HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT: Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher), wistfully gazes into space; perhaps trying to imagine what her life as Mrs John Smith will be like, not realizing that he will soon return to England without her.
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HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT: Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher), wistfully gazes into space; perhaps trying to imagine what her life as Mrs John Smith will be like, not realizing that he will soon return to England without her. |
Are you familiar with the legend of Pocahontas? If so, you might not recognize the imaginative version of the tale told in The New World. This novel re-interpretation was both written and directed by Terrence Malick, a two-time Oscar-nominee for The Thin Red Line.
Historians generally concur that Pocahontas was born Matoaka (1595-1617), but was given the nickname Pocahontas (Algonquin for "little wanton") as a child because of her playful nature. She was the daughter of Powhatan, chief of the tribe which resided in the Tidewater region of Virginia when the English first arrived in May of 1607.
In December of that year, Captain John Smith (1579-1631) was leading an expedition when he was captured by Native Americans and almost executed. However, he was saved thanks to the intervention of Pocahontas, who was 12-years-old. She was subsequently welcomed as a frequent guest at the British colony, which became her second home where she made friends with other children.
As relations worsened between the British and Native Americans, the young girl came to play a critical role in the survival of the early settlement because she supplied its inhabitants with sufficient provisions to stave off starvation. In 1609, Smith was badly wounded in a gunpowder explosion, and returned to England for medical treatment.
In 1610 Pocahontas married a fellow native (who is not mentioned in the film) who was kidnapped by the colonists. A few years later, she converted to Christianity, was baptized Rebecca, and married John Rolfe (1585-1622), a very religious, tobacco farmer. She had a child with her second husband, and the family was summoned to London for an audience with King James I in 1616. Pocahontas fell ill during the return trip and succumbed to pneumonia before the ship arrived in Virginia.
Those are the generally accepteded factual details of Pocahontas' life. By contrast, Terrence Malick reweaves the story into a romanticized account. The New World features the highly-stylized cinematography seen in The Thin Red Line which made the battle of Guadalcanal look like indescribable scenes of graphic bloodletting periodically punctuated by surreal, disembodied reflections on the insanity of it all.
This film features a similar absence of structure and its heroine will upset those viewers interested in historical accuracy. Pocahontas (Q'Oirianka Kilcher) is not a carefree child playing with children, but is portrayed as a seductive nymphet planning to wed John Smith (Colin Farrell). The plans are thwarted when the 28 year-old Smith leaves the colony.
She pines away for Smith, unable to get the love of her life out of her head until she is incorrectly told that he has died. Pocahontas then reluctantly marries John Rolfe (Christian Bale). The narrator (John Hurt) foretells the reunion between John Smith and Pocahontas, and the film reaches an anti-climactic short-lived reunion, followed by a bittersweet finale.
Fair (1 star). Rated PG-13 for graphic battle sequences. Running time: 150 minutes. Studio: New Line Cinema.
For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.