Dinosaurs

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 2006)

Terrence Malick is a dinosaur--the one holdover from that gilded era of American cinema, the 1970s. While audience have bore witness to the erosion of his contemporaries' artistry (seriously, when was the last time Coppola or Rafelson or Bogdonovich made a worthwhile flick?), Terrence has stayed true to his early ethos by continuing to create lyrical, beautifully photographed, and not-entirely-narrative films. Of course, it's easier to keep your edge when you've only made four films in 32 years.
The New World, though I don't yet think as highly of it as Badlands, is a great film and certainly on the same level as his other bona fide masterpiece, Days of Heaven (gosh, that his weakest film is the amazing The Thin Red Line is absurd, especially since it could have been the magnum opus of a lesser director). What I think is the film's greatest achievement is its ability to take figures that have become larger than life and make them real. In a sense, the film guts the mythology of Pocahontas but doesn't really give an un-idealized version of early colonial settlement--it simply doesn't give an idealized version of that time. Though it bemoans, to a degree, Pocahontas's "crossing over" from native to Englishwoman (the scenes of her first adopting European garb are very poignant and melancholy, I think), New World does not make out the Englishmen to be evil, invading monsters. They are well-meaning, but they're not necessarily heroes. They're real men with real faults. Malick has done a great service to the story of early Colonial times by not elevating it to the level of epic; it is a very simple story of a very important encounter told without, really, too much looking forward. We bring historical baggage to the film, but New World does not really bring baggage of its own. That's amazing.
The performances are wonderful with Kilcher and Bale the real standouts (Farell and Plummer are also excellent, but, let's be honest, at this point I expect that). Of course, it's tricky to judge a performance in a film by Terrence Malick, since much of the film's story is told through voice-over narration, but the faces of the actors he uses convey more emotions and thoughts than thousands of words could. In other words, if anyone could make a silent movie now, it would be Terrence Malick.
As expected, the photography is also immaculate. Watching New World reminds me of all those things I adore about the geography of this country. It will make you realize why the colonists looked to this land as a sort of Paradise and why it still is a gorgeous land.
New World will, I think, stand the test of time and be long remembered along side Malick's other masterpieces. It's a great film that lovers of cinema will enjoy. If you're looking for a rollicking adventure, though, you might want to go elsewhere.