"The New World" captures ineffable truths through sight, sound, and very few words...

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2006)

From the breathtaking opening minutes of the filman extended montage sequence of sensory crescendo (to the music of Wagner's Das Rheingold prologue)we know that The New World is not a conventional film. We do suspect it is a Terrence Malick film, however, and during the next two hours+ of 65mm nature photography, hushed voice-overs, elliptical editing, jump-cut storytelling, hyper-attentive sound, and scarcely little dialogue, we become convinced of this fact. Like Malick's previous films (especially The Thin Red Line), World is about the raw and unique experience of cinemain all its sight, sound, and splendorrather than simply "storytelling on a screen." Indeed, plot is far from the focus for Malick, who is much more interested in philosophy, metaphysics, and the art of film-making. Even so, "artistic" does little justice to describe Malick's creation, which isbeyond being a wrenching, evocative story of discovery and lossbeautiful and true in ways that most "artsy" efforts can only reach for.