Friday 5 February 2010

New World

The other night Mark and I sat down to watch New World, a 2005 film by Terrence Malick (He of The Thin Red Line fame...). We had had it kicking about the house for a long time and the DVD cover made it look like the kind of film I really wouldn't enjoy all that much (a historical battle film) but I was persuaded to watch it eventually and I sure am glad I did!

There are some battles - as is the case when a film centres on the discovery of the Americas - but essentially it is a fictional drama and romance film based on the real life characters of Pocahontas and captain John Smith played by Colin Farrell and Q'Orianka Filcher (who was amazingly only 15 when they made this...). While there isn't much dialogue, the performances are brilliant and it is full of Malick's absolutely beautiful cinematography and dreamy sequences.

What I loved most about it was the reference to mother nature all the way through...amidst bloody battle scenes there were quiet flickers of grass blowing in the breeze or a beautiful sky, a gentle reminder that while man struggles on this earth there is an all encompassing force much more powerful than we will ever be. It's really very inspiring and I recommend it highly...just have some tissues at the ready though, it's quite a moving one.

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