I'm looking forward to your review. I saw The New World on Saturday and, for now, am ambivalent -- much to my surprise.

I look forward to seeing the film, but find the zealousness with which some people are talking it up very off-putting.

...but find the zealousness with which some people are talking it up very off-putting.


For heavens' sake, why? From what I've observed, there seems to be a definite lack of boundless, unadulterated passion bestowed upon newer films of late, at least in the more intellectual film blogosphere. I mean, I've seen lots of astutely conveyed positivity towards many films, but it's been a while since a single flick has brought so many people to their knees, trembling. The New World appears to have moved many people quite profoundly (including myself) and I can't find the fault in singing its praises. Yeah, maybe it's all a big glop of dorky, gooey praise right now, but once the emotions settle down, I think there'll be lots of great discussions to be had. Already, guys like Matt ZS and David here are putting together fascinating thoughts about it.

"For heavens' sake, why?"

Off-putting only in the sense that this zealousness is creating very, very high expectations.

And yes, the fact that I do feel like I'm swimming around in a "big glop of dorky, gooey praise right now" doesn't help either. Though I don't doubt that this will pass.

The New World = cinema as a drug

I totally dug it. Going back for a second helping this week.

I think the high the film creates comes in part from the combination of the music & the shots of nature/sunlight combined w/ camera movement. And of course the life or death situations the characters find themselves in. The flick is both emotionally epic and visually epic - neither in a cheesy way, but in an often surprising way.

In the acting there is definitely a "not-knowing-what-is-going-to-happen-next" conveyed by the actors to us - even though we know their story - the story of the characters - a historical, relatively well documented event becomes fresh, involves us in a process of discovery.

Here's my post re: it for more:
http://filmmakingforthepoor.blogspot.com/2006/01/new-world-is-excellent.html

Sujewa
*******

A line originally included in this post:

"And I can guarantee you that Matt Clayfield is waiting in the wings, getting ready to tear the film and we hippies who like it asunder..." : )

Darren, I don't know that my review will convince you anymore than some of the other positive notices already out there. I think that, with this new cut, ambivalence is a pretty viable reaction, and I don't doubt a lot of people share the opinion - it's very easy to be ambivalent about (the longer version, on the other hand, was more of the instantly love-it-or-hate-it variety).

"And I can guarantee you that Matt Clayfield is waiting in the wings, getting ready to tear the film and we hippies who like it asunder..."

Was that really in the original post?! That's classic!

For the record, I love Badlands and Days of Heaven. And I need to see The Thin Red Line again.

Meanwhile, I have absolutely no idea when The New World opens here.

Damn, David, that line...

Hey folks -- as a shameless evangelizing preacher on behalf of the First Church of Malick, I hope I haven't puffed up people's expectations to the point where it cannot possibly satisfy anyone. But the alternative -- ratcheting back my enthusiasm in print for fear of being proved wrong someday, or even for fear of coming off as a raving geek -- seemed somehow untrue to the movie's spirit.

I did say in one of my 678 pieces on the The New World that I've been writing about movies professionally for over 15 yeras, and I've never felt such respect and affection for a Hollywood movie. I really meant that. It's been a life changing experience for me, and for other people as well.

Fans and detractors will fight about it, of course, but that's healthy and good. All movies should be so ambitious and so divisive. I don't sense the same passion among people who praise MUNICH. That's a great film, too, but cooler and more schematic, more an argument than a poem. I tend to gravitate toward poetry, a personal inclination that I could not really explain even if I were so inclined.

I just want to say, David and Matt, how excited I am about seeing The New World, and how big a fan I am of Malick's work (remembering, of course, that I want to see The Thin Red Line again, having only seen it once, back when I didn't know much about anything). Don't let me stop you from ranting like the absurd, salivating geeks you are, please.

I suppose I'll toss my thoughts in, since you guys are double-teaming on your sites.

I actually thought The New World broke down like this: 3/4 stock Malick, 1/4 inspired, stunning final 3 minutes.

Each of his previous films built upon what had come before -- both in cinematic scope and in communication of ideas. I didn't feel that here. Until they arrived in England, what I saw, I felt Malick could've done in his sleep. It was a tidy marriage between the class/love triangle of Days Of Heaven and the untouched nature/machinery of progress/cycle of life ruminations of The Thin Red Line. Shot for shot, nearly moment for moment, it was pleasing, but I felt in no way was Malick doing anything he hadn't done before.

It picked up when she was brought to England as a native princess and everything was reversed. Only here did the juxtapositions start to feel witty -- lower-class children bowing to her, etc. As well, the structured manor settings gave Malick the chance to adapt his camera from nature to conditioned society.

And then the final couple of minutes, as Horner's music subtley built to the images of flowing water -- suddenly the lightness of being swept in, and it offered a context for the story we'd seen. This montage was in power something I'd never seen from Malick before nor expected. Because as he leaves their story to focus on the flowing water, rendering their drama something set free to the past and interpretation, it's no longer about them. It's about us. And we're allowed to relate their story to ours. And we know ours comes and goes with the same flow...