The New World (2005 film)

The New World
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Terrence Malick
Written by	Terrence Dickhead
Produced by	Sarah Green Terrence Malick
Starring	Colin Farrell Q'orianka Kilcher Christopher Plummer Christian Bale
Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki
Edited by	Richard Chew Hank Corwin Saar Klein Mark Yoshikawa
Music by	James Horner
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release dates	December 25, 2005 (2005-12-25) (United States) January 27, 2006 (2006-01-27) (United Kingdom)
Running time	150 minutes
Countries	Template:Film UK Template:Film US
Languages	English Powhatan
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$30,536,013

The New World is a 2005 drama/romance film written and directed by Terrence Malick, a historical adventure depicting the founding of the Jamestown, Virginia settlement and inspired by the historical figures Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. It is the fourth feature film written and directed by Malick.

The cast includes Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, August Schellenberg, Wes Studi, David Thewlis, and Yorick van Wageningen. The production team includes director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki, production designer Jack Fisk, costume designer Jacqueline West, and film editor Richard Chew.

The film had an estimated budget of $30 million and was produced by Sarah Green. It received numerous awards and nominations for its cinematography, score, Kilcher's performance, and for overall production.

Plot

The film begins with a young Native American woman offering a prayer to Mother Earth. While never referred to by name, she is understood to be Pocahontas (Q'orianka Kilcher). The woman and others from her tribe witness the arrival of three ships. It is Virginia, 1607, and the ships are part of the Jamestown Expedition, sent by English royal charter to found a colony in the New World. Aboard one of the ships we see a man, later identified as Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell), below decks, in chains. While initially sentenced to death by hanging for his mutinous remarks, once ashore, Smith is pardoned by Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer), the leader of the expedition.

While the prospects for the settlement are initially bright, disease, poor discipline, supply shortages, and tensions with the local Native Americans (whom Newport calls "the naturals") place the expedition in jeopardy. Smith takes a small group of men up river to seek trade while Newport returns to England for supplies. While on this mission, Smith is captured by a group of Native Americans and brought before their Chief Powhatan (August Schellenberg). After being questioned, the captain is nearly executed. He is spared when one of the chief's daughters (the same young woman seen at the opening) intervenes and saves his life.

Living among the Native Americans as a prisoner for an extended period, Smith is treated well and earns the friendship and respect of the tribe. Coming to admire this new way of life, he falls deeply in love with Pocahontas. She is intrigued by the Englishman and his ways. The chief returns Smith to Jamestown with the understanding that the English are to leave the following spring, once their boats have returned. Upon his return, Smith encounters a settlement in turmoil. Pressed into accepting the governorship, he finds the peace he had with the Natives replaced by privation, death, and the difficult responsibilities of his new position. Smith wishes to return to his love but dismisses such action. He thinks of his time among the Native Americans as "a dream" from which he has awoken. Their numbers dwindle throughout the brutal winter, and the settlers are saved only when Pocahontas and a rescue party arrive with food, clothing, and supplies.

As spring arrives, Powhatan realizes the English do not intend to leave. Discovering his daughter's actions, he orders an attack on Jamestown and exiles Pocahontas. Repulsing the attack, the settlers learn of Pocahontas' banishment. They organize a trade so that the young woman can be taken captive and used as leverage to avoid further assaults. When Smith opposes the plan, he is removed as governor. After Pocahontas is brought to Jamestown, she and Smith renew their love affair. The return of Captain Newport adds complications. Newport tells Smith of an offer from the king to lead his own expedition to find passage to the East Indies. Torn between his love and the promise of his career, the captain decides to return to England. Before he departs, he leaves instructions with another settler. He later tells Pocahontas that Smith died in the crossing.

A few years later, Samuel Argall (Yorick van Wageningen) convinces the settlers on a trading expedition up the Potomac River to kidnap Pocahontas from the Patawomecks as a prisoner to negotiate with Chief Powhatan for an exchange for some captive settlers, but not the stolen weapons and tools. She is held in captivity for a year. During that time, she learns the English language and customs.

Devastated, Pocahontas sinks into depression. Continuing to live in Jamestown, she is eventually comforted by a new settler, John Rolfe (Christian Bale). He helps her adapt to the English way of life. She is baptized, receives education, and eventually marries Rolfe and gives birth to a son. She later learns that Captain Smith is still alive. Rolfe and his family are given a chance to travel to England. Arriving in London and sharing an audience with the king and queen, Pocahontas is overwhelmed by the wonders of this "New World." While there, she has a private meeting with Smith.

