Films about history have always interested me, but as of late I have felt quite dissappointed in many of them. I cannot say what exactly it is however, but I admit that most historic movies are at least fair overall...that was until I saw Alexander with Colin Farell. That film was simply atrocious and dull, and there was a deep warning within me upon viewing this film as it stared Farell. Native history, culture and such is very dear to my heart...many of my favourite films have been about the North American natives. Although my blood is fully European I feel the heritage of the land I live in is native and that is one of the reasons why I had always been interested in these films on this subject. Natives have had an odd image in media, both demonized and romanticized to their fullest excesses. I felt finally this was a truthful depiction of the native ways...sadly this movie seemed to depict very little.

I was really looking forward to this film, but once it began, I was only looking forward to it's ending. Really dissappointing, honestly. Within a half hour or so of the film I recognized the style of the film and realized it must have been directed by the same director as "The Thin Red Line" a WWII movie I saw a few years back and absolutely despised.

Terrence Mallick has a unique style, combining breath-taking visuals, in-depth thought soliloqueys and brilliant orchestrated music. Unfortunately this mix sacrifices decent and realistic dialouge, convincing and deep characters, explanation of events, and pretty much everything else that would make a film work. The film is slow, yet fast at once, if that makes any sense. Things happen so suddenly, big changes occur yet little attention is paid to them, then the dialogue is drawn out with long pauses between each and every line it seems.

I woke up after a 15 hour sleep (don't ask why), but you know how when you sleep for a long time you are all disoriented and just generally out of it...well, it was a cruel series of events that I decided to pop in this dvd. The movie is difficult to follow. I am lucky to have a fair sense of history or else I would simply have no idea as to what is going on. There really is no explanation on many of the events, just many visuals of landscapes and people, shifting from one to scene to another, enough to make anyone dizzy and confused. Mallick really treats it more like a slideshow than an actual movie. It is so hard to explain, I suppose if you see the film you'd understand what I am getting at.

Farell seems to be daydreaming through his role. I have lost more and more respect for him, it seems, with each film he realeses. We get fair performances from Christian Bale (Batman Begins) and Christopher Plummer, yet Plummer's role is quite small.

The story is of the native princess Pocahontas (it seems Mallick assumes all the audience has seen the Disney film though as he explains very little) and her meeting with John Smith (Farell) who sails from England to establish Jamestown, Virginia. What follows are a series of misunderstandings, leading to maybe one or two short battle scenes. Smith, all the while, rather than running his colony, seems obsessed with Pocahontas and daydreaming all the while. We, as the audience, care little of his well being, or whatnot. Many characters come and go with little introduction, most of whose names we don't even learn. The love story between Smith and Pocahontas is dull, overly drawn-out and simply uninteresting. Later on Smith leaves for England and John Rolfe (Christian Bale) comes seemingly out of nowhere and starts a romance with Pocahontas. The name Pocahontas is never used in film, nor do we ever hear John Rolfe's name. Somehow director Mallick assumes we can grow attached to characters whose names we don't even know.

The film is sloppy and overall just bad. Of course, there are a few redeeming qualities, which stops me from giving the film only one star...the score is magnificent and fitting to the atmosphere, the visuals are simply stunning (push the mute putton maybe if you just want to relax) and some of the acting, aside from Farell, is quite decent. I was also glad to see that overall the portrayl of the natives and the colonist seemed fairly accurate, not demonizing either side and portraying them as real people. It also portrayed some light on native culture before the European influence, for example the native's complete lack of concepts such as private property. Besides that there is nothing good to say about this film.

It is dull, too long, containing sloppy dialouge and little character development. It actually made me bored and uncomfortable, which few movies can actually do. Also, the film was once more historically inaccurate. I was hoping it would be a more accurate depiction of Pocahontas, unlike the Disney film, however I think I'll stick with the Disney version from now on. I am relieved I didn't see it in the cinema, which I had planned to originally. I probably wont bother with another movie starring Colin Farrel in the theatre and definately will avoid any film directed by Terrence Mallick.

Don't bother with this film, you've been warned.


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older