New World - Essay Example

Behind every movie there is some kind of stories. All over the globe, each and every movie is based on stories of some famous writer, stories about some true legends or stories from history. Some true masterpieces are based on some old time classic. The New World is also one of those kinds. The movie was written and directed by Terrence Malick. The movie is based on the life and life of John Smith. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the characters and story displayed in the movie with that of the historical data available about John Smith in his real life. To begin with, John smith was an English voyager, who was also a soldier and writer by choice; As a matter of fact he was most well-known for his part in establishment of the so called first eternal English colony in the New World at Jamestown, Virginia. Smith's myth has grown-up over the periods, precisely due to the widespread story of his connection with Pocahontas, who was well known as a Native American princess. Through his writing the whole world was able to know him more closely and for them the most common characteristics figure associated with him was notorious self-promoter. His writing about himself, narrating various incidents of his life also gives a clear picture about him. (Szalay). Smith, whose histories deliver ample of what is recognized about Pocahontas, was part of a provisional group of some 100 men assigned the charge of developing an American cluster on behalf of the London-based Virginia Company. Way back in April 1607, three of the company's boats reach the coast of Virginia and a group volunteered ashore. “What they found, one of the actual settlers wrote in a near-swoon, were "faire meddowes and goodly tall Trees, with such Fresh-waters running through the woods.”(Dargis) In this line if one analyze the movie then it is very clear that there are number of resemblance between the movie and the story of Smith. Dargis in his review has mentioned that the director opens the movie "The New World" with pictures of moving water, skinny-dippers shot from below and the lady who soon recognized by the viewer’s as Pocahontas when she pronounces something which sounds like a prayer (sing the song of a land). Then, after a brief recognitioncategorization, James Horner's music gives way to tweeting birds, blusteringbreeze and “what might be the rumble of distant thunder or a cannon blast. This cacophony then melts into the opening notes of the prelude to Wagner's "Das Rheingold," the first opera in "Der Ring des Nibelungen." (Dargis) From the analytics’ point of view, movie The New World scrutinizes nothingless than the promise of America, and what occurred when development of civilization first tarred its coasts. The blemished but ruthlessessence at the emotion of the film have its place within the character of Capt. John Smith who voyages as a enslaved, onboard the three English ships take on to colonize “the New World.” But as a matter of fact he spends most of his time hesitating between two different ideas of liberty and suppression. From a detail review of this movie it is very clear that “Like a lot of decisions in The New World, it’s one where noble intentions eventually lead to tragic consequences. Smith happily immerses himself in Powhatan ritual and falls in love with Pocahontas, but their bliss is a dream that has to end—or at least that’s what Smith told to himself.” (Tobias) For Americans, the above mentioned movie has a primitive power that comes moderately from the dignified metaphors Malick and Lubezki positioned on the display and somewhat from the information and facts associated with that of the America of the present time that every individual know. From the impression of the film one can definitelypoint out that the fact that “The New World’s tone cannot be described as mournful, because beauty, love, and the miracles of life persist even amid death and destruction. Pocahontas dies at the end of The New World, but there is no rending of garments, no efforts to underline the tragedy of her story.” (Tobias) From a general point of view, Smith has always appeared to characterize as the first exact American. It was a true fact that he was an Englishman by birth, but at the same time he was also a rebellious against any form of revolution.As a matter of fact from various writing of Smith himself one can easily figure out his characteristics as disbelief towards class, having love for other individual, and existence of a work ethics which was essentially American. As a matter of fact, when he first came to America his main objective was to establish a true colony, later he came back again to save the colony, developed a relation of harmonyand peace with the Indians, and lives to explore more. The movie also demonstrated him as a hero as well. The movie demonstrates his character as larger than life who “recognizes and appears to celebrate cultural differences.” (Speese) In Speese view “The New World, however, takes this Smith a step further--indeed, further than average Americans might like--to show how America should have been--and still should be, perhaps in response to what Malick might call a G. W. Bush Imperial Presidency.” So on a comparative analysis one can easily mentioned that the movie was based on how Smith portrayed his own life, his own character –but at the same time in the movie, director add some more depth in to the central character based on the evolution of mindset of the people in the USA. He has taken the bottom line of projecting him as a hero like the past projected him as an iconic character but at the same time he has added few new dimensions to the character of Smith. In Speese’s opinion the character of John Smith appears to be repeatedly re-invented by succeedingdescriptions in the film; “however, that re-invention is not, as one might expect, an attempt at verisimilitude--an attempt to get him "right." Rather each film seems to create a "new" hero that represents the qualities that we, as Americans, view as heroic.” From an overall perspective, The New World as a movie has touched its conclusion, ‘its apotheosis.’ From a critics as well as audience’s point of view, the movie is from one side ancient and at the same time modern. The movie is at its uncontaminated and most organic best in terms of storytelling and relating the past with modern perspective, it is from one side simplest and at the same time most sophisticated, “made with much the same tools as were available in the infancy of the form a century ago to the Lumières, to Griffith and Murnau.” (Patterson) So from a wider angle the movie is an advanced form of representation of John Smith and his life story with taking modern US society and culture in mind.From a film lovers point of view excluding a few alterations and modifications for modernism such as colour, sound, developments in editing to attracta hyper-cine-literate audience the movie could possibly have been made 80 years ago as well based on the life of John Smith and his role in colonization. References: 1. Dargis, Manohla. When Virginia Was Eden, and Other Tales of History. The New York Times. 2005. Web. Available at accessed on 14.06.2014. 2. Patterson, John. The New World: a misunderstood masterpiece? The Guardian. 2009. Web, available at accessed on 14.6.2014 3. Speese, James. The New World That Could Have Been. History on Trial. 2005. Web, available at accessed on 14.6.2014 4. Szalay, Jessie. John Smith of Jamestown: Facts & Biography. Live Science. 2013. Web. Available at accessed on 14.06.2014 5. Tobias, Scott. The New World reshaped an American origin story in the style of its creator. A.V Club. 2012. Web. Available at accessed on 14.6.2014 Read More