The New World

Terrence Malick's "The New World" got rid of all the fancy and glamor from the famous tale about Pocahontas, her clan, and the English immigrants at Jamestown. Instead, he reimagined the narrative, depicting how foreign and weird all of these people must have seemed to each other. If the Indians were taken aback by the English, the English were equally taken aback by the melancholic beauty of the new land and its inhabitants. They referred to the Indians as "the naturals," oblivious of the term's true appropriateness.

Malick spent the majority of the film attempting to conceive how these groups met, and how they initiated communication - especially when we consider the fact that both groups are terribly unfamiliar with the other. Of course, many history lessons have taught us the tragic consequences of this fateful encounter, but the characters in “The New World” are not aware of that yet. They view each other with open curiosity, and perhaps a certain modesty of nature as well.

The Indians survive because they accept the blatant truth of their country, whereas the English are nearly killed off due to their ignorance and arrogance.

Release year: 2005

IMDB score: 6.7/10

Metascore: 69/100