Mr. & Mrs. Smith

There's a moment towards the end of The New World where Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer), the English commander who led the establishment of the Jamestown settlement, declares that "conscience is nuisance". Frightening words that served as one of the rationales for a genocidal slaughter that would continue for the next two hundred years. Yet what is most surprising about Terrence Malick's latest film (his fourth in thirty-two years), is that though it depicts one of the most lethal cases of culture clash, it is ultimately more a tragic love story steeped in the consequences of misunderstanding than it is an indictment of the crimes of our forefathers. Based on the oft-told tale of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas, The New World is far from the Disneyfied treatment of the story, but still more romanticized than, say, William T. Vollmann's historical novel Argall, which reminded us that Pocahontas was around eleven when she met Smith, and that her capture by the English was not the simple exchange for a copper pot that has become part of the popular myth. However, it isn't the historical accuracy (or lack thereof) that matters, for Malick has given us one of the most ambitious and beautiful films of the year. Much like his World War II meditation The Thin Red Line, The New World shares a similar elegiac mood, and also makes heavy use of internal monologue, though at the same time has a conventional enough narrative for those that found his last film too daunting. Colin 'fookin' Farrell is surprisingly good as Capt. Smith, but it is the performance of fifteen year-old Q'orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas that is behind much of the film's power. It's a challenging, demanding role that requires her to go from barefoot free spirit to corset-bound Christian, and it's a remarkable feat considering that this her debut as a lead. The extended sequence that finds Smith living amongst the Powhatan tribe for several months (thanks to a life saving intervention by Pocahontas) manages to show how their relationship moves from innocent flirtation to undying love with only the barest minimum of dialog. It's an ethereal, dreamlike sequence that abruptly comes to an end as Smith returns to Jamestown -- a settlement full of greed, anger, and violence -- the polar opposite of the harmonious conditions Smith experiences with the Powhatan. Malick does a wonderful job at drawing sharp distinctions between the two cultures, thanks in part to Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography. Shot almost entirely without the aid of electric lights, Lubezki recreates a 17th century Virginia full of lush, warm colors that captures the vastness of the landscape, with seemingly endless rivers, fields, and forests. This is in sharp contrast to the London we see in the final act -- all grey, cramped, and orderly. (Seeing Pocahontas and a member of her tribe standing next to a sculpted hedge maze is positively creepy.) Though Lubezki relies a bit too heavily on a few shots -- particularly the low angle, and the John Fordian outside-as-seen-through-the-doorway-of-a-darkened-room -- it's every bit as gorgeous as the Texas of Days of Heaven. Filmbrain saw The New World right on the heels of King Kong, and he couldn't help but notice some odd parallels between the two. Smith, like Kong, arrives in a strange new world in chains, held prisoner in the hull of a ship. Instead of the natives kidnapping a member of the unwelcome visitors, it is the English who offer up one of their own to the tribe, and their purchase of Pocahontas (and her subsequent journey to England) can be seen as a reversal of the Kong story -- for in the end it is wasn't the illness, but rather the beast that killed beauty. Though hardly Malick-lite, The New World, with its doomed-from-the-start love affair, might find greater acceptance among mainstream audiences. Less political than Syriana or Munich, and far richer than the vacuous postcard that is Memoirs of a Geisha, The New World is the true masterpiece this holiday season, and a late entry into Filmbrain's top ten of 2005.

Comments

[Peter Nellhaus]

This is one film I am definitely seeing in a theater. How did things go at the Apple store?

[Jon]

Are we still going to get that recap of the best and worst of 05 panel at Makor on the 11th?

[Michael]

You make such a good case for this film, that I've gone from "I'm planning to see it" to "I must find a way to sneak out of the house on Christmas day when the film opens in L.A. and see it, even if my family wonders where the hell I went."

[Filmbrain]

Micheal -- just tell them you have to run out for more eggnog.

Jon -- both Cinephiliac and The Reeler provided excellent coverage of the Makor panel. The most interesting thing about it was the encounter that Cinephiliac and I had with Armond White after the event (which he details on his site.) The panel itself wasn't the all out brawl I had expected -- fairly civil, with Armond acting as contrarian. Much of the discussion was on films that hadn't opened yet, so the audience felt a bit alienated. No mention of The Squid and The Whale, which is a shame.

[Filmbrain]

Peter -- The Apple store panel went fine, I think. The two excellent bottles of Bordeaux I consumed before the event (not alone) helped me overcome my dreaded fear of speaking before an audience, but at the same time caused me to forget quite a bit of what we spoke about. The party afterwards at the IFC center was a lot of fun, and I got to meet some great people.

Of course the agonizing hangover on Saturday was a bit rough. . .

[phyrephox]

FB, I've love a more detailed report from the Apple event, if you can find it.

Great news about how good THE NEW WORLD is. Have you read the Vollmann book? I just finished and was blown away by his latest, EUROPE CENTRAL, and was wondering if I should try to tackle another.

[Ashley Bowers]

I not impressed wit this movie at all and will probably not even go see it when it comes out in the dvd rental stores.

[Filmbrain]

D-Kaz --

I have read the Vollmann book -- I'm a big fan of his work. Tackle is the right word here -- the man is so prolific, with each novel averaging 600 pages. The entire Seven Dreams series is wonderful, as is The Atlas, The Butterfly Stories, and The Royal Family.

[C.Mason]

Looks like Hoberman is stealing from you, Filmbrain. Check out the title of his (surprisingly negative) review:

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0551,hoberman,71140,20.html

He does squeeze in two other little gems, though: "The 'World' is not Enough" and "Indian Reservations." Oh, Dennis Lim...

[Filmbrain]

Yes...I did catch that. I do hope it was a Voice staffer and not JH himself. It could, however, be coincidence, but I still can't help but wonder. . .

[Richard]

My first visit to your blog ... very nice writing.

Just left NYC for Europe (happy to miss the strike) but long for the city...

I'll be back ... to your blog at least.

Best