the real world

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2006)

'The New World' holds no prisoners, the film from start to finish respects the subject matters it touches but also respects the audience. Not since Tarkovsky and Bresson, have i seen so unrelenting film making, giving no clues to the audience but respecting the intellect of the audience by dispensing back story and by encouraging lateral thinking. The film should have come with a warning: art film hidden under the guile of a Hollywood epic! or 120 million dollar art film! For without these warnings, people may misinterpret the film to be something that its not. I was a little confused after watching the movie. Did Malick want us to think that these people were America's first settlers, which provided a foundation for the America of today? or that the story of John Smith and Pocahontis happened in this manner? No he didn't! We in 2006 know what happens with the aid of history, therefore as Pocahontas leaves America in the film, so does our focus. The new world, is no longer valid, we know what will happen, we can make up our own minds, Malick knows this, therefore we go to England with Malick to explore and strengthen the other main theme of the film, love. Love has many layers, the way this film approaches love is no different. Of course the film deals with the love of the land and that of nature. But in this film, I see love as a person, a being that engages, explores, learns and therefore decides. Her love has matured or comes to a full circle, she has become enlightened, therefore her death is not mourned but expressed positively, by the chorus, the chorus of nature, of the wind, the water, the trees... The film is real, the film is truth, this is strengthened by the cinematography, the colors aren't filtered for a reason, the colors look like that of colors produced by our own eyes when we see similar things. We aren't meant to be transported to a higher plain as in Thin Red line but we are meant to feel and be directly involved. The problems of Thin Red Line are eradicated in 'The New World'. The film although representing major themes feels highly personal, they don't feel like pawns dictated by one emotion or light to embody a whole, but feel human, going through many different emotions and decisions.