Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

The New World

09:47 / 24.12.05

I can't possibly elucidate how deeply affected and changed I was by The Thin Red Line when I saw it at eighteen. Ever since then I checked Terrence Malick's imdb page to see if there wa something anounced. A couple of years ago he was to make Che and New World. The former was later handed to Soderbergh because of scheduling conflicts with New World.
New World is historical fiction about the John Smith's relationship with Pocahontas and the english settlers in the seventeenth century.
The movie opens to a few screens (in NY/LA probably) on christmas and will be released widely on the 13th of January. So far the reviews are mixed with negative ones being similar to those that TRL received back in '98.

Film website is here.

So who else is looking forward to it and anbody planning to see sooner than next month?

12:56 / 24.12.05

Apparently, the cut for reviewers is going to be different than the cut for audiences. See here. Either way, I'm fucking excited. Malick is awesome. He has serious huevos. My only complaint about this movie so far is Colin Farrell and the fact that Christian Bale (so hot) isn't in the movie until the third act.

I just recently bought The Thin Red Line, even though I've seen it before. He's such a great director. So bold. I love how he only uses natural light.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

19:32 / 24.12.05

I look forward to seeing it myself despite Colin Farrell. If I'm not mistaken, the young lady who plays Pocahontas is rather young, isn't she? Add Farrell to the mix as the love interest and it becomes vaguely creepy.

No Christian Bale to the third act? Shame.

03:01 / 25.12.05

Not just young - 14 years old. Yoiks.

The way I hear it, the movie completely switches gears in the third act, doing away with Colin and bringing in Batman - I mean Patrick Bateman - I mean Christian Bale.

One reviewer compared it to Heat in that Bale and Farrell share not a single moment of film.

Phex: Dorset Doom

06:43 / 25.12.05

One reviewer who hasn't seen Heat obviously: Bobby D and Pacino have coffee together in Heat. He probably means Godfather 2.

22:19 / 26.12.05

Probably. But one could argue that in Heat, the two do not appear together on frame until the end, and even then it's dark and hazy.

Anybody seen Malick's other stuff? I have not.

23:21 / 26.12.05

I have.

I'm in a minority but my favourite has to be Thin Red Line. While I like things about Badlands and Days of Heaven, they didn't actually move me the way Thin Red Line did. Days of Heaven isn't quite my cup of tea because despite some sublime biblical scenes and gorgeous shots, the plot reminds me too much of a terrible bollywood films I've been forced into group-watching. You get the feeling the imagery is painted rather than shot and the meticulous planning and detail that went into shooting Days of Heaven is quite remarkable. I do recommend watching Badlands which is a unique film in the "homocidal lovers on the run" genre based on the Starkweather-Fugate killings in the 50s. There are things and scenes I liked about Badlands but I disappointed most because I went in with the wrong set of expectations. Mainly that it didnt have the overwhelming beauty and incomparable stirring power of Thin Red Line. It's a very different kind of film and some day I'll watch it again to have a final opinion on it when I've forgottena a little more about it.
Days of Heaven: If you're not turned off by such stories is necessary viewing for just about anyone. Thin Red Line seemed to split audiences into either passionately hating it, calling it five hours long and pretentious while others simply view at as the best kind of art.

15:14 / 27.12.05

Yeah, I had sworn off war films for years, then gave in and saw Thin Red Line. Absolutely brilliant. I look forward to this. Especially if it casts Smith in a more realistic light than previous films.

04:15 / 16.01.06

Has anybody else seen this (Or been able to see it? not sure how limited the release is at the moment)?

I don't want to post anything people might consider spoilers though it's not really the sort of movie that can be spoiled -- Malick fans can rest assured that all the gorgeous cinematography, sensitive and intelligent handling of characters, and focus on luxurious pacing of character development that you hope for is there.

17:06 / 16.01.06

I saw it a couple of weeks ago, back when it was in the original 150 minute form, rather than the 135 minute version that's getting released next week. I'd consider it a masterpiece, the film is unbelievably beautiful, and, particularly in the scenes with Smith and Pocohontas, every single image is full of feeling and significance. I see no need to cut anything out, it was definitely a long film, but it never dragged, it was more that it completely sucked you into its world.

The cool thing about the movie was, especially at the beginning, it felt more like an alien invasion story than a period piece. The two cultures were so completely different, it quickly becomes apparent why they will not be able to co-exist.

Kilcher was phenomenal, very expressive, and she goes through quite a journey over the course of the film. On the whole, I think it's Malick's best.

21:23 / 16.01.06

It was supposed to open on the 13th around here and I was up to see it until I discovered it had been delayed till the 20th. Am very very annoyed at the recut and suspect we won't be seeing the 150 minute version the same way we never saw the original thin red line cut. malick says the film will be better for it but I doubt it.

22:08 / 16.01.06

I heard a rumour that the word "Pocohontas" is not even uttered. If this is true, what do the characters call this girl?

22:55 / 16.01.06

Yup, that's true. They usually refer to her as the Chief's daughter, and once she meets up with Christian Bale, she gets renamed Rebecca. Most of the Indian's dialogue isn't subtitled, so there's not that much occasion to actually refer to her by name.

The resistable rise of Reidcourchie

09:12 / 17.01.06

I'm quite looking forward to this. How's Farrell in the film? I've always had the sneaking suspicion that he can act but chooses not to (and picks crap films).

00:55 / 22.01.06

Just got back. Need to think it over and will see it again. Love triangles and period pieces are a little stiff and tend to leave me cold. That said I could watch Terrence Malick filming five hours of wilderness and the camera looking up at the sky as if staring into the eyes of god. It's just heartbreakingly beautiful to watch, the content however is something that isn't for me. I'm going to see it again just for the ending. Maybe it's the fact I knew twenty minutes of footage was cut I can't help but feel the film is castrated for an audience who can't sit in their chairs for three hours.

This isn't something anyone should wait to see on dvd.

02:52 / 22.01.06

That's interesting, because period pieces usually aren't my thing either, but this didn't feel like a period piece. It felt almost like a sci-fi movie, in the way that it was this completely unexplored, uncharted world. Particularly in the parts with Smith and Poco after she saves him, it was like a perfect edenic utopia that was gradually sullied over the course of the film.

But, that's from the longer version. In that version, there was a love triangle, but it was never really played in a traditional love triangle way, the whole thing was much more atmospheric and drifting, the narrative was secondary. I'm not sure how much was changed for the new version though, I have heard that it was altered to be more narratively coherent. But, maybe it was just a different personal reaction. I'm hoping to get to the new version pretty soon, so I'll be able to do a better comparison of how the two differ.