The New World (2005)

Captivating movie !

Absolutely Fantastic

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Definitely an experience, I was reluctant to watch this film because of all of the backlash even knowing that I have a soft spot for Malick's pieces, however I loved its pacing, the daring decisions he usually takes storywise, the bold camera work. And in that, The New World proved to be no different than his other works.For me, the first part of the story was shot in the best way posible, allowing us as audience to feel immerse in every shot, the camera work manages to let us feel included in the characters' points of view. Lubezki showed us the level of craftsmanship he has in himself. Q'orianka Kilcher achieved an engaging and powerful portrayal, now I cannot imagine this film without her. Lastly, the use of music was exquisite as well.Basically, the only issue I have is not with the film itself, but with the source material, I cannot trust the conquistadores' point of view to be accurate and as tender in real life, but we'll never know, but for me is just common sense, colonialism was never respectful, nor gentle, nor even thoughtful in its approach.

I really liked this movie a lot. First off, this is an "art-house movie". Most movies done like this are rarely given a blockbuster size budget to make, but this one did. All the performances are excellent, the cinematography is astounding, and although it may seem a bit slow at times, its perfect. Yes, there probably was some historical inaccuracies. But with all the mystery surrounding the relationship between Capt. Smith and ole' Poky, its a perfect opportunity for an interpreted story. I've seen this movie on two separate occasions, sober...and high. When I was high this movie made me cry...it did.

Call this film what you want, but I call it boring. There's extremely little dialog. There's very little action. It's a very long film. Add those things up and you get boring. I really couldn't tell what was going on for the first half of the movie, then in the second half I realized that nothing was going on so there was nothing to understand. In place of dialog between characters you get bits of narration from different characters as the viewpoint changes from one person to another. You also get long silent scenes of people thinking or holding each other. Don't wait for some strong story line to emerge that pulls you into the movies or attaches you to the characters because that never happens. The morsels of action are a mystery since there's no clear motivation behind them.On the positive side, I will admit that the sets and costumes were well done. The film does pull together some acting talent, though it seems wasted.

I have no idea how this movie has attained such a high IMDb rating, it's truly terrible. Great cinematography, a decent cast, but such a stupid implausible story line stretched out way too long. If I had seen it in a cinema I would have walked out for sure. It's not just that it is historically inaccurate, it's just plain silly. If the "naturals" had wanted the British gone they could have easily killed them off in the first 30 mins. At one point there were supposed to be 38 British left, but count the people in the battle scene, they must be multiplying. And where the do the children come from?Don't waste your time.