The reunion is uncomfortable at times. The state of their present lives shows how much they each have changed. Smith admits that he may have made a mistake in choosing his career over his love for Pocahontas. He says that what they experienced in Virginia was not a dream but instead "the only truth." When asked by Pocahontas if he ever found his Indies, he replies, "I may have sailed past them." The two depart, never to meet again. Realizing that Rolfe is the man she thought he was and more, she finally accepts him as her husband and love. Pocahontas and Rolfe make arrangements to return to Virginia. On the outward passage, she falls ill and suddenly dies.

The film ends with images of Pocahontas and her young son playing in the gardens of their English estate. Rolfe, in a voice over, reads a letter, addressed to their son about his deceased mother. In the film's closing moments, Pocahontas says, "Mother, now I know where you live."

Cast

• Colin Farrell as Captain John Smith
• Q'orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas (Matoaka)/ Rebecca
• Christian Bale as John Rolfe
• Christopher Plummer as Captain Christopher Newport
• August Schellenberg as Chief Powhatan (Wahunsonacock)
• Wes Studi as Opechancanough
• David Thewlis as Edward Wingfield
• Yorick van Wageningen as Samuel Argall
• Raoul Trujillo as Tomocomo
• Janine Duvitski as Mary
• Thomas Clair as Patawomeck
• Alex Rice as Patawomeck's Wife
• Michael Greyeyes as Rupwew
• Irene Bedard as Pocahontas' Mother
• Kalani Queypo as Parahunt
• Ben Mendelsohn as Ben
• Noah Taylor as Selway
• Ben Chaplin as Robinson
• Eddie Marsan as Eddie
• John Savage as Savage
• Billy Merasty as Kiskiack
• Jonathan Pryce as King James I
• Alexandra W.B. Malick as Queen Anne

Production

Development

Malick began work on the script for The New World in the late 1970s. After The Thin Red Line, Malick worked on a film about Che Guevara and his failed revolution in Bolivia. When financing had yet to come through, Malick was offered the chance to direct The New World and left the Guevara project in March 2004. Production on The New World was underway by July of that year.

Filming

The film was notable for its emphasis on authenticity, from location, to settings and costumes, to the use of Native American actors and extras who were trained by Blair Rudes, professor of linguistics at UNC-Charlotte, to speak a form of the extinct Powhatan language (a type of Virginian Algonquian) re-created for the film.

It was shot on location at the Chickahominy River, a tributary of the James River not far from the site of the historic events, and other nearby locations. The film crew created reconstructions of the Jamestown settlement and of the Powhatan village, based on archaeological evidence and consultation with historians. They used tools and materials related to the geographical and technological environment of the setting. The film production was so intent on authenticity that it sought historic varieties of Indian corn and tobacco to plant, rather than settle for contemporary strains.

The scenes in England were filmed at Hampton Court Palace and Hatfield House, near London, and outside the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.

The New World is the first studio feature in nine years to be at least partially shot on 65 mm film (for non-visual effect shots). The previous one was Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996), which was filmed entirely in 65 mm.

Editing and delays

The film was originally set to be released in November 2005, but release had to be postponed. Malick was still editing the footage he had shot. He is notorious for editing his films until the last minute, often trimming his films and leaving entire characters out of the final print, as is the case with The Thin Red Line. In early December, a 150-minute version was shown to critics for awards season consideration. It was released for a week from Christmas to New Year's Day in two theaters each in Los Angeles and New York to qualify for the Academy Awards.

For the film's wide release, which began on January 20, 2006, Malick re-edited the film again, cutting it to 135 minutes, but also added footage not seen in the first release. He altered some of the film's extensive voiceovers to clarify the plot. Substantial changes were made to the first half-hour of the picture, seemingly to speed the plot along. This version is the one released on DVD worldwide. The 150-minute version was released only as a Digital Download for buyers of the US theatrical cut DVD and on DVD in Italy as part of Italian distributor Eagle Pictures 2-disc set, containing both the "short" and "long" versions of the film.

A third 172-minute version dubbed "The Extended Cut" was issued by New Line on DVD in October 2008. While containing new scenes, the content is quite close to the 150 min original version in most other ways.

Soundtrack

The effect of Malick's editing also resulted in a partial rejection of James Horner's score. Horner wrote and rewrote his score to scenes that were switched around, massively reedited, or thrown out of the film completely. His score then did not fit the film or did not make chronological sense in the film. For the final version, Malick combined pieces of Horner's music with the prelude to Wagner's Rheingold, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, and other pieces to create the score to the film.

Historical accuracy

Malick's film selectively blends recorded history with popular myth. It broadly follows the documented life of Pocahontas, from her youth in the Powhatan village, to a period spent with the English settlers in Jamestown, her marriage to John Rolfe, her journey to London and early death. But Malick diverges from available evidence in favor of the literary tradition that Pocahontas fell in love with John Smith.

