Pure Malick... and it almost worked!

Rating: 6/10 (25 February 2006)

SPOILERS GALORE
I went to see this film knowing full well what I was getting into. I know that Malick's unmistakable style can be both a blessing and a curse; he is able to create absolutely beautiful scenes that have the power to stay in your mind, but his storytelling pace and his penchant for getting distracted with a tiny flower growing at the edge of the road can be infuriating. I was ready to be enchanted, but I also knew there was a high risk of, well, being bored. Still, it's Malick, and I had to see it.
And the thing is, during the first half of the film, I wasn't bored at all, I was enjoying it tremendously. You could recognize Malick in every carefully constructed frame, of course, but I felt the pace was brisk (at least by his standards), things kept happening, and this story, about culture clashes, communication without words, life in the wild, and the assault on an environment, was an absolutely perfect fit for his particular filming style. And the falling in love was beautiful... nobody does intimacy like Malick. It felt like it was going to be a great variation of Romeo & Juliet (it even has the detail of the girl's brother getting killed by the enemy). And I thought I was finally going to thoroughly enjoy a Malick film from start to finish, something I've always wanted to do but have found myself unable to.
But alas, it was not to be. And the problem for me was not in the pace, but in the story. We suddenly enter a second half in which John Smith leaves, and the love story is over. All we're left with is Pocahontas's loneliness, her progressive adaptation to western life, her passionless marriage to Rolfe, and the inexorable growth of Jamestown. Which is all fine, and I suppose also more or less historically accurate, but just not nearly as interesting. The story just loses its drive. And even when Pocahontas learns that her true love is still alive... well, nothing much happens either! So once again I found myself feeling bored, despite my efforts not to, and despite Q'Orianka Kilcher's magnificent performance.
A pity then, because it is a fine film, as you would expect, but it feels to me like an opportunity missed. Still, it has many virtues and eventually I will want to see it again, because I know I always appreciate Malick's films better in a second viewing, when I'm aware of the turns that the story is going to take. And we're probably gonna have to wait 10 years for the next Malick film anyway..!
PS: Oh, and I LOVED James Horner's music. I didn't know where to mention it, but I just had to say it!