I'll start by saying that I am not really a fan of Terrence Malick's body of work. I often find his films to be pretentious or just simply dull. I've watched this film prior and, for all I can think of, I was not in the right headspace for it at the time - I had initially rated it a 2/10. Then, for some reason, I had a strange motivation to watch it again (I think due to not realizing Bale was in it).
I do think you really need to change gears when you sit down to watch this. You need to allow yourself to be taken on a ride. I think a lot of people were, or will, be turned off by the lack of dialog driving the plot: instead in this the dialog are windows into the thoughts of the characters and the plot is driven by the action in front of the camera - only assisted, at times, by dialog. For me, my interest in what life would have been like in Jamestown is what allowed me to settle in and just take it in.
The acting is superb. Colin Farrell as John Smith is great and in this story he really conveys the inner conflict within him without any required help from overtly declaring so via dialog. Q'orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas as well is great and she brings the mystique one would have witnessed at time. And, of course, Bale as John Rolfe is excellent - and again, he is able to convey the characters nature very well. There is also lots of other great actors contributing throughout: Christopher Plummer, David Thewlis, Wes Studi, Ben Mendelsohn (another favorite of mine) - along with everyone else. I'm so glad I gave this another shot. Who could ask for a better cast?
This story is both beautiful and tragic... And, unfortunately here, flawed. Sadly, from spending a few hours researching the reality of Jamestown, it's founding and growth, and the colonists relationship with the Powhatan, several critical facts were withheld from this story - thus, instead of a 9/10 I'm giving it an 8/10. When it comes to John Smith it appears that there was never any romantic relationship between himself and Pocahontas - at most he did know her and later, after his initial writings, he changed his story while writing Queen Anne to write that she had saved his life. But again, zero romance. It is actually believed that she was possibly married to a native man named Kocoum whom was slain during conflict with colonists - but again, this is not only a possibility as historians rely on sources of which there likely isn't much (it's not like the Jamestown colonists would go about trying to identify native casualties of conflict). Pocahontas was also not a "princess" - she was presented to the crown as one by the London Company. The film also elicits that the cause of violent conflict was the Powhatan, when in reality, it was the colonists: having been ordered to dominate the Powhatan (the aim of the London Company was, at minimum, to turn the Powhatan into a tributary and at maximum to integrate them into Jamestown) the colonist militia would go on raids where they would demand provisions, etc., from the Powhatan, and when refused they would burn their settlements. There was also aims to convert the Powhatan to Christianity. It was these provocations that lead to war between colonists and the Powhatan.
The tragedy of John Rolfe and his relationship with Pocahontas is something that should have been included, I think, in the film (maybe it's in the extended cut - I'll have to watch that later). When they decided to leave England and return to Virginia, as stated int he film, Pocahontas fell ill - so they diverted to Kent - where Pocahontas did die. What's more, their son, Thomas, was also ill: due to his responsibility within the London Company John Rolfe continued to Virginia and left Thomas in England (first with an appointed guardian and later with his brother): the final tragedy in this story is John Rolfe never saw their son Thomas again.
Anyways, while it could have been improved and the fictitious elements could have been better left out of it, this is a beautiful film. I highly recommend it to anyone with the one caveat that you have to be in the mood for it - you have to slow down.
I do think you really need to change gears when you sit down to watch this. You need to allow yourself to be taken on a ride. I think a lot of people were, or will, be turned off by the lack of dialog driving the plot: instead in this the dialog are windows into the thoughts of the characters and the plot is driven by the action in front of the camera - only assisted, at times, by dialog. For me, my interest in what life would have been like in Jamestown is what allowed me to settle in and just take it in.
The acting is superb. Colin Farrell as John Smith is great and in this story he really conveys the inner conflict within him without any required help from overtly declaring so via dialog. Q'orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas as well is great and she brings the mystique one would have witnessed at time. And, of course, Bale as John Rolfe is excellent - and again, he is able to convey the characters nature very well. There is also lots of other great actors contributing throughout: Christopher Plummer, David Thewlis, Wes Studi, Ben Mendelsohn (another favorite of mine) - along with everyone else. I'm so glad I gave this another shot. Who could ask for a better cast?
This story is both beautiful and tragic... And, unfortunately here, flawed. Sadly, from spending a few hours researching the reality of Jamestown, it's founding and growth, and the colonists relationship with the Powhatan, several critical facts were withheld from this story - thus, instead of a 9/10 I'm giving it an 8/10. When it comes to John Smith it appears that there was never any romantic relationship between himself and Pocahontas - at most he did know her and later, after his initial writings, he changed his story while writing Queen Anne to write that she had saved his life. But again, zero romance. It is actually believed that she was possibly married to a native man named Kocoum whom was slain during conflict with colonists - but again, this is not only a possibility as historians rely on sources of which there likely isn't much (it's not like the Jamestown colonists would go about trying to identify native casualties of conflict). Pocahontas was also not a "princess" - she was presented to the crown as one by the London Company. The film also elicits that the cause of violent conflict was the Powhatan, when in reality, it was the colonists: having been ordered to dominate the Powhatan (the aim of the London Company was, at minimum, to turn the Powhatan into a tributary and at maximum to integrate them into Jamestown) the colonist militia would go on raids where they would demand provisions, etc., from the Powhatan, and when refused they would burn their settlements. There was also aims to convert the Powhatan to Christianity. It was these provocations that lead to war between colonists and the Powhatan.
The tragedy of John Rolfe and his relationship with Pocahontas is something that should have been included, I think, in the film (maybe it's in the extended cut - I'll have to watch that later). When they decided to leave England and return to Virginia, as stated int he film, Pocahontas fell ill - so they diverted to Kent - where Pocahontas did die. What's more, their son, Thomas, was also ill: due to his responsibility within the London Company John Rolfe continued to Virginia and left Thomas in England (first with an appointed guardian and later with his brother): the final tragedy in this story is John Rolfe never saw their son Thomas again.
Anyways, while it could have been improved and the fictitious elements could have been better left out of it, this is a beautiful film. I highly recommend it to anyone with the one caveat that you have to be in the mood for it - you have to slow down.
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