The New World(2005)

Directed by Terence Malick

Terence Malick is the epitome of a cinematic artist. His films are there to be interpreted, a collection of images and scenes that don’t necessarily flow in traditional order, cut scenes that don’t directly relate to the preceding image. But when it all comes together, it lifts his work to the upper echelon of cinematic experiences. ‘The Thin Red Line’ is the better known of this films, and that, too, is great, but for me, ‘The New World’ is better in every aspect – like he’d refined his style with The Thin Red Line, then perfected with this. Admittedly, ‘Tree of Life’ didn’t work for me, but it did for many others, highlighting how divisive Malick’s stuff can be. But I totally love everything about ‘The New World’. Art, for me, is about translating emotion – re-creating something you feel in the body of the reader, or viewer in the case of film. Malick is one of the best at achieving this.