Before The New World, Terrence Malick made only three movies over a span of 25 years. His last movie was The Thin Red Line (1998), a film many people normally would not have ventured to see but did so because of the movie's Best Picture Academy Award nomination. These viewers must've been in for a big surprise -- Malick's war movie was rambling, meditative, and visually luscious, paying little heed to a traditional sense of narrative, feeling its way about for three hours, interested mainly in emotional peaks and valleys of deep introspection. Tough to approach yet alluring to those in the right state of mind, it was a standout example of love-it-or-hate-it cinema.

Although I've only seen The Thin Red Line and not Malick's previous two movies, that film certainly prepared me well for The New World. One could consider it an extension of The Thin Red Line's opening scenes, where James Caviezel's character, AWOL from the army, has found a peace in living among the primitive natives of an island. He maintains a sense of wonder and freedom in nature there, as The New World's Capt. John Smith (Colin Farrell) does when he arrives with his shipmates at 1607 America. Although the uncharted land is dangerous, Smith cautiously senses opportunity and discovery, and his eyes are further opened when he develops a close acquaintance with the young, spirited Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher).

The New World is well-named as it alludes not only to the discovery of physical land but also to the very nature of discovery itself. As two civilizations -- colonists from England and the American tribal natives -- find each other face-to-unfamiliar-face, curiosity surfaces but pragmatism quickly takes hold, leading to suspicion and antagonism. Only Smith and Pocahontas become open enough to take the time to see what the other side has to offer. Malick's camera practically caresses the pair and their surroundings -- they discover love and the possibilities of the world around them. They end up struggling only when the realities of their comrades' politics intervene.

All of this is presented through sweeping shots of nature, interludes of classical music, intimate moments of the main characters' expressions, and almost whispery voice-overs communicating philosophical thoughts. One doesn't watch this movie, one absorbs it, letting it soak into you. The viewer is invited to ride this wave, carrying one where it may. Plot exposition is minimal, almost like an afterthought. The New World emerges as an encompassing alternative to everyday narrative-bound cinema.

Malick's style can be criticized, though, for feeling repetitive. He's interested in juxtaposing the peace Smith and Pocahontas find in love with the conflicts their respective people encounter. But while the challenges they face adapt to the story's unique moments, their occasional reunions in between tend to reinforce previously established emotions and thoughts. Although this strategy threatens to render aspects of their love trite, it does maintain the film's steady pace and patient flow.

Eventually events take an unfair turn for Pocahontas, who somehow finds herself living among the settlers, where she is christened "Rebecca." As much as the story began with Smith's ruminations about the new world, it becomes more about Pocahontas's experience in adapting to another life in the face of love's ups and downs. And if it wasn't for the discovery of Kilcher herself, in her first major role, the movie might not have been half as moving as it is. Kilcher is the muse of the film, which later rides solely on her able shoulders.

Not just an ode to discovery, The New World is also a longing for it. The movie depicts a situation we can only dream about in this day and age, where everything has already been mapped, touched, and imprinted by mankind's fingerprints. It's a bit of a miracle that Malick can make a film like this, visually creating that sensation of being unprepared to see something so vast and different, yet real, not only from the colonists point-of-view in America, but also when, toward the end of the film, Pocahontas and a few escorting natives visit England, a world so stunningly contrasted with the one they just came from. We may never come across feelings like this again in our world -- we might only be able to come close in the movies.

(Released by New Line Cinema and rated "PG-13" for some intense battle sequences. Opens December 25 on a limited basis and nationwide on January 13. 2006.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.