[El Capitano Gatisto]

I thought I'd posted a topic on it here. Obviously not. Below is what I posted elsewhere after watching it.

I watched this just last night. I had it for a while and was sort of putting off watching it because I thought it might be a bit difficult to sit through. The Thin Red Line is the only other Malick film I think I've seen but I was much younger and my dad told me this one was crap. I knew it would be another film where the narrative is moved along by whispered inner monologues set over dreamy sequences and beautiful scenery. And it is, but I really enjoyed it. It weighs in at around a hefty two and a half hours so I can see why some people might hate it, but for me, if anything, I'd have liked it a bit longer. The story regards some English settlers arriving on the shores of America, including John Smith (played by Colin Farrell). He encounters a young native girl (Pocahontas, though I don't remember or didn't catch this name actually being mentioned in the film) and falls in love with her. The film then goes through the tribulations of the settlers vs. the natives and the effect on this love affair, moving on to the girl being cast out of her tribe and being adopted by the settlers. Another Englishman falls in love with her, John Rolfe (Christian Bale) but she remains in love with Smith, who has went off on another expedition and instructed the girl be told he is dead so that she won't wait around for him. That being the general outline of the story. The performances through the whole film, the leading roles and the supporting cast, are all superb and the film looks gorgeous. It is the "second part" of the film involving Christian Bale and Rolfe's relationship with Pocahontas that I feel could have done with being longer. Maybe an extra half hour or more, because at this point the narrative skips forward quite a bit and confused me somewhat, especially since it is mostly driven by the vague inner monlogues. Very good indeed. I give it 4 eggs.