Review: The New World (** 1/2)

THE NEW WORLD
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes



RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2



THE NEW WORLD, writer and director Terrence Malick's classical music video,
is certain to induce Zen-like trances in audiences everywhere. The film's
two sexy stars, veteran bad boy actor Colin Farrell and 14-year-old newcomer
Q'Orianka Kilcher, as Captain John Smith and Pocahontas, pose fetchingly for
the camera, appearing to think they are in a glamour magazine fashion shoot.
To be accurate, Pocahontas is never called that but is referred to as the
"princess." Although Pocahontas learns to speak fluent English from Captain
Smith, she manages to speak it with the purity of American newscaster
English. No silly English accents for her.



Viewers buying tickets expecting a movie are likely to be sorely
disappointed and completely baffled and bored by what they see on the
screen. But, if one goes looking instead for a musical experience, THE NEW
WORLD has a good bit more to offer. Starting and ending dramatically with
the stirring strains of Wagner's "Das Rheingold" overture, the movie is a
sublime musical treat. Whether this makes up for its utter failure as a
film is something each viewer will have to weigh. Personally, I loved its
dreamy musical offerings, which also include lots of sounds of nature as the
birds provide their own delightful symphonies, but the rest of the movie was
so weak that it was hard to forgive its significant shortcomings as a motion
picture.



Set in Virginia at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the story tells
of the trials and tribulations of the first white settlers on American soil.
As they live with and battle against the natives, who they refer to as both
the "naturals" and the "savages," these English citizens face a harsh
existence, which even has them stooping to eating one man's hands when he
dies. Amidst this constant hunger and frequent mutinies, Captain Smith goes
on a journey which takes him to the new love of his life, Pocahontas.



Much has been written about how beautiful THE NEW WORLD is, which isn't
really true. Like the equally overrated images of MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, THE
NEW WORLD features beautiful settings captured by mediocre and murky
cinematography. If you want to see a film that combines magnificent
settings with equally stunning photography, one needs look no further than
the next screen, where BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is probably playing.



This long tone poem of a production was fifteen minutes longer still in the
official version of the film submitted to the Academy and shown to some
critics late last year. I haven't seen the longer version, but I have
trouble believing that even more of THE NEW WORLD would be an improvement.



THE NEW WORLD runs a long 2:15. The film is in English and in some unnamed
Native-American language with English subtitles. It is rated PG-13 for
"some intense battle sequences" and would be acceptable for kids around 9
and up.



The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the
Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and
the Camera Cinemas.



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