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The New World (film)
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The New World
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Terrence Malick
Produced by
Sarah Green
Terrence Malick
Written by
Terrence Malick
Starring
Colin Farrell
Q'orianka Kilcher
Christopher Plummer
Christian Bale
Music by
James Horner
Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki
Editing by
Richard Chew
Hank Corwin
Saar Klein
Mark Yoshikawa
Distributed by
New Line Cinema
Release date(s)
December 25, 2005 (2005-12-25) (United States)
January 27, 2006 (2006-01-27) (United Kingdom)
Running time
135 minutes 172 minutes (Extended cut)
Country
United Kingdom
United States
Language
English
Powhatan
Budget
$30 million
Box office
$30,536,013[1]
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.
Contents
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Development
3.2 Filming
3.3 Editing and delays
3.4 Soundtrack
4 Historical accuracy
5 Reception
6 Awards and nominations
7 References
8 External links
[edit] 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. 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 her father for an exchange for some captive settlers, but not the stolen weapons and tools. 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.
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."
[edit] Cast
Colin Farrell as Captain John Smith
Q'orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas (Matoaka, Rebecca Rolfe)
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
Ben Mendelsohn as Ben
Raoul Trujillo as Tomocomo
Brian F. O'Byrne as Lewes
Irene Bedard as Pocahontas' Mother (Nonoma)
John Savage as Thomas Savage
Alex Rice as Patawomeck's Wife
Jamie Harris as Emery
Janine Duvitski as Mary
Thomas Clair as Patawomeck (Japazaws)
Michael Greyeyes as Rupwew
Kalani Queypo as Parahunt
Noah Taylor as Selway
Ben Chaplin as Robinson
Eddie Marsan as Eddie
Billy Merasty as Kiskiack
Jonathan Pryce as King James I/VI
Alexandra W.B. Malick as Queen Anne
[edit] Production
[edit] Development
Malick began work on the script for The New World in the late 1970s.[2] 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.[3] Production on The New World was underway by July of that year.[4]
[edit] 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.[5]
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.
Filming wrapped after three and a half months in November 2004.[4]
[edit] 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,[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] While containing new scenes, the content is quite close to the 150 min original version in most other ways.
[edit] 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. Hayley Westenra sings "Listen to the Wind" which was written by Horner and Glen Ballard.
[edit] 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 Captain 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 Samuel Argall while Smith is still in Jamestown. Argall kidnapped her from the Patawomecks in 1613, four years after Smith 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.[9]
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.[10]
[edit] 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."[11] 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.[6]
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 Malicks idyll, after Pocahontas takes a fateful ocean journey, are the finest work of his career, most notably in his portrayal of the princesss death and transfigurationa shattering five-minute sequence that never fails to move."[12]
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 C 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 C one that makes sense, doesn't flag and is exponentially better than the short poem or the long novel ever would have been C that's almost impossible. Malick did it. With images."[13]
[edit] 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) C Leading Young Actress
Nominated
[edit] References
^ The New World (2005). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2010-12-22.
^ David Sterritt (July 2006). "Film, Philosophy and Terrence Malick". Undercurrents. FIPRESCI. http://www.fipresci.org/undercurrent/issue_0206/sterritt_malick.htm. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
^ Tartaglione, Nancy (March 10, 2004). "Malick's Che decision deals morale-denting blow to indie sector". Screen Daily. http://www.screendaily.com/malicks-che-decision-deals-morale-denting-blow-to-indie-sector/4017728.article. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
^ a b "The New World (2005) C Box office/business". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402399/business. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
^ "How a linguist revived 'New World' language", MSNBC
^ a b "Dial 'D' for disaster: The fall of New Line Cinema". The Independent. April 16, 2008. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/dial-d-for-disaster-the-fall-of-new-line-cinema-809545.html. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
^ "The New World", Real Alternative Site
^ The Hollywood News C DVD Review: The New World (2005). Oct 6, 2008.
^ Balvay, Arnaud (2006). L'?pe et la Plume : Amrindiens et soldats des troupes de la marine en Louisiane et au Pays d'en Haut (1683-1763). Qubec: Presses de l'Universit Laval. pp. 179C184. ISBN 2-7637-8390-2.
^ http://www.powhatan.org/pocc.html
^ "New World, The". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/newworld. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
^ The TONY top 50 movies of the decade. Time Out New York. November 26 C December 2, 2009. http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/film/80947/the-tony-top-50-movies-of-the-decade/6.html. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
^ Mick LaSalle, "Top films of the decade", San Francisco Chronicle, 1 January 2010.
[edit] External links
The New World at the Internet Movie Database
The New World at Rotten Tomatoes
The New World at Metacritic
The New World at AllRovi
Terrence Malick's New World, Richard Neer, nonsite.org
v
d
e
Terrence Malick
Feature films
Badlands (1973)
Days of Heaven (1978)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The New World (2005)
The Tree of Life (2011)
Short films
Lanton Mills (1969)
Productions
Endurance (1999)
Happy Times (2000)
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (2000)
The Beautiful Country (2004)
Undertow (2004)
Amazing Grace (2006)
The Unforeseen (2007)
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