|
Directed by: Terrence Malick Starring: Colin Farrell, Q'Orianka Kilcher, Christian Bale I saw this film by accident last night at the ArcLight - the screening of Munich that I had intended to watch was sold out. In hope of killing time until the next screening, I could choose to watch Memoirs of a Geisha and The New World. I chose the latter, and to my dismay I was met with a film demanding extreme patience. The New World explores not so much the land Captain Newport (Christopher Plummer) and his crew discover, but the Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher) legend. Shortly after arriving from England in modern Virginia, Cpt. John Smith (Colin Farrell) is tasked with starting a trade relationship with the natives to tide the colony over until Newport can sail to England and back with resupplies. During his quest, he is ambushed and brought to the tribal king, where he is nearly killed but spared by the pleas of Pocahontas, the king's favored daughter. After this initial half hour or so comes (and admittedly this is a gross simplification) an arduous two-hour session of Smith and Pocahontas flirting, internal monologues, and shots of trees. Smith and Pocahontas gradually bond (gradually being the operative word). (More plot details) After Pocahontas is expelled from her tribe for aiding Smith's colony and after Smith is reassigned to chart a route to the Indies, we also witness Pocahontas' long struggle to cope with the loss of her love interest and her tribal roots. In my view, the film was plagued by exceedingly long sequences that were either redundant or simply not interesting. There was an endless parade of shots of water flowing, flocks of birds, and the sun peering through the treetops. Granted, some of these moments were effective. The opening sequence where the colonists arrive in the New World is of note. It's shown primarily from the Natives' perspective, and the shots of the ships sprawled across the waters, with Wagner's Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla blaring in the soundtrack, was truly spectacular and touched off the film with an epic quality. Yet, such moments were few and far between. More common were deeply introspective scenes, so "deep" as to require voiceover narrating characters' thoughts - thoughts that were already conveyed by the actors on-screen. And what they did convey was varying stages of melancholy. Farrel dons a permanent pout, but there is little insight - unless I missed it - into why he is so troubled. The film was also very erratic. Often, short shots of a random native making some gesture or a stalk of wheat fluttering in the wind would punctuate an otherwise normal scene. Naturally, this technique can be effective in contributing to a scene (Natural Born Killers comes to mind), but it was used haphazardously in this film. Certain sequences made absolutely no sense to me - day and night scenes that were seemingly occuring simultaneously would be interspersed, one character would seem to alternate between being dead and alive. I had absolutely no trouble following Syriana, but I had a lot of trouble deciphering what was going on in this film at times. The soundtrack was appropriate but also bordered on repetitive. The Wagner crescendo for the opening scene was brilliant, but its use twice more in the remainder of the film diluted its impact. A movement of Mozart's 23rd piano concerto became a sort of love theme for Pocahontas and Smith, and is always wonderful to listen to. The original score by James Horner was typical self-plagiarized trash that Horner is known for and consisted of rehashes of ideas from his scores for Apollo 13 and Enemy at the Gates, which in themselves were rehashes of his previous work (not to mention the fact that the latter features a shameless copy of Williams' main theme for Schindler's List, but I digress). This film will probably appeal to Terrence Malick fans, as I understand the style he employed is his trademark. Unfortunately, I was not receptive to it. RATING: 2 PROS: Beautifully-shot CONS: Boring ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402399/
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2005 14:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 07:27 |
|
|
The best film I've seen in the last few years, as it's from one of the only american filmmakers who can deliver a film that's not just pretending to be profound. This definitely falls into the category of art rather than entertainment so don't go expecting to be "entertained," go if you have a desire to be immersed in and engaged with every detail of an artistic universe. Malick's films are the sort you may not even LIKE the first time you see them, but if you let them into your head they can stick with you forever. If you enjoyed any of his previous films (Badlands, Days of Heaven, and The Thin Red Line) you will assuredly enjoy this one, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the best of the lot. I would also particularly recommend it to fans of Werner Herzog (Aguirre the Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, and recently the incredible Grizzly Man). Although it is a simple story (albeit with some really superb acting), it's the atmosphere and the series of images it gives you of the wilderness, indian village, english settlement, and finally england itself that should stay with you a very long time. Do not be fooled into thinking it is some kind of "indians = good, western civilization = bad" morality tale, it is far more complex than that, but it does not pull any punches aesthetically. 5.5/5
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2006 23:46
|
|
