The New World is excellent

Did it really happen that way? Did the Native Americans really move that way? What exactly was the kind of relationship that Princess Pocahontas had with Captain John Smith? Was the Native American tribe's way of living so "pure" in real life, as Smith observed in the movie? I do not know. But, if you think you will like a deeply involving, meditative, beautifully shot, well acted, well scored movie that gently rolls by, and is somewhat of a hallucinatory experience, then go see Terrence Malik's The New World. This movie is the first candidate for my top ten list for this year. I am going to have to see it again. It's not indie/DIY, but it is most excellent. Swelling orchestral music, epic shots of nature, a beautiful girl/woman, a confused man and a noble man, it's all there. Some thought's I had during the movie:
* man, America didn't always exist as I know it, looks like a lot of work was done to bring it to the current level
* was it possible for those two civilizations to meet & work well together, instead of how it went down?
* that's the best cinematic representation of the reason for Thanksgiving I've ever seen
* I guess people worked a lot back then, hung out - took long walks with each other, what would it be like to not have movies, DVDs, music, the internet, blogs, e-mail, cell phones, etc? it may be cool for a while
* what is this world?
* those people in history books were actual, fragile people with emotions, creatures who could bleed & break, they did not know the future the way I know the past, the way I know their stories
* dude, this movie is making me high
* that actress is beautiful
* how come I do not see a lot of Native Americans in DC?
* what if I used Malik's filmmaking style to tell a very contemporary story - a romantic-drama thing? is anyone doing that at the moment? maybe Amir Motlagh's new film will resemble this idea a little. Amir's got some atmospheric, beautiful stuff going on in his movies.

OK, that's enough for now. Go see The New World.

Comments

Yeah man, what's up w/ poverty in America - w/ suffering due to material, behaviorial, emotional, philosophical need? F***, we should be beyond this point, due to the vast resources at our command. Let's start an indie filmmaker lead anti-poverty program to eliminate poverty in America. And while we are doing it here we'll also start doing it in the rest of the world. I am so over poverty man. The track record, experience for creating economically healthy communities & individuals are plentiful, let's help people put it to use.

Oh, re: The New World, let me know if you come across any reviews done by Native American critics/reviewers. I looked for some a couple of nights ago, did not find any.

I think self-destructive behavior comes out of hopelessness. I bet right now there are lots of people working on trying to reverse the decline of quality of life in reservations that u talked about. Will need to find out more.