A Bit of a Muddle

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2006)

I went into this film with high hopes. I was deeply impressed with the visual poetry of "The Thin Red Line". I had looked forward to Mr. Malik's latest outing. Oooops! "The New World" is a well-intentioned mess that I don't think is entirely Mr. Malik's fault.
Apparently, the limited-release version screened before Christmas had to be hustled back to the editing room prior to Christmas for a little "fine tuning". Hmmmmm....the wide release date was supposed to be before Christmas. Awards qualifications, and all that. But, the "improved" version is relegated to the cinematic January graveyard. I guess it's now in the theatres just to advertise the DVD release, which, I'll wager, will be sometime in February or March! Many other reviewers of this film have commented on "The New World"'s pace. Whether it is "slow moving" or "fast paced". Neither concept is necessarily pejoritive: "2001" is "slow moving", and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is "fast paced". Both are classics. "Heaven's Gate" is slow moving and "Pearl Harbour" is "fast paced". Both are bombs! Exactly what happens between opening and closing credits determines the quality of the film.
With "The New World", nothing much happens between the credits, and what does, we don't care about. I do want to see the "longer" version, though, because I suspect that more character development occurred. At least, I hope so.
Rumour has it that Mr. Malik had his priciple actors improvise many of their scenes. This works for the 14 year old Q'orianka Kilcher, who had a career as a mime artist prior to her debut in this film. She is the centre of the film, the metaphor for everything that occurs around her. Colin Farrell, Christian Bale are not mime actors. Forced to tell their story (and develop their characters) by facial expressions, and vignette editing leaves the audience with a profound inability to empathize with the characters or the story. Except for, maybe, Q'uorianka.
As I said, Kilcher is the centre of the story. However, she too is hobbled by the vignettes that seek to stitch her life together from first contact to her final fate in England, but these events have very little narrative follow through, hence the use of voice-overs, and pretentious poetry. It worked in "Thin Red Line"; it does not here. It's just a little too obscure.
Apparently, Q'uorianka's more steamy scenes with Mr. Farrell were cut due to her age (14 at time of filming). While the "Rebecca" character's story is told over what appears to be several years, every shot of Q'uorianka reminds the viewer that we are watching is still a child. A very talented one, though. As historically accurate as casting a young woman of this age may have been, if the film-makers (New Line, are you listening?) can't let an actress explore and portray all aspects of the character's reality, why cast a girl this young in the first place? What's left is rather sterile, though I'm sure it won't offend the anti-pedophile set! Couldn't you have found a somewhat older actress who could pull off the younger "Rebecca" and then age with the character without offending modern-day sensibilities? I make these comments not because I am not impressed with what is left of Q'uorianka on the screen, because I am. I gripe and groan because it is obvious that this film will quite quickly sink into oblivion in a few weeks. If you are going to make a film that nobody will see, what's the point? A little less muddling would have created a film that pays homage to the cultures of Native Americans (which we don't see enough of) in an accessible mainstream way. Not this time, Terry.