Barnes & Noble

Writer-director Terrence Malick has made only four feature films in a 30-plus-year career -- The New World arrived eight years after his previous film, The Thin Red Line -- each unique and noteworthy. As anyone who's seen his extraordinary 1978 film, Days of Heaven, knows, Malick is a painterly crafter of images. In this respect he is, perhaps, the most sensual American filmmaker working today, and The New World represents him in peak form. Rather than focus on the 17th-century Pocahontas legend -- in which the Native American princess saves colonist John Smith from death at the hands of her father and fellow tribesmen -- Malick recounts the (generally) true story of the young girl's subsequent marriage to an English gentleman, her education, and her journey to Britain. An unusually restrained and dignified Colin Farrell plays Smith, who loves Pocahontas (although she is never referred to as such) but leaves her heartbroken to find his destiny elsewhere. Christian Bale is John Rolfe, a gentleman entranced by the native girl. Most captivating of all is the 15-year-old Q'Orianka Kilcher, an exotic beauty who turns in one of the most astonishing performances ever seen from a film newcomer. She seems practically ethereal, a word that would also apply to the director's visuals; Malick's colorful vistas of the lush, verdant, and still pristine North American countryside are as much a part of the story as Pocahontas herself. The New World unfolds at a slow, stately pace, paying little heed to the demands of typical Hollywood product. This meditative approach allows the story's emotional power, and the setting's grandeur, to accumulate with the passage of time and lend the film a truly epic quality. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Terrence Malick, the universally acclaimed American filmmaker responsible for the key 1970s features Badlands and Days of Heaven, returns for a rare directorial outing with the sweeping period piece The New World -- an epic dramatization of Pocahontas' relationships with John Smith and John Rolfe. Malick's story opens at the dawn of the 17th century, just prior to the colonization of the United States -- when the North American population consisted of an interconnected series of native tribes. In April 1607, three maritime vessels approach the unfamiliar continent, with 103 sailors on board. As members of the Virginia Company, these adventurers carry a royal charter to mount a society on the edge of the new continent. John Smith (Colin Farrell) sits chained below one of the decks. He is a 27-year-old loose cannon, who, for his persistently rebellious acts, has been sentenced to death by hanging as soon as the ships dock. Nevertheless, Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer) acknowledges Smith's ability to aid with exploration and consents to pardon him as a result. Upon landing, Smith seeks assistance from local Native American tribes with colonization, but runs into the unexpected -- he falls desperately in love with Pocahontas, or "Playful One" (Q'orianka Kilcher), the daughter of the omnipotent Chief Powhatan (August Schellenberg). Needless to say, this does not sit well with Powhatan or the rest of the tribe. Moreover, the oft-bellicose Smith enters a head-to-head conflict with his fellow Britons when he finds his tempestuousness calmed by the tranquility of the new landscape, as the anger and violence of his shipmates concurrently build in the face of the Native Americans. Later, Smith temporarily returns to England; believing that Smith is dead, Pocahontas accepts the hand of plantation owner John Rolfe in marriage (with her father's blessing) and follows Rolfe back to the old country. When Smith returns to America, his intended is nowhere to be seen, and the entire community teeters on the brink of a British-Indian war. Malick shot the production on location in Virginia; it co-stars Jonathan Pryce, John Savage, and David Thewlis. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Product Details

• UPC: 794043102530
• Source: NEW LINE HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 2:15:00
• Sales Rank: 9,012

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