A Perfect Betrayal

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2006)

I am sure others have explained why this film is great. Terrence Malick has a definite style and it is one that I find brilliant. The mood he creates is absolutely mesmerizing. He explores issues of subjectivity in a very interesting way and of course this film is incredibly beautiful. Do not expect an action or war movie. Most of the film is silent, lyrical, complex, and often heartbreaking. I could watch it 100 more times and probably will. The entire film is like a whisper. This movie is very much like The Thin Red Line but he reduces the number of story-lines to three. I thought the multiple and choppy story lines, often difficult to follow, in the thin red line was actually quite appropriate to embodying the nature of the Vietnam War. I think in the New World the focus on three stories and really ultimately one (that of Pocahantas) is very effective. It also gives a real 360 degree meaning to the title of the film. I think Malick is a master at synthesizing the medium of film and the narrative/subject. I can also see that this film would not satisfy the majority of audiences who are looking for something that is really the opposite of what The New World actually delivers.(A saw a few people walk out of the theater) However, this "betrayal" only makes the meaning of the film all the more powerful.