13 thoughts on “The New World (2005)

    1. Yes! That is a portrait that was done long after her death. While it copies aspects of the original Simon van de Passe engraving, it does indeed Westernize her features. Maybe Sarah can switch out the portrait for the original engraving?

  1. I actually love this movie, especially the love story between her and John Rolfe (Christian Bale). Q’orianka Kilcher was perfect in this role. It’s really her story.

  2. I LOVE how closely they copied her actual portrait! It’s always very cool to me when a movie/show does that. I do wish they’d made the rest of the costumes as accurate.

  3. Thanks to the reviews I read when this came out originally, I never saw it – I have a deep and abiding loathing for the Disney Pocahontas and just don’t trust Hollywood to do the real woman justice. But now I’m intrigued, apart from the English costumes being so generally meh.

  4. I’ve felt like Terrence Malick has leaned more into his style for each film – and his stye isn’t for everyone. His first film, Badlands (1973), still feels like his most straightforward and accessible work and a great film. His latter films, including this one, did wear me down a bit. I still think there’s a lot of good things to be said about The New World, however.

    His second film, Days of Heaven (1978) is shot-for-shot one of the most gorgeous films ever made. In fact, I’d say top-shelf filmmaking across the board. And it’s a frock flick to boot!

    Glad to see a review of The New World.

  5. Whoa, Sarah! Well, I was one of the people who voted for a different movie and cautioned you that The New World was very slow. I’m glad to hear that you actually enjoyed this movie. In fact, your blog has made me consider revisiting the film someday whereas before my one-time viewing at the movies had been more than enough. On to costumes, I was also pleased that they stuck closely to the one extant portrait of Pocahontas. What were your thoughts on the men’s costumes, specifically for Colin Farrell, Christian Bale, and Christopher Plummer?

  6. The Lady Rebecca, as she was styled, seems to have made something of a hit at the Court of James I. Her dignity and manners were such that James, who had little of either, fully accepted her as a true princess of the blood royal and wondered if Rolf shouldn’t be prosecuted for having the presumption to marry her. Luckily for Rolf James eventually decided that if Rebecca was cool with it, so was he.

  7. I can actually tell you that the costume King James wears is recycled, but not from Shakespeare in Love. It’s from the 1987 Cannon Movie Tales version of Beauty and the Beast; it’s worn by the Prince when he returns to human form.

  8. I can remember when the film was running, that it was in the large Cinemaxx in Freiburg. That was not a good idea as the slow moving film better fits for another audience and it was in the large Cinemaxx for 1 or 2 weeks only and I didn’t managed to see it there. I remember that I wanted to look it because Christopher Plummer was on the posters. However that was a trap as Plummer played a very small role and even that role was completely wrong as he was there as a captain who actualy never was 76… I would not call the movie boring – but I have no problems with slowly moving plots and at least the landscape and camera worked for me…

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