The New World

Some people are masters at creating their own mystique. Notable examples include Greta Garbo, J.D. Salinger, and, more recently, J.T. LeRoy, who may not even exist if you ask the New York Times. Terrence Malick would be high on such a list as well. A filmmaker who declines interviews and doesn’t like to be photographed, Malick has forced judgment based solely on the merits of the small number of films he’s directed: Badlands, Days of Heaven, and The Thin Red Line. Lucky for him, and for the filmgoing public, each of his offerings has been gorgeous and brilliant. In Malick’s films, nature is grand and expansive, creating an enveloping context for his characters. Each setting–whether it’s a Texas wheat field filmed at the “golden hour” or a South Dakota prairie barren enough to encapsulate the psyche of a bored, murdering teenager–serves as a nuanced and complicated character unto itself. No doubt the same is true of Malick’s latest, The New World, which retells the fabled story of Pocahontas (Q’Orianka Kilcher) and Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell), who helped found Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.