A masterpiece (with reservations) and amazingly, a true story

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2006)

I have been a fan of Malicks esoteric films since seeing Badlands over 30 years ago. I was greatly looking forward to this although I thought I knew pretty much what to expect for better and worse (particularly after the Thin Red Line) and so it proved to be. Stunning photography, good acting, a decent story told at a (very) leisurely pace and long shots of flora and fauna with birds squawking. These comments may seem a little cynical but this is what you get. Good points: Fabulous photography. The arrival of the English settlers to this New World is very well portrayed and the reaction of the locals to these aliens and visa versa convincing and plausible. The appearance and customs of the Indians  opps! - Native Americans is convincing (to me at least) and wonderfully strange. The experiences and adventures undertaken by the central character of Pocahontas is sensitively and movingly portrayed  the acting of Q'Orianka Kilcher was very impressive. Her turn to experience a 'New World' also comes in due course, when she travels to England and meets the King and Queen. Again, her wonder of the strangeness of this environment is convincing and moving. The recreation of 17th century Merrie Olde England is well done although oddly brief, particularly given the pace of the story up to this point. Bad points: Well, I like beautiful pictures as much as the next man and make no mistake, this is a beautiful film to watch but I did get restless seeing shots of a bird flying over a river for the umpteenth time. The voices-over as the characters wrestle with their inner demons I found a little tedious also. Yes, I know Malick teaches philosophy but I'm not convinced that this technique adds much to our knowledge of the motivation of the characters and often sounds pretentious. The fact is that the first two-thirds or thereabouts of the movie is too long and would have benefited from having 30 minutes snipped off. As previously stated, the trip to England and the consequent climatic events move at almost too brisk a pace (maybe relating to budget  I assume very expensive to create crowd scenes in a convincing 17th century environment?). The movie then ends rather suddenly. One aspect which is fascinating and I suspect may not be appreciated by all viewers is that the story is true. The essentials concerning the story of Pocahontas, Captain Smith and John Rolfe are largely accurate as best as can be judged from the detailed documented accounts from the period, including the presentation of the 'Indian Princess' to King James and Queen Anne. I greatly admire Malicks work  he paints a large and ambitious canvas. The artistic and cinematic quality of The New World is beyond dispute and it is in literally a different league from most of the trash that passes for cinema currently. Terrence just needs some decent scissors and an editor that can argue the case for steady and consistent pacing and plot development. And maybe a few less squawking birds next time..