1616 engraving of Pocahontas by Simon de Passe.
Pocahontas. John Smith. One story. Told in many different ways since the days of old Virginia. Was it real? Creation? Or a little bit of both? The love that supposedly took place between these two has taken on an air of myth, of legend. Like the great Grecian gods. Fitting for a land purported for its dreams and pursuits of greatness, immortality.
The events as presented in The New World are quite conventional and "true" to the story as the majority have come to accept it. The beautiful Powhatan girl takes a liking to John Smith and vice versa. They form a bond, split, she gets with John Rolfe, travels to England, and soon after, she passes away. So at first glance, it comes as a bit of a surprise - perhaps even off-putting - that Malick, its director, would choose to take this path instead of opting for one less trodden.
This has now been my third time watching this film. And it is now after I've revisited his Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, and the trailer for The Tree of Life. Particularly after watching Thin Red Line again, I began to realize the inherent romantic spirit that Malick embodies. He's a poet. And truth or fiction, there's something innately romantic about two souls from opposite ends of the Earth coming together.
Despite taking a conventional route in story, it becomes evident that Malick indeed spins a new perspective on The New World. The largest perpetual clue is its grandiose score composed by James Horner. Unlike Thin Red Line, which utilized native Melanesian chants to score choice scenes in the film, New World is curiously absent of this characteristic. The music has an air of England, of majesty to it. The way its final scenes are presented make England seem foreign and somehow "new". We follow Pocahontas much of the time - sharing in her awe and wonderment. To her, this is very much a new world. Much as we see and hear most of Virginia through the actions and thoughts of John Smith and Rolfe. And to feel that as a viewer is not only somehow ethereal but also indicative of Malick's intent.
It's a curious love - or whatever it truly was. One that should not be taken lightly. Did John Smith pave the way for colonial America or did Pocahontas give the land away by forging their love for one another? Regardless, for the America that would come to be and now is, that encounter was its bedrock, its foundation. The beginning of that great ongoing social experiment.
