The New World (PG-13)

Poetic telling of John Smith and Pocahontas myth.

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Common Sense rates it
3
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Movie details
  • Studio: New Line Cinema, New Line Cinema
  • Directed By: Terrence Malick
  • Cast: Christian Bale, Colin Farrell, Q'Orianka Kilcher
  • Running Time: 150 minutes
  • Release Date: 12/23/2005
  • Video/DVD Release Date: 05/09/2006
  • Genre: Drama
  • MPAA Rating: PG-13
  • MPAA Explanation: some intense battle sequences

Parents need to know

Parents need to know that this film is focused on a clash of civilizations, European and Native Indian, beginning in 1607. Depicted largely in metaphorical imagery of woods, fields, rivers, and the settlement called Jamestown, the movie shows the difficulty of intercultural communication. It includes battle scenes (with guns, spears, tomahawks, explosions, and bloody bodies), as well as long, lyrical (non-narrative) passages that might be uninteresting for some younger viewers.

Families can talk about the myth of John Smith and Pocahontas: given that she was probably 10 or 11 when they first met (and she saved him from death ordered by her father, a king), why might stories persist that theirs was a romance, based in mutual love and interests? How does this version differ from the 1995 animated Disney musical, Pocahontas?

Message

Social Behavior:

White invaders corrupt the land and abuse the Native peoples already residing in the "New World."

Consumerism:

Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:

Some smoking and drinking by the Europeans; Native rituals involve hallucinatory images.

Violence

Battle scenes include explosions, spearings, shootings, and beatings.

Sex

Kissing and nuzzling in primitive setting; declarations of love.

Language

Common Sense says

What's the story?

Reviewed by Cynthia Fuchs

Ambitious and gorgeous, Terrence Malick's THE NEW WORLD revisits the myth of the circa-1607 romance between Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell) and Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher), revealing its characters' yearnings in landscapes and voiceovers. The romance occurs as Smith stays for months with the tribe -- whom the Europeans deem "the naturals" -- in an ostensible effort to help his own men survive, to win favor and learn strategies of living with the land rather than pitted against it. But even though Smith extols his hosts' communal values ("They no jealousy, no sense of possession"), he can't absorb them. Instead, he is bedeviled by his ambition, enticed by a new voyage to discover the Indies, leaving behind a lie for Pocahontas, that he's died at sea, so he never need return to her. Though she mourns for her lost love, she agrees to marry the solid, loyal, unexciting John Rolfe (Christian Bale).

Is it any good?

3
Malick’s film is of two minds. On one hand, it refutes this pretty story by making Smith overtly a problem, an arrogant adventurer. On another, it offers poetic images to suggest she continues to love this white invader even after he abandons her.

Impressionistic as his films will be, Malick brings to bear on this saga a fascinated (and at times, fascinating) patience, as his camera wafts over natural woodsy scenes or dense rainfalls. Pocahontas warns John Rolfe, "There are things you don't know, things you could not guess." Ah yes, but her ripe mystery is so captivating that he can't not want her. However Rolfe or Smith or even you comprehend her, Pocahontas' tragedy is just this desire, that has so little to do with her.

Other choices

Badlands
1492: Conquest of Paradise
Pocahontas

500 Nations
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Parents and kids say

All Reviews

There are 5 reviews.

Age 11+
5


Posted on 08/18/07 by MissGC Adult contributor

Age 5+
1


Posted on 05/27/06 by quicksilver369 Adult contributor

Boring Movie

My husband and I like historial dramas however this one is so boring and hard to follow. I did like the visialization of the Jamestown settlement, it did give you an idea of the struggles the settlers had to overcome. We couldn't wait to turn this never ending story off.
Age 8+
3

Posted on 02/20/06 by Anonymous Adult contributor

great historical movie

I like historical movies, so I liked this one.I showed a different picture of what the Jamestown settlement looked like than I imagined. I enjoyed the movie.
3


Posted on 01/25/06 by moviefanatic411 Kid contributor, age 15

Good movie, but way too long

This movie is an excelent movie but 2 1/2 hours of walking around places is too much. It was gory durin battle scence but other than that it was okay. But kids 13 and under will get bored will all the nonsence. If you are learning it in S.S. they may enjoy it, but other than that, 14 and up.
3


Posted on 01/22/06 by Movie Watcher Kid contributor, age 12

not bad for kids but not aimed at them

I saw this movie because I'm studying the English Colonies for school. If your kid is studying Jamestown, go let your kid see it. This movie is a low PG-13, there's some violence but most of the movie really has none. I say if a kid wants to see it they can, but if they don't that's OK, it's not aimed at kids anyways. Bloody bodies? maybe one with a nice blood splot but otherwise none.

Adult Reviews

There are 3 reviews.

Age 11+
5


Posted on 08/18/07 by MissGC Adult contributor

Age 5+
1


Posted on 05/27/06 by quicksilver369 Adult contributor

Boring Movie

My husband and I like historial dramas however this one is so boring and hard to follow. I did like the visialization of the Jamestown settlement, it did give you an idea of the struggles the settlers had to overcome. We couldn't wait to turn this never ending story off.
Age 8+
3

Posted on 02/20/06 by Anonymous Adult contributor

great historical movie

I like historical movies, so I liked this one.I showed a different picture of what the Jamestown settlement looked like than I imagined. I enjoyed the movie.

Kids Reviews

There are 2 reviews.

3


Posted on 01/25/06 by moviefanatic411 Kid contributor, age 15

Good movie, but way too long

This movie is an excelent movie but 2 1/2 hours of walking around places is too much. It was gory durin battle scence but other than that it was okay. But kids 13 and under will get bored will all the nonsence. If you are learning it in S.S. they may enjoy it, but other than that, 14 and up.
3


Posted on 01/22/06 by Movie Watcher Kid contributor, age 12

not bad for kids but not aimed at them

I saw this movie because I'm studying the English Colonies for school. If your kid is studying Jamestown, go let your kid see it. This movie is a low PG-13, there's some violence but most of the movie really has none. I say if a kid wants to see it they can, but if they don't that's OK, it's not aimed at kids anyways. Bloody bodies? maybe one with a nice blood splot but otherwise none.
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