A very inspiring movie, the harmony of silence and emotions stands out among the low-quality Hollywood productions

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2006)

I just came back from the movies, here in Rome, so obviously I didn't get a chance to watch the original version. I must say I'm not familiar with Malick's movies, in fact this is the first one I watch.
Although being static and quiescent, the movie has touched me in a particular way. I found the emptiness of silences, nature sounds and gazes lost in the vacuum of hidden emotions, inspiring. One of the few movies where the importance of silence is completely understood, where a gaze can explain everything, where a simple love story, a naive, childish relationship can give you a lot.
Most people came out of the movies feeling as if they had wasted their money or saying that they had been terribly bored, on the verge of falling asleep. Well, I'm sorry for them if they didn't appreciate it and failed to understand it. The message is clear, we enter a world beyond the frivolities of modern movies, a world where an impossible love is crowned by the everlasting judgment of nature in its wildest powers. Malick putting together an excellent cast, including my fellow Dutchman Van Wageningen and I thought that the young Pocahontas was an excellent choice for this movie. Her grace, humble beauty and ingenuity are not a stereotype or oversimplification of the character, these attributes make her stand out as a real princess facing a hard trial in a life that could have been different, but definitely worth less living.
I would have given this movie a 10 if it wasn't for the ending ... the situation that builds up is a bit complicated and hard to deal with in 15 minutes, maybe more. Does Pocahontas' death really conclude the story in the right way? It takes up a touch of Greek tragedy in some way, although if one can say that death is never an ending, the native American philosophy fits in well.
As someone else said, I feel as if I'll be one of the few who actually did appreciate and understand this movie. I compared it to a Reiki CD in some way.