Mother, Have You Sent This Ship For Me?

The New World (5/5 stars)

It is interesting that The New World has been advertised and portrayed as a both a historical epic romance or war picture, when this is really the farthest thing from the truth. The title of the movie really says it on multiple levels; we see the English land in Virginia, which is a given, but that's only the most obvious interpretation. Imagine two groups of people meeting for the first time, learning about completely new people and foreign cultures without even having the ability to speak to one another. Eventually, some of these people are changed by their new experiences, and discover much about these foreign creatures. Even more important, however, through close relationships, they realize much about humankind as a whole, and carve out new pieces to themselves that never existed before.

This is also, of course, a story about the birth of America. How interesting it is to see the people reacting to the situation at hand without knowing what will be coming in the next few hundred years. At one point there is even an argument among people about the intentions of the English; while the end result we now know may be the product of ambitious foreigners who came later, one's argument is hopelessly naive while the other's is hauntingly accurate.

However the movie is really about Pocahontas; the effects of all the events on her after the initial arrival of the English, the two men she becomes involved with, and her eventual journey to England. It is there that we see the same culture shock we saw in the beginning, she is as different to the people of England as the colonists in Virginia were to her.

Although they are about different subjects and are of different genres, I couldn't help but be reminded of 2001: A Space Odyssey multiple times during the movie. Maybe it is the use of classical music, the similar imagery (in particular there are a few shots of trees, especially one towards the end, that along with what is going on at the time remind me of the monolith), or just the general journey theme. However it is also the style. This, like 2001, is more for the patient viewer, willing to just sit back and take in a beautiful film, rather than expect to be excited or surprised throughout.

To say that this movie does not have a lot of action, dialogue, or even plot, is an understatement. Anyone who has seen Terrence Malick's (The Thin Red Line) previous movies should not be surprised. As is his style, we're instead treated to a sequence of visual poetry, vivid imagery accompanied by lyrical narration by the more major characters. Sometimes this is used to enhance the scene we are seeing, sometimes to directly contrast it, but always to great effect either way. Some shots are so breathtakingly beautiful I don't even know how they were planned or even caught on film. We're extremely lucky to see them either way.