There are other manipulations of documented history. The film depicts Smith's leaving Jamestown on orders from the king; he has settlers tell Pocahontas that he drowned. In reality, Smith left Jamestown in 1609 because of an injury after his powder horn exploded and badly wounded his leg. Pocahontas was later told he died on the trip to England. In the film, Pocahontas is shown being kidnapped by the settlers while Smith is still in Jamestown. She was kidnapped in 1613, four years after he left.

Wingfield is shown being shot by the settlers, but in reality he lived until 1630 and wrote several books on Jamestown. In one scene, Farrell's shoulder and chest are shown with tattoos. This is inaccurate. The practice of tattooing died out in Europe after pagan tribes converted to Christianity. The West did not readopt the practice until after British explorers encountered tattooed Polynesians in the late 18th century. It is likely that the historical Smith had no tattoos, and that no one bothered to cover up Farrell's own tattoos. However had Smith gotten the tattoos from the natives this would have been historically accurate: French soldiers, for example, often bore tattoos of local tribes they were allied with in order to strengthen ties.

Powhatan nation scholars disagree with much of the story. Most notably, "Pocahontas" was a nickname, meaning "the naughty one" or "spoiled child". Her real name was Matoaka.

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews. The film received a "certified fresh" rating of 61% based on 166 reviews from Rotten Tomatoes. Another review aggregator Metacritic gave the film a score of 69 out of 100 indicating "Generally Positive Reviews." Some heaped praise upon the picture for its cinematography and the strength of the performances, while others criticized its slow pacing and unfocused plot. Roger Ebert praised the film, awarding it four (out of four) stars, saying "what distinguishes Malick's film is how firmly he refuses to know more than he should...The events in his film, including the tragic battles between the Indians and the settlers, seem to be happening for the first time.", and called Malick a "visionary." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle hailed the film as "a masterpiece," while numerous others such as Ty Burr of The Boston Globe, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, Richard Corliss of Time, and David Ansen of Newsweek gave the film positive reviews.

On the other hand, Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post faulted the film for being "stately almost to the point of being static", while others such as Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal criticized it as "sluggish," "underdramatized," and "emotionally remote." While its release date was timed for consideration for awards season, it scored only a single Academy Award nomination.

In November 2009, Time Out New York ranked the film as the fourth-best of the decade, saying:

"The particular power of this tone poem comes from how quietly resigned both characters are to their fates, as if they sense a guiding hand in their every action. The final passages of Malick’s idyll, after Pocahontas takes a fateful ocean journey, are the finest work of his career, most notably in his portrayal of the princess’s death and transfiguration—a shattering five-minute sequence that never fails to move."

In January 2010, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle designated it the #1 film of the decade.

"Terence Malick's one-of-a-kind film, about the life of Pocahontas and the dawn of American history, contains some of the best filmmaking imaginable – some of it beyond imagining. I have seen it at least five times and have no idea how Malick knew, when he put it all together, that the movie would even make sense. It's difficult to write a great short poem. It's difficult to write a great long novel. But to write a great long poem that's the size of a great long novel – one that makes sense, doesn't flag and is exponentially better than the short poem or the long novel ever would have been – that's almost impossible. Malick did it. With images."

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Winner/Nominee	Category	Result
2005	National Board of Review	Q'orianka Kilcher	Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actress	Won
	San Diego Film Critics Society Awards	Emmanuel Lubezki	Best Cinematography	Won
	Washington DC Area Film Critics Association	Q'orianka Kilcher	Best Breakthrough Performance	Nominated
	ALMA Awards	Q'orianka Kilcher	Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	Won
	Academy Awards	Emmanuel Lubezki	Best Achievement in Cinematography	Nominated
	Broadcast Film Critics Association	James Horner	Best Composer	Nominated
		Q'orianka Kilcher	Best Young Actress	Nominated
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Emmanuel Lubezki	Best Achievement in Cinematography	Nominated
		Q'orianka Kilcher	Most Promising Performer	Nominated
	Critics Choice Award	Q'orianka Kilcher	Best Young Actress	Nominated
	Mar del Plata Film Festival	Emmanuel Lubezki	Kodak Award	Won
		Terrence Malick	Best Film	Nominated
	Online Film Critics Society Awards	Q'orianka Kilcher	Best Breakthrough Performance	Won
		Emmanuel Lubezki	Best Cinematography	Nominated
		James Horner	Best Original Score	Nominated
	Young Artist Awards	Q'orianka Kilcher	Best Performance in a Feature Film (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actress	Nominated

External links

• Official website
• The New World at IMDb
• The New World at Rotten Tomatoes
• The New World at Metacritic
• The New World at AllMovie
• Terrence Malick's New World, Richard Neer, nonsite.org