The New World: Meh

As one who considers himself a student of history, the most difficult aspect of watching fictionalized history for me is reconciling the plot with the accuracy of events that are portrayed. This constant tension has led me to two immutable conclusions.

1. In spite of how authentic it may seem, filmmakers inevitably always stray from the facts in order to craft a story that they feel will be more creative/entertaining/relevant. I suspect there is a great deal of ego involved here. After all, they do not view themselves as journalists. They are artistes.

2. There is no one else I know that could give a fuck about this. Whether I haughtily snicker at a minute imperfection or vociferously protest an absurdly wrong plot development, I always receive the same blank, sad stare and perhaps some sort of mumbled commiseration. Then some nozzle opines about how tight it was that Scorsese decided to fire cannons into downtown Manhattan while gangs of unlikable thugs beat each others’ brains out over a private blood-feud that coincidentally played out during the largest domestic riot in American history.

I have slowly come to accept that caring at all makes me a huge, dripping, nerdy douche. But every so often, a film comes along that shows why it may not be the wisest cinematic choice to dramatically alter the course of recorded human experience. The New World is one such example.

The main issue with this movie is that there is a massive dissonance between the predominant thematic elements: the Pocahontas-John Smith love story and the trials of native cohabitation/European settlement in North America. I feel that that this could have been an extremely well-done endeavor had it focused purely on the latter and that its potential was sacrificed due to the need to devote reel to the former.

The finished product demonstrates that the crew devoted a lot of effort to research indigenous languages, the implications of contact between the natives and the Jamestown colonists, and period garb. The film’s director, Terrence Malick, did an admirable job of depicting the stark privations and desperation of the settlers in their first trying seasons in Virginia. The cinematography expertly captures the aesthetic beauty of a land untouched by British-style civilization.

The problem, of course, is the purported relationship between John Smith and Pocahontas, which is so overly romanticized that it belongs in an Emily Brontë novel. This is a fable that has no basis in actual reality. One could argue that it handily provides Colin Farrell with a love interest and, if this fictional premise can be accepted, it would have been fine. HOWEVA (and ironically), Malick made the odd choice of honoring history in one significant facet. Take it away, John Smith (from his personal re-telling of the journey published in 1608):

"Powhatan, understanding we detaine certaine Salvages, sent his daughter, a child of tenne years old…"

Whoops.

You may faintly remember the controversy that arose when 14-year old Q'orianka Kilcher (who did a fantastic job, by the way) was selected to star opposite Farrell in intimate scenes (Smash-cut to the 2:30 mark).



This article details how the movie had to be edited in order to "comply with child pornography laws".

Sweet, sweet implied pedophilia.

So, other than being creepy and weird (in the parlance of our times), how did this week's star perform?

Farrell was generally adequate-to-slightly-better-than-adequate as the leader of the fledgling colony, but his greatest failing lies in the fact that roughly 50% of this role is acting without dialogue due to the language barrier with the natives. The part forces him to be expressive without speaking and, in doing so, he conveys the depth of a wood veneer. I submit that this part of his performance may have inspired Seth McFarlane's memorable diatribe.



Overall, I do think that The New World's merits outweigh its detriments. It's a very reluctant Go for the typical movie-viewer, who may find it draws out slowly yet skips around too frequently, and a green light for those having a particular interest in American history.



(This would've been a much better more authentic look for Mr. Farrell.)