performance is haunting. How the Foreign Press Association overlooked this film, and Kilcher’s performance, in their consideration for the Golden Globes is absolutely beyond me.

I know very little about the romantic legend the film is based on, so I am not sure how close to it Malick got, and if this will satisfy the purists. The Christian Bale storyline was a complete surprise to me, particularly because his character appeared misrepresented in the trailer as a villain. I fear much of the editing Malick had done must of come to the detriment of this storyline as the progression of the romance seems quickly arranged, and were it longer the gravitas of the final confrontation would have been that much more powerful. While I am often the champion of two hour durations, I have to say I left ‘The New World’ wanting even more, and feel cheated out of the fifteen minutes that made the Oscar cut. I loved every frame of this film and it was well worth the six year wait since the premiere of his last masterpiece, ‘The Thin Red Line’. ‘The New World’ is already assured a high place on my list of the best films of 2006, and I can only hope the wait for the next Malick film will be shorter.

Grade: A

Review by Mike Rot