The New World

(USA, 2005, 135 minutes)

English colonists arrive in Virginia in 1607; while on a reconaissance party, one of them is taken prisoner by the native American tribe living nearby but spared by the good will of the chief’s daughter, and an unexpected and unlikely passion is born. Sweeping, heartbreaking retelling of the birth of the American nation by a fiercely individual and idiossyncratic director; as close to pure cinema as it gets. The version initially premiered in the US in December 2005, in time to qualify for the Academy Awards, ran 150 minutes; claiming he wasn’t entirely happy with the original length, director Terrence Malick excised a further 15 minutes, this shorter version having been released in Europe as well as in the US.

A New Line Cinema presentation. Starring Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, August Schellenberg, Wes Studi, David Thewlis, Yorick van Wageningen; and introducing Q’Orianka Kilcher. Directed and written by Terrence Malick; produced by Sarah Green; music by James Horner; director of photography, Emmanuel Lubezki; production designer, Jack Fisk; costume designer, Jacqueline West; film editors, Richard Chew, Hank Corwin, Saar Klein and Mark Yoshikawa.

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