The New World [Extended Cut] [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Terrence Malick, the universally acclaimed American filmmaker responsible for the key 1970s features Badlands and Days of Heaven, returns for a rare directorial outing with the sweeping period piece The New World -- an epic dramatization of Pocahontas' relationships with John Smith and John Rolfe. Malick's story opens at the dawn of the 17th century, just prior to the colonization of the United States -- when the North American population consisted of an interconnected series of native tribes. In April 1607, three maritime vessels approach the unfamiliar continent, with 103 sailors on board. As members of the Virginia Company, these adventurers carry a royal charter to mount a society on the edge of the new continent. John Smith (Colin Farrell) sits chained below one of the decks. He is a 27-year-old loose cannon, who, for his persistently rebellious acts, has been sentenced to death by hanging as soon as the ships dock. Nevertheless, Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer) acknowledges Smith's ability to aid with exploration and consents to pardon him as a result. Upon landing, Smith seeks assistance from local Native American tribes with colonization, but runs into the unexpected -- he falls desperately in love with Pocahontas, or "Playful One" (Q'orianka Kilcher), the daughter of the omnipotent Chief Powhatan (August Schellenberg). Needless to say, this does not sit well with Powhatan or the rest of the tribe. Moreover, the oft-bellicose Smith enters a head-to-head conflict with his fellow Britons when he finds his tempestuousness calmed by the tranquility of the new landscape, as the anger and violence of his shipmates concurrently build in the face of the Native Americans. Later, Smith temporarily returns to England; believing that Smith is dead, Pocahontas accepts the hand of plantation owner John Rolfe in marriage (with her father's blessing) and follows Rolfe back to the old country. When Smith returns to America, his intended is nowhere to be seen, and the entire community teeters on the brink of a British-Indian war. Malick shot the production on location in Virginia; it co-stars Jonathan Pryce, John Savage, and David Thewlis. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby TrueHD
• Features:
  • Making the New World: Comprehensive 10-part documentary
  • Theatrical trailers

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 2005 (Emmanuel Lubezki)

• Broadcast Film Critics Association

•     Nominated Best Score - 2005 (James Horner)
•     Nominated Best Young Actress - 2005 (Q'orianka Kilcher)

• Chicago Film Critics Association

•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 2005 (Emmanuel Lubezki)
•     Nominated Most Promising Performer - 2005 (Q'orianka Kilcher)

• National Board of Review

•     Won Breakthrough Performance by an Actress - 2005 (Q'orianka Kilcher)

• National Society of Film Critics

•     Won Best Cinematography (Runner-up) - 2005 (Emmanuel Lubezki)

• Online Film Critics Association

•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 2005 (Emmanuel Lubezki)
•     Nominated Best Score - 2005 (James Horner)
•     Nominated Breakthrough Performer - 2005 (Q'orianka Kilcher)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Colin Farrell - John Smith
       Q'orianka Kilcher - Pocahontas
       Christopher Plummer - Capt. Christopher Newport
       Christian Bale - John Rolfe
       August Schellenberg - Chief Powhatan
       Wes Studi - Opechancanough
       David Thewlis - Capt. Edward Wingfield
       Yorick Van Wageningen - Captain Argall
       Ben Mendelsohn - Ben
       Raoul Trujillo - Tomocomo
       Brian F. O'Byrne - Lewes
       Irene Bedard - Pocahontas' Mother
       John Savage - Savage
       Jamie Harris - Emery
       Alex Rice - Patawomeck's Wife
       Michael Greyeyes - Rupwew
       Kalani Queypo - Parahunt
       Noah Taylor - Selway
       Jonathan Pryce - King James
       Alexandra Malick - Queen Anne

• Director:

  Terrence Malick

• Producer:

  Sarah Green

• Screenwriter:

  Terrence Malick

• Cinematographer:

  Emmanuel Lubezki

• Composer (Music Score):

  James Horner

• Editor:

  Richard Chew, Hank Corwin, Mark Yoshikawa, Saar Klein

• Production Designer:

  Jack Fisk

• Art Director:

  David Crank, Sarah Hauldren

• Associate Producer:

  Billy Weber, Ivan Bess, Sandhya Shardanand

• Executive Producer:

  Rolf Mittweg, Trish Hofmann, Mark Ordesky, Toby Emmerich, Bill Mechanic

• Set Decorator:

  Jim Erickson

• Costume Designer:

  Jacqueline West

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Jose Antonio Garcia, Craig Berkey

• Makeup:

  Paul Engelen

• First Assistant Director:

  Michele Ziegler

• Casting:

  Francine Maisler, Rene Haynes, Kathleen Driscoll-Mohler

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Skip Lievsay

• Second Unit Director:

  Andy Cheng

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Andy Cheng

REVIEW:

• Terrence Malick aims for a kind of psychological realism through poetics in this stupendous reexamination of the Pocahontas myth. From the opening, when a group of frolicking Powhatan natives spy the approaching ships of Captain Newport (Christopher Plummer) from the future Virginia's verdant shores, it's clear that Malick is less interested in historical accuracy than in a ground-level positing of how colonization was emotionally experienced when Jacobean England discovered a "new world." As in most tellings of the story, Pocahontas (Q'orianka Kilcher) and Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell), through their romance, function as agents promoting change and peaceful integration of their respective cultures. But their good intentions are easily complicated; the probing voice-overs reveal them struggling to understand and never coming to terms with their desires. (A real-life romance most likely did not occur.) Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography employs the usual painterly imagery and break-away nature shots of Malick's other films, but in this film these techniques are perhaps best integrated into thematic structure, referencing the idea of "virgin land" and the role physical environment plays in cultural identity. The actors are universally strong, particularly Christian Bale's final-act appearance as the pious John Rolfe. Kilcher, 14 at the time of shooting, gives a mind-bogglingly complex revelatory performance that nearly overwhelms at the unexpected rush of the closing moments. In Malick's notoriously miniscule oeuvre, The New World easily stands as one of his best films. ~ Michael Buening, Rovi