slow dreamy beauty

Rating: 7/10 (26 July 2016)

It's 1607. John Smith (Colin Farrell) arrives in the new world in chains. Captain Christopher Newport establishes the Jamestown, Virginia settlement. He pardons John Smith and puts him in charge of an expedition. With rising tension, John is taken prisoner by the natives. Pocahontas is the favorite of Chief Powhatan. She saves John's life and he becomes a part of the community. He is released back to the settlement to find starvation and death stalking the remaining settlers. They are saved by Pocahontas. Powhatan banishes her and orders an attack when the English won't leave.
Terrence Malick has mastered the slow dreamy beautiful visual style. He makes the native world an idyllic paradise. The English world is the one with a foreboding menace. The dreamy mood works well for the native civilization. The action also works well with surprisingly scary quick native warriors. The English world feels disjointed. The story is told in snippets. Malick is much more interested in the dreamlike mood. It doesn't have the intensity and urgency of the story which leads me to wonder if a fictional story would be better. In that way, accuracy and specificity would not matter quite as much. Pocahontas in the English world is not as compelling as John Smith in the native world. Q'orianka Kilcher is an intriguing new actress. She's able to maintain interest throughout.