Using the (achingly realized, if historically debunked) romance between Pocahontas and John Smith as a focal point, Terrence Malick’s THIN RED LINE followup brought his signature poeticism to the early interactions between English colonists and the Powhatan natives of what’s now known as Virginia. (THE NEW WORLD screens in its full 172-minute extended cut, part of a three-night stand of American epics featuring JFK and MALCOLM X.)

Arriving with a British expedition in Virginia in 1607, Capt. John Smith (Colin Farrell) is captured by Native Americans. His life is spared thanks to Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher), daughter of the tribe’s chief. Smith and Pocahontas fall in love, to the mutual dismay of the Native Americans and the British. Smith is sent away, and his death is reported. An unhappy Pocahontas marries settler John Rolfe (Christian Bale). When Smith turns up alive, Pocahontas is torn between the two men.

“A work of great intelligence, ambition and radiant beauty.” – Sight & Sound

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