The Big Picture
The New World
falsely portrays Pocahontas & John Smith’s romance.
The film brings attention to Powhatan culture through lush visuals.
Terrence Malick’s
The New World
takes creative liberties with historical events.
While his filmography is rather limited considering the scope of his career, Terrence Malick is certainly one of the most influential directors of the past several decades. Often prioritizing dreamlike visuals over narrative cohesion, Malick is drawn to surrealist love stories that celebrate the natural world, and is generally able to convey extreme emotion through his visual sensibilities alone. Although Malick earned a major comeback in the late 1990s when his World War II epic The Thin Red Line marked his return to filmmaking, he solidified his status as one of the industry’s living legends with his gorgeous 2005 historical drama The New World. While it may be one of the most beautiful films ever made, The New World is almost entirely inaccurate in its depiction of Pocahontas and the origin of Jamestown.
The New World
The story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
Run Time 136 minutes
Director Terrence Malick
Release Date December 25, 2005
Actors Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, Wes Studi, August Schellenberg, Q’orianka Kilcher
‘The New World’ Mischaracterizes Pocahontas’ Relationship With James Rolfe
Set in 1607, The New World is an inventive historical romance film that aims to explore the founding of the first American colony through the perspective of the Powhatan tribe. The film centers on Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher), the adventurous young daughter of the tribe’s chief (August Schellenberg), as the arrival of English ships seeking to civilize the area arrive on the shore of present-day Virginia. Although he is sentenced to death by the English ship’s Captain, Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer), the accused mutineer John Smith (Colin Farrell) sees his life spared. Although he is captured by the Powhatan tribe and nearly executed, Smith’s life is saved once more when Pocahontas intervenes on his behalf.
Although The New World features great performances by Farrell and Kilcher, in reality, there was no romantic connection between Pocahontas and Smith. Pocahontas was only a child during Smith’s initial arrival in Jamestown, but the film depicts her as being much older. While it’s impossible to know whether Pocahontas played a role in saving Smith’s life, as historical records about her experiences are rather limited, the film is accurate in its depiction of Smith’s activities in the subsequent years. Following his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay, Smith decided to return to England; he would not reunite with Pocahontas until her trip to Europe in 1616.
Despite a powerful performance by Christian Bale, The New World is not accurate in its depiction of James Rolfe and his marriage to Pocahontas. The film examines how in the aftermath of Smith’s departure, Pocahontas fell into a deep state of depression and heartbreak; however, her attitude changed upon the arrival of Rolfe, another English settler who introduces her to European traditions and culture. The film accurately depicts the state of their relationship, as Pocahontas eventually assimilated to Christianity, married Rolfe, and gave birth to his son, Thomas. However, the notion that their marriage was entirely a loving one is a mischaracterization of history; in reality, the couple faced significant backlash, and Pocahontas was deeply unhappy about being separated from her native tribe and family.
‘The New World’ Analyzes the Origins of Jamestown
Image via New Line Cinema
While it takes significant creative license with the scarce records of Pocahontas’ life, The New World represents a more earnest attempt to accurately depict Powhatan culture than a majority of Hollywood productions. Although films and shows prominently featuring Native American actors and characters are sadly too few and far between, The New World takes the time to depict the beauty of the Powhatan traditions, and how the arrival of white settlers spread disease and violence upon their sacred lands. Malick took the time to show the significance of copper within the tribe’s economics, the significance of face and body paint, and ensured that the dialogue was delivered in a way that best represented the pronunciation of the native language. Although the film does not show the significant scope of the Powhatan civilization, its earnest portrayal of their tribal customs represents a step forward in Hollywood representation.
Although many of the historical dates are scrambled for the sake of avoiding dramatic inertia, The New World reflects the horror wrought on indigenous tribes through the invasion of white settlers. A key plot point revolves around Pocahontas’ surprise that the English settlers refused to leave the area after their initial expedition, showing her naïveté in the situation. Additionally, a dramatic closing sequence detailing Pocahontas’ experiences in England shows how her forced separation from her people erases aspects of her heritage. In addition to making The New Worldone of the more approachable films in Malick’s canon, the attention on Pocahontas’ emotional vulnerability reflects a painful period of American history that rarely receives focus in Hollywood films.
Terrence Malick Takes Liberties With History
The New World was hailed for its visceral beauty, earning Emmanuel Lubezki an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. However, The New World wasn’t the first time that Malick took a liberal approach to a historical legend. Malick’s debut feature Badlands was loosely based on the real crime spree of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate in the late 1950s, but changes the sequence of events and details of their capture and execution. While not necessarily a useful historical tool, Badlands does do a great job at exploring the rise of violence within Middle America in the wake of the Bonnie & Clyde controversy.
Similar to The New World, Malick examined the unspoken heroism of resisting violence in his underrated World War II epic A Hidden Life. Set within the small village of St. Radegund during the rise of the Axis powers, the film centers on the peasant farmer Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), who suffered significant torture after refusing to enlist in the German army and swore an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler. Neither The New World nor A Hidden Life could be characterized as a documentary, but they serve an important role in highlighting historical figures that were not recognized for their impact. The benefit of taking a more free-spirited, lyrical approach to history is that Malick is able to make his important messages accessible to a more significant portion of the audience.
The New World is streaming on Max in the U.S.
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