Review by Marty Mapes

Malick's style is not so much about storytelling as about mood-setting. One could say that The New World is "about" Pocahontas. It does tell her story from the arrival of Captain John Smith through her death in England. But there is much more to the movie than its events.

In the film's first movement, Malick tells us about John Smith (Colin Farrell), an Englishman who has fallen out of favor with his shipmates. Smith is sent off to scout and is captured by Pocahontas' tribe. She sees his inner strength, the immanent spark in him, and saves him from execution at the hands of her father. This also begins the film's first love story. The film's final movement shows Pocahontas' relationship with John Rolfe (Christian Bale), and their brief journey to England.

Episodic movies are always problematical. But Malick finds a way to smooth out the rough edges. He lumps these small episodes together into larger blocks with the same tone, feeling, and sound. The New World doesn't feel like a jumble of scenes stuck jaggedly together; it feels like three broad, smooth movements, each with its own overarching style and tone, even when Malick jumps days or weeks at a time.

The New World is not about the storytelling; it's a tone poem. It may have traditional biography as its base, but the movie is more about creating a space for your emotions, guided by your eyes and ears, to resonate in.

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