Really Enjoyed

Rating: 8/10 (3 September 2018)

I'm watching The New World because I'm taking a history through film class in school. This was one of the movies we watched together as a class. The New World is a story about Pocahontas and the settlers in Jamestown. It focuses a lot on John Smith's and John Rolfe's relationship with Pocahontas. The film follows them through when they first met and all the trials and conflicts they had to face. We watch the settlers land on the American soil and their very first interactions with the Natives, or in this film, the "Naturals". It shows us John Smith's journey as he lives with the Naturals and learns their ways, then it shows us all his trials once he returns and is elected the new president of Jamestown. The film displays both the settlers views and the Naturals views to the new changes of America, it helps us get a perspective of both sides, the differences and similarities and their opinions of each other.
The filming in this movie was really high quality. The filmmaker added different angles than what we are used to but it all flowed together very well. There was a lot of great editing and very good definition and it was obvious the film was made fairly recently. There was also a quite recognizable actor, Christian Bale, who we know to be quite famous in this era.
Most people are educated on the story of Pocahontas and we know that some of the events in this story didn't quite line up with things we've heard before. For example we know that Pocahontas never sees John Smith again once he leaves. We also know that Pocahontas is a lot younger than she is portrayed in most of the films about her. Aside from the Disney version of Pocahontas, I've never seen a film about her or about Jamestown. However, I did get to visit Virginia this last summer and on our way to Williamsburg we got to see the exact spot the settlers landed and we were able to drive through the area Pocahontas and her tribe once lived.
A few things I really liked about this film is that John Smith wasn't portrayed by the typical blonde guy, giving him darker hair made him seem tougher and gave him an image as if he's been through a lot. The filming used while displaying the Naturals normal ways was so serene and peaceful, I really enjoyed those certain shots, especially the ones shot of Pocahontas in the fields from time to time. There wasn't a whole lot of dialog in this film I noticed, but it is still fairly easy to follow the storyline and that was something I particularly enjoyed. One thing I didn't like, however, was the way they made it seem as if Pocahontas didn't really love John Rolfe and had no desire to marry him. It seemed as if she was just marrying him to please him, this may actually be the case but I would rather have her love the man she is marrying and sharing a child with.
This film was one I really enjoyed. I love history and watching it portrayed in a way such as this film makes it even more interesting because it shows us the perspective that other people have of the story. Although I liked it, I probably would not watch it again. It was quite long and not something that would be entertaining more than once. However, I would like to watch more films made by this director, he seems to have a good taste in what people like and there was a lot of aesthetic appeal to it.