The New World (2005, directed by Terrence Malick)
http://imdb.com/title/tt0402399/
The New World is a film filled with such rapturous beauty that it is almost startling when the events within turn tragic and heartbreaking. The true star of Malick’s films has always been mother Earth, and The New World is certainly no exception. His camera wanders through the forest and across meadows, plaintively gazing upon the scenery; we already know that its splendor is in peril. When John Smith and his company of men arrive in the land they named Virginia in 1607 they are met by this new exquisite landscape, the likes of which they have never seen. What follows is a set of interactions between natives and explorers, intercut with Malick’s photographic ruminations on nature, that is eye-opening and gorgeous.
The gist of the story is well known: the Indian princess Pocahontas saves the life of Englishman John Smith, before marrying John Rolfe and going with him to England, where she eventually died. Malick uses this familiar story as a conduit, probing the nature of exploration and discovery, of love and experience, and of man’s relationship to his surroundings. He smartly avoids romanticizing native life, yet allows us to see this point of view through Smith’s voiceovers. He tells us that the natives are a people of peace who have no jealousy or sense of possession, but Malick shows us that this is just naïveté on Smith’s part, as friendly relations between the settlers and the natives turn violent, with many on both sides killed in brutal clashes.
During both these bursts of violence and the much calmer encounters between Smith and the princess Malick frequently cuts away from his subjects and turns his camera upward to the trees, sky, and sun. If we didn’t already know, the director highlights this importance in their first encounter as Smith teaches her the English words for sun, wind, sky, and water. Nature is constantly surrounding us, but is indifferent to our struggles and suffering, as we love, lose, fight, and maybe even conquer. Malick also uses the love affair between Smith and Pocahontas (which historically never happened) as metaphor for cross-cultural interaction. He stays away from assigning value to each civilization, focusing simply on their differences and how these are coped with.
The New World is about finding and coming to terms with the unknown. Sadly, it is the case that these encounters are often dealt with through fear, as we see how man attempts to hold nature captive and mold it to his will. This is most readily apparent towards the film’s end, when the princess is taken back to England with Rolfe for an audience with the Queen. Her uncle travels with her, and Malick shows him wandering the palatial gardens marveling at the trees and shrubs that have been shaped and molded by the Queen’s gardeners. The contrast between such a controlled natural environment and the land of the new world is striking.
The discovery of those things new to us brings us in contact with an innocence that all too often fails to be preserved. As Pocahontas is brought back to the Old World and walks the streets dressed in traditional English garb she is treated with awe and amazement. Yet, the most touching moments of the film aspire to more than just cultural marvel and focus on human experience that is felt across cultures. When Smith and Pocahontas frolic in the meadows of Virginia, or Pocahontas and her young son do the same in the gardens of an English manor, Malick shows us the immediacy of existence and experience. When Rolfe pens a letter to his son telling of his mother’s death, he reveals her final words: that we all have our time to face death. Malick understands the impermanence of life, and juxtaposes it with nature as it watches over us, dwarfing our significance in this world.
