The New World
Short description
The New World is a historical drama set in the early seventeenth century, when English ships reach the coast of North America and the Virginia Company establishes the Jamestown settlement. Among the newcomers is Captain John Smith, an army officer who has fallen out of favour with his own commanders. The settlers have landed in the territory of the Powhatan, a powerful and sophisticated native nation, and the two sides regard each other with suspicion that hardens into open conflict. Sent to seek help from the Powhatan, Smith meets Pocahontas, the chief's daughter, and a bond forms between them. Their feelings collide with the demands of duty and the widening hostility between the settlers and the Powhatan.
Terrence Malick wrote and directed the film, the fourth in a directing career that began with Badlands in 1973 and continued through Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line. Colin Farrell plays Smith, Q'orianka Kilcher plays Pocahontas, and Christopher Plummer appears as Captain Newport. Christian Bale plays the colonist John Rolfe, with August Schellenberg as Powhatan and Wes Studi as Opechancanough. Sarah Green produced, and the production involved a credited cast of 56 and a credited crew of 169.
Made for a budget of about 30 million US dollars, the film took roughly 31 million dollars worldwide, a modest return. On IMDb it holds 6.7 out of 10 from around 93,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.5 out of 10 from about 1,300 votes. A critics' rating of 7.1 out of 10 from 190 reviews places it somewhat above those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was shot almost entirely using exclusively natural lighting. Artificial light was only used in scenes inside Hampton Court Palace, shining through the windows.
- To enhance the lighting in some interior scenes, special candles with four wicks each were lit.
- The Native Americans involved in the filming had to learn the Algonquian language, spoken by the Native Americans who encountered the first settlers. Today, around 3000 people speak this language, many of whom were hired by the producers to teach it to the actors.
- The fort of the first settlers in Virginia was recreated for the film in 30 days, exactly how long it took to build the original structure, but then it was done without cranes or other modern equipment.
- The most challenging task turned out to be casting an actress for the role of Pocahontas. Producers reviewed over 2,000 girls on location before deciding to expand their search to all suitable-aged actresses of Native American descent throughout both North and South America.
- Pocahontas's clothing during the reception with the Queen is based on one of the few surviving portraits of her from that period.
- Throughout the entire film, Pocahontas is never addressed by that name, and none of the other Native American characters are addressed by name, nor are their names ever mentioned.
- To better prepare for his role, Colin Farrell read all seven books that John Smith published in England upon his return from the New World.
- All the actors were required to lose 9 kilograms and undergo training in a boot camp where they were taught how to handle artillery and live as the first settlers.
- Terrence Malick wrote the screenplay back in the late 70s, and it remained untouched until 2004.
- The average shot length is 6.7 seconds.
- A significant portion of the dialogue was dubbed during post-production. This was necessary because during many takes, the voice of director Terrence Malick was clearly audible in the background.
- The original version of the film was 150 minutes long and had a limited release in December 2005. A few days later, director Terrence Malick decided to recall all copies and re-edited the film, resulting in the final, 135-minute version. The initial cut was never released on DVD in the US and is only available on a two-disc edition released in Italy.
- Irene Bedard (Pocahontas's mother) and Christian Bale (John Rolfe) previously participated in the voice acting for the Disney animated film 'Pocahontas' (1995). Christian Bale voiced Thomas, and Irene Bedard voiced the main character, Pocahontas.
- Director Terrence Malick strived to make the film as authentic and historically accurate as possible. To achieve this, filming took place very close to the actual location of events, and the reconstruction of the English settlement and the Native American village was based on archaeological data and primarily used the same materials and tools as those from the 17th century. To plant in their vicinity, the filmmakers sourced seeds of Native American corn and tobacco, which differed somewhat from those common today.
- “The New World” is the first film in nine years to be shot entirely or partially on 65mm film. The last such project was the film “Hamlet” (1996) by British director Kenneth Branagh.
- From the very beginning, the filmmakers set out to avoid computer special effects and largely succeeded in this task. In one scene, the color of a pair of parrots was slightly altered using computer graphics, and in another, the same was done with a flock of pigeons to achieve the greatest possible resemblance to the extinct Carolina parakeets (the last wild individual was killed in 1904).
- Filming period: July 26 – November 6, 2004.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
