| | |
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, Dolby Digital (5.1); Dolby Digital Stereo, Behind the Scenes Footage, English, Spanish Subtitled
In this romantic epic starring Colin Farrell, Christian Bale and beautiful newcomer Q'orianka Kilcher, acclaimed filmmaker Terrence Malick brings to life the classic true tale of Pocahontas and her relationship with adventurer John Smith set during the turbulent beginnings of America.
"The best historical epic romance since Titanic."" Richard Roeper, Ebert and Roeper
"...a work of breathtaking imagination...in every sense a masterpiece." Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times
"Malick joins worlds old and new by combining harsh realities of human nature with mystical, hungry passion." Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals
"The Best Historical Epic Romance Since Titanic." Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
Editor's Note
In 1607, three ships sailed across the Atlantic to the shores of what became known as Jamestown, Virginia. The arrival of these Europeans changed forever the history of the native people already living peacefully in this fertile country. Writer-director Terrence Malick, who has been waiting 25 years to tell this story, finally gets his chance in the breathtaking epic THE NEW WORLD. Colin Farrell stars as Captain John Smith, a British mutineer facing execution who finds a new purpose--and a dangerous love--in this new land. Smith falls for the young and beautiful Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher, in her first major role), daughter of the Indian chief Powhatan (August Schellenberg), laying the groundwork for trouble ahead. The Indians are both fascinated and frightened of the Europeans, not sure whether they are friend or foe. Suspicion, desire, greed, lust, and power soon combine to make them mortal enemies. Using natural lighting, carefully reconstructed forts (James Fort) and villages (Werowocomoco), realistic weaponry, fabulous makeup and costumes, and even a re-creation of the Algonquin language, Malick has made a majestic historical drama that transports viewers back to early 17th century America. Supplemented by James Horner's (BRAVEHEART, TITANIC) lush, percussion-based score and Emmanuel Lubezki's gorgeous photography--especially of night scenes on the river--THE NEW WORLD is a compelling examination of the very beginning of American history, told by a master filmmaker who has made just three previous, highly regarded films (BADLANDS, DAYS OF HEAVEN, THE THIN RED LINE) since 1973.
| Features | Widescreen Presentation | | Audio: English Dolby Digital (5.1); Dolby Digital Stereo | | Making The New World documentary | | Subtitles: English, Spanish, French |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: New Line |
| Release Date: 1/16/2007 |
| Running Time: 135 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2005 | | Catalog ID: 10253 | | UPC: 00794043102530 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (2006) | | | Emmanuel Lubezki, Nominee, Best Achievement in Cinematography |
|
| | Professional Reviews | Los Angeles Times
"[Malick] neither strives for verisimilitude nor spectacle but for an alchemic blend of both -- life in all its power as it is experienced by sentient, sensitive beings." 12/23/2005 p.E1Entertainment Weekly
"Many have tried, but none can match Malick's touch for shuffling a deck of elegiac images and fanning out the hand to express what speech cannot." -- Grade: A- 01/27/2006 p.62-63 Sight and Sound
"Shot almost entirely in natural light with a moving camera, the film is at once lively and meditative....It mixes carefully researched ethnographic detail with wildly romantic imagining." 02/01/2006 p.44-72 New York Times
"[R]apturously beautiful....The entire meaning of the film is conveyed in a single sublime edit that joins a shot of the grubby settlement as it looks from outside its walls -- and framed inside an open door -- with its mirror image." 02/03/2006 p.E8 Uncut
5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's a brilliantly executed blend of western, historical drama and anthropological reconstruction....Lubezki's luscious camerawork, the stirring use of Wagner and the unusually direct but expressive acting succeed in working their wondrous magic." 03/01/2006 p.126 Premiere
4 stars out of 4 -- "Malick has turned familiar textbook history into vivid historical fiction and brilliant cinema, and THE NEW WORLD is arguably his best film -- accessible, poetic, complex, and profoundly spiritual." 06/01/2006 p.97 Widescreen Review
"[The DVD] exhibits a hazy, slightly desaturated picture that nicely complements the atmospheric tale of exploration and star-crossed lovers....James Horner's beautiful score is mixed well." 05/01/2006 p.67 Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "Malick sweeps us dreamily through the Virginian countryside..." 07/01/2006 p.103 The Hollywood Reporter 9 of 10
Terrence Malick's "The New World" is a visual tone poem orchestrated around the themes of innocence, discovery and loss. The inspiration is the historical legend of the "Indian princess" Pocahontas and English soldier of fortune John Smith. Malick has tried to base much of his vision on the historical record, delving into the writings of explorers and colonialists in early Virginia to create voice-over monologues by Smith and others.
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Malick strives throughout his film to imagine how the two civilizations met and began to speak when they were utterly unknown to one another. We know with four centuries of hindsight all the sad aftermath, but it is crucial to "The New World" that it does not know what history holds. These people regard one another in complete novelty, and at times with a certain humility imposed by nature. The Indians live because they submit to the realities of their land, and the English nearly die because they are ignorant and arrogant. - Roger Ebert
|
| |
|
|
|
