Review of The New World (2005) by Jgm — 22 Jul 2006

All the criticisms you'll read here are accurate: this movie is overlong, thin on plot, often indecipherable, self-indulgent, and generally artsy-fartsy. And yet, one forgives Malik all of this and more in exchange for the gift of the incredible visual feast.

Watch any 30 minutes of this, then switch to anything else, and you'll be shocked at how pedestrian, how ugly, most of what comes across the screen is. And, it's not about "smarts" but about viewpoint.

A film like this has to be approached as you would approach a series of paintings or a symphony, complete with repeating motif and variations on a theme. If you have the temprement to view a 2+ hour work in this way, the visuals will reward.

And the art here is all visual: the dialog is sparse and often intentionally muddy. The acting is mostly wooden and beside the point, with the luminous exception of young Ms. Kilcher, who seems to understand and inhabit this character completely.