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One of the reasons why “The New World” is
such an interesting epic, is the wonderful direction from Terence Malick
manages to invoke a sense of grandeur almost as if he’s not even trying.
Some of the set pieces are so down and gritty that you can never really
notice what Malick has accomplished in terms of scale. Some of the
scenes are so eloquent that they don’t need dialogue. Which is why “The
New World” is mostly based around expressions, and visuals, and awe,
because Malick displays faith in his cast and own abilities. It’s not
only the language barrier that prevents Smith from exchanging with
Pocahontas, but it’s the fact that this relationship between Smith and
Pocahontas is quaint that sappy dialogue is just not wholly necessary.
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But the pace finally picks up
once Bale enters and there’s finally forward progression
into the character of Pocahontas.
Kilcher’s depiction of her makes
her an awfully sympathetic girl who never grew up and came
in touch with her culture. She’s a woman struggling to
remain loyal to her tribe, yet is amazed at Western culture
and its offerings. She’s groomed to defy her own teachings,
and accepts it once Bale’s character is introduced and falls
for her. |
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And who can blame him? Q’Orianka Kilcher is an absolutely
gorgeous creature, so it’s no surprise the men here fall for her.
Hell, I was smitten by the time the second half rolled around. She’s
the most stunning actress to portray this character ever, and she’s
filled with such a sense of attraction that doesn’t entirely lie on
sexual appeal, but more in innocence and the surprises she offers to
the men she falls for. Malick crowds the screen with one constant
beautiful image after another, and serves his audience a visual
delight that’s worth the watch for the open-minded movie-goer.
The story of Pocahontas just isn’t
interesting. It never was, and it never will be. There’s nothing about
this pseudo-historical tale about a young woman who became civilized
that attracts it to me. This was simply a “Tarzan” yarn spun to seem
almost historically accurate when there’s been much debate if the woman
ever actually existed. So why does this story continue to be told? I
can’t solve this mystery. There’s no new angle presented to the
audience, no new exploration of other characters, and the soapy drippy
romance is still present and accounted for. “The New World” just didn’t
live up to the hype that preceded it, and that’s because Malick
anxiously looks for a new method of telling this yarn and pretty much
never achieves his goals in that respect from the get go.
Once again the settlers interrupt the land, fight the Native Americans,
John Smith falls in love with Pocahontas, and we’re right back to square
one. But, after almost an hour of John Smith struggling to remain loyal
to his troops, while discovering the beauty of the Native American
civilization, suddenly Christian Bale enters as another settler who also
falls in love with Kilcher’s character, and we’re given yet another dull
repetitive sequence of the two falling for one another amidst whispering
narration between them, most of which are never as dramatic as Malick
hopes and often come off as hackey devices to make up for lack of
competent editing that could tell us more than the constant narration
could, in the end. “The New World” has the right idea, but in holding
the audiences hands, and the bland story, it never lives up to the
expectations it precedes.
I was disappointed that "The New World" simply wasn't as good as I'd
hoped. In spite of excellent direction, it's still a rather boring, and
often pretentious bit of romance that's neither original or memorable.
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