Visually, Terrence Malick's interpretation of the Pocahontas legend is one of the best movies of 2005. Feverishly lyrical and dreamlike, The New World doesn't have quite enough narrative substance to match its sensual offerings however. Reactions will turn on whether viewers like impressionistic or definitive film experiences, on whether gesturing toward the ineffable holds more appeal than establishing concrete motives. 

The New World is not the historical epic you might be expecting and certainly not the "epic adventure" it's being billed as. Only the length is epic. Despite the sweeping natural backdrop and historical notoriety, this is really a small-scale, intimate romance. Erotic without being explicit, its chances of commercial and artistic success are both limited by a certain impenetrability.

Colin Farrell swoons through the Virginia tidelands as British naval Captain John Smith, trying mightily and ultimately successfully to resist his attraction to the Indian princess played by teenager Q'orianka Kilcher. It is her story more than his, and hers is without question a different world -- one in which Disney's Pocahontas is nowhere to be found. Not surprisingly, given Malick's unorthodox reputation, this isn't conventional storytelling, but its faithfulness to at least the spirit of the facts is palpable.

Malick, who wrote and directed, provides a linear yet elliptical narrative. Time, like everything else, is fluid. There's a paucity of dialogue and the voiceovers by Smith and the second British settler Pocahontas becomes involved with, John Rolfe (Christian Bale), contains minimal insight. An exception is Rolfe's observation about Pocahontas -- "She weaves all things together." A seamless natural fabric across which human lives flitter seems to be Malick's guiding concept.

Amongst the Britons who landed in 1607 at what became Jamestown, Smith is sent to secure provisions and appease the king of the natives—"naturals" as the Euros call them when speaking matter-of-factly, or "savages" when they are enflamed. Smith is captured in the middle of a swamp and saved from death by Pocahontas, the king's daughter. He lives amongst the Indians for an unspecified period, falling in love with the exquisite maiden. Their illicit romance violates both cultures but clicks on a more fundamental level. They are physical forces that mingle in a cross-cultural collision of the old and new worlds, though it's not clear which is which. While there are historical implications, their union matters most on an individual level. They enjoy a temporary state of isolated bliss that taps directly into the idyllic environment. 

As Smith says in voiceover after returning to the chaotic British encampment, which the Indians expect them to abandon in spring: "It was a dream. Now I am awake." He becomes the leader of the colonists who only survive the harsh winter because Pocahontas brings food. Spring comes and they don't leave; battles ensue. The Jamestown settlement is rescued by the arrival of more ships. Her father banishes Pocahontas for aiding the invaders. After refusing to use her as a political pawn, Smith returns to England for another commission. He refuses to take Pocahontas and instructs she be told he died en route. She then marries Rolfe and lives on his tobacco plantation.

Kilcher's luminosity is brought into full relief when she and Rolfe are summoned to England for an appearance at court. At this point, having been christened Rebecca, she's worlds away from frolicking in the Virginia tidewater with Smith, although her love for him has not died. She knows he is alive and they do meet, but their bond is not forged again.

For all the communion with nature and earthy spiritualism characterizing the central relationship in The New World, Malick presents a plausible view of what the earliest settlers faced. And he paints an equally believable picture of the Native Americans as genuinely alien to a European sensibility -- exotic, androgynous, and wild. Their encounters are violent, and in his most obvious choice, Malick uses classical music to underscore the differences. Countless gorgeous shots of the sky, the water, the vegetation, and the tidewater bounty are deployed to represent Smith and Pocahontas rising up from their respective situations and powerfully transcending man-made limitations.

Unfortunately, we don't learn enough about Smith's reluctance to cross the boundary permanently. Is it ambition? Prejudice? Shame? And reducing Pocahontas's motivation to some pure, natural love or to the notion that she and only she can envision the interconnectedness of all things is subject to multiple interpretations. Is it condescension to see her as Mother Nature's seductive sprite? Or is she pulling the strings herself? Malick resists psychology. He steadfastly remains on an elemental level, asking images from nature to explain the whys and wherefores of the story. They do, if not with much discursive power.

Beautiful and evocative, The New World remains an elusive, interior romance about two souls from clashing cultures performing on earth's stage. Smith regrets missing his chance; having, in his words, "sailed past his Indies." Only the water, trees, and sky are privy to the secrets revealed in their ethereal dance. The audience remains on the outside.

(Released by New Line Cinema and rated "PG-13" for some intense battle sequences.)