The New World (2005) on Netflix
PG-1320052h 31mBiographyDramaHistory
In 1607, three ships sail to Virginia to found an English colony. Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan's daughter, watches them arrive, and aboard is Captain John Smith, under sentence of death.
- Netflix2.8/5
- IMDb6.7/1094,260 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes63%
Trailer
Plot summary
An English royal charter sends three ships to Virginia in 1607 to found a colony. Captain John Smith is aboard, condemned for mutinous remarks, until Captain Christopher Newport pardons him once ashore. Pocahontas, the adventurous daughter of Chief Powhatan, and others of her tribe watch the newcomers land. Disease, poor discipline, supply shortages and tension with the Native Americans, whom Newport calls the naturals, put the expedition at risk. Smith takes a small group upriver to trade and is captured; Pocahontas asks her father to spare his life.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The New World (2005)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Native American actors and extras were trained by linguistics professor Blair Rudes to speak a reconstructed form of the extinct Powhatan language, specifically revived for the film.
- Because Malick's editing was extensive, involving reordering or dropping passages, much of James Horner's score was not used; Horner and Glen Ballard wrote and recorded the song "Listen to the Wind", sung by Hayley Westenra, for the closing credits, but this too was unused.
- Before making this film, director Terrence Malick had been developing a film about Che Guevara's failed revolution in Bolivia, but left that project in 2004 when financing fell through.
- For the film's wide release, which began on January 20, 2006, Terrence Malick re-edited the film, cutting the 150-minute version shown to critics down to 135 minutes, but also adding footage not seen in the first release.
- Most scholars agree that there was no romantic relationship between Pocahontas and Smith; she would have been 12 years old in 1608 when the two were said to have first met.
