I plan to check this one out.
Lil'freeper and me saw this movie today. It was ABSOLUTELY awful. It started slow and then got even slower. While visually interesting the movie droned on and on. Many people walked out before it was over. I would not recommend the movie unfortunately.
As a DP, I went in for the visuals. Did not disappoint. As for the story, it left something to be desired. Mallick isn't an easy director to 'get', and I admit to always 'getting' it with his few films. I'd wait for video, but only if you have a big television.
To its credit, the screenplay (not to be confused with a "plot") was far more true to the historical account than, say, Disney's. It was relatively neutral so far as political correctness goes. So there's that.
Q'Oranka Kilcher was wonderful. I could have done without Farrell. He's too pretty. Even scruffied up for the role, he's too pretty. Actors of note were Christopher Plummer, whose role was too small and Christian Bale, whose role was just about right. The score was intriguing. It was minimal overall, but the main themes sounded very early 20th century - in line with Copeland or Grofe.
Now, the downside. If anyone watches the TV show Monk, they'll know that Captain Stottlemeyer's wife, Karen, is a film student. In one episode, the main characters are forced to watch one of her gawdawful amateur documentaries full of shakey hand-held camera work, funky effects, and over-the-top breathy, syrupy voice-overs. This movie reminded me of that. The New World is a low-budget student-grade production masquerading as an art flick.
There is no cinematography to speak of, no sense of the vastness of the land. There were, however, lots of 'scenery' shots of the wind through the trees accomplished by pointing the camera straight up and watching the leaves rustle. Gee. I could do that. They could have at least rented a helicopter for a day and got some aerial shots - especially during autumn or winter. The passage of time and seasons was extremely confusing due to the choppy editing and the lack of establishing shots. On the topic of editing, it was bad. Very bad. So bad it qualifies for awards at a film festival.
The dialogue was sparse - thank goodness. Most of what was exchanged between Smith and the unamed Indian Princess was lovey-dovey and pointless. Equally pointless was the breathy voice-overs of love poetry by the unamed Indian Princess trying to puzzle out her feelings for Smith and her place in the world. I thought my head was going to explode.
The pacing was abysmal. The scenes that advanced what passed for a plot were rushed. The pointless scenes (frolicking through the fields, splashing through the water, cooing with love, wind rustling through the leaves) went on forever and ever and ever. Big'ol_freeper said to me afterwards, "You know, it started out slow. And then it got slower."
A decent editor could probably assemble a passable film from the current footage. As it was, I couldn't wait for it to end. It's a shame. It could have been a great film. So save your cash, pop some popcorn, and watch The Last of the Mohicans at home instead.