The New World setting New Bars for Movie Making

Rating: 10/10 (28 August 2012)

The New World is an epic, historical and biographical drama of Pocahontas' (Q'Orianka Kilcher) life, her two worlds, and the people in it. The film is set in 17th Century Virginia, spanning the first meeting between the Algonquin people and the English settlers, till the end of Pocahontas' life. In Terence Malick (The Thin Red Line) style, the film doesn't conform to the pace of conventional Hollywood plots. So if you can't handle deviation from Hollywood, you might want to avoid this film.
However, those who persist will be rewarded. Gliding slowly across the surface of the river, Malick takes his time to draw you into his world of wild, natural and palpable beauty, with his visually meditative style, as you slowly lose your sense of being in a cinema. The authenticity of sight and sound (the set built only a distance from the actual site, the minute details of nature's sounds in the background, and the use of natural lighting only) gives a sense of reality unlike any other film I have seen.
We experience the genuine connection and heartache of Pocahontas and John Smith's forbidden relationship, the loss of a kindred way of life, the displacement of her people, and her uneasy assimilation into, a less carefree, Western society. Here, she adopts a Christian name, learns to see the world through different eyes, and understands a different kind of love, with the stable and abiding John Rolfe (Christian Bale). Through all, she never forgets her roots, and displays the resilience of the character we have all come to know as Pocahontas.
The casting of 14-year-old Q'Orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas was particularly refreshing. The combination of her unconventional beauty, childlike sincerity, and "old-soul" maturity is most unique, and apt to embody the emotional journeys of the young heroine. Colin Farrell, in my opinion, lacked a degree of sincerity in his acting and delivered a passable performance. Christian Bale, in his relatively smaller role as John Rolfe, gives a convincing performance that was understated and natural.
As the character, John Rolfe, describes Pocahontas, "she weaves all things together", so this film weaves the themes of harmony with nature, displacement, commitment, love, loss, hope and life. It leaves audiences feeling expanded with the vastness of all the feelings we are capable of feeling as human beings. I highly recommend it.