Very good, for those who like a good story, beautifully filmed and bare in its simplicity.

Rating: Null/10 (10 June 2006)

Most of us who grew up in the USA know at least a bit about the historical legend of the "Indian princess" Pocahontas. We know that she and Englishman John Smith had some kind of relationship, and that she helped the new settlers survive in the early 1600s in what today is Virginia. But this film, "The New World", takes an honest look at what it might have been like, unromanticized for the most part, when people from these two cultures met, curious about each other. The native Americans it seemed expected the visitors to be there temporarily, but we now know that it did not work out that way.
First. let me say what I didn't like about the film. The music is very strange, especially at the beginning and at the end. My best comparison is a set of musical chords that might be played by an orchestra warming up before a performance. I'm not sure why, but it was very distracting for me. Second, there isn't a lot of dialog, and what there is usually cannot be understood. So I watched the movie with English subtitles turned ON and it helped greatly. Also, the editing at times seemed a bit abrupt.
However, overall it is a very fine movie. She is never named 'Pocahontas' in the movie, but we know who she is. Newcomer Q'Orianka Kilcher, 14, is remarkably good as the native Princess, a role that fits her perfectly. The DVD 'extra' takes a good look at how she was discovered and her training for the role. Bad Boy Colin Farrell seems a good choice for Captain John Smith, always seeming to be in trouble.
SPOILERS FOLLOW. Daughter of the chief, she is called Princess by the English. She takes a liking to John Smith, saves him from being put to death, she also helped the settlers, and eventually is cast out, disowned, by her father, rather than having her killed. She lives in the fort, gets false report that John Smith had died (he set it up). She later met John Rolfe (Christian Bale) who was a very honorable man, who asked her to marry him, which she did, they had a son, a few years later on the trip to London she encountered Smith, learned the truth, but turned and walked away, now understanding what she had in Rolfe.