The New World (2005)

I honestly have no real idea how to start this review off, so…yeah. I just did. Meta. Anyway, me going back and covering all five films of director/writer Terrence Malick has found its second victim in The New World, the epic filmmaker’s fourth flick. Starring Colin Farrell as John Smith, the film chronicles the time when John Smith and others crossed the oceans between Europe and America in 1607 Virginia. While being held prisoner in a Native American tribe, John falls deeply in love with a girl by the name (unspoken in the film) of Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher, who does a wonderful job, just never ask me to pronounce her name. Never). The film, over the course of two-and-a-half hours, covers their relationship, along with the insertion of minor characters played by Christian Bale and Christopher Plummer, but they honestly do not matter. In all truth, John Smith doesn’t matter. The film is about the journey of Pocahontas, who finds people that invade her land, tries to make peace with these people, and is accepted and betrayed by these people. And on that pure aspect, it’s not a bad film. It’s decently unfocused and way too long, but the film is good. Definitely not on par with The Tree of Life, and I can’t vouch for Terrence Malick’s other work, but as a film on an epic scale, it’s very good. The cinematography is amazing, Kilcher should have been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress, she is purely amazing, but the writing and directing just seem a little off-focus. The entire film is just off-focus. But as long as it’s in the ball park, we’re good.
7.5/10