Enjoyed the 'making of' doco. more than the film itself!

Rating: 5/10 (26 February 2009)

The latest film by the enigmatic director Terence Malick (The Thin Red Line, Badlands) divided critics and audiences with some declaring it a self-indulgent, plot-less load of twaddle and others labeling it a masterpiece of poetic cinema. The story concerns the early encounters of English explorers with the Native American peoples in Virginia 1607, focusing specifically on the relationship between the adventurer John Smith and Pocahontas The film clocks in at just over three hours and there are large sections that are bereft of dialog but we do get the thoughtful, pondering voice-over of Smith as his relationship with the innocent Pocahontas takes shape. Visually, the film is incredible to behold and I probably enjoyed the 'making of' documentary more than the film itself; the director of photography and production crew all elaborating on the painstaking way they recreated the magnificent sets and costumes. Malick himself is absent from the entire documentary, but do we gain certain insights into his filming technique, such as his preference to shoot the entire film in natural light.