The New World
d. Terrence Malick, 2005
Terrence Malick's The New World is probably the most ambitious and daring movie to come out last year (and, in my opinion, the best). In an age of sequels, remakes, and every other movie being the same, it is nice to know that there are directors out there still willing to take a chance with a film like this.
The New World contains such extraodinary beautiful sequences and imagery, it demands to be seen on the big screen. While watching it, I was reminded of the world Herzog was able to create in his Aguirre, the Wrath of God. The film tells the story of the founding of Jamestown colony and, though the name is not mentioned in the movie, Pocahontas. Malick has taken this historical myth and turned it into a breathtaking experience that is at once very intellectual and very emotional. At first, it is deceptively simple. I even had my doubts about it during the first couple of sequences. But once Malick begins layering perspectives and drawing parallels between all the people in the film, it is hard to deny its powers.
I am still overwhelmed by The New World, as it is very complex. But I know that it is one that I will be revisiting in the future, if not in theatres again. Maybe I'll write something more descriptive then.
