| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A+ |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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|
| Visuals: |
A+ |
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View from a Jamestown archaeologist
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
Jun 13, 2008
492
of
556 people found this review helpful
First of all I must say that this film is not entirely historically accurate (although much is accurate). That being said all of those who are upset about this not being historically accurate need to keep in mind that this is hollywood not the history channel and Malick is not trying to make a precise history of Jamestown but rather a fictional take on a mythological love story (that of Smith and Pocahontas). I clearly can not be totally objective when it comes to a movie on Jamestown b/c I know the history too well and have worked on the James Fort excavations for a number of years, but what I can tell those with an interest in history especially those from the U.S. and U.K., visually this movie does the time (1607) and place (Jamestown) justice. The historical accuracy of the set of James Fort and Jamestown goes far and beyond many movies that fit in the genre of period pieces. For instance, the man responsible for set design, Jack Fisk, consulted with Jamestown archaeologists in order to build a fort set and give the fort an ambiance that are as precise as hollywood gets. Not only did Malick film the movie just around the corner from the actual site (many historical movies are filmed in places like Romania to save money), but the movie has gone so far as to make the buidings, the artifacts used in the fort, the costumes, the ships, the fort itself, the horrid appeance of the colonists, and and the Virginia Indians as visual accurate as possible. So for all of those out there who have an interest in history and our turned off by the inaccuracy of the story, just remember that what you are looking at when you see this movie is as close as you will ever get to seeing what Jamestown Virginia would have looked like in 1607. Furthermore, coming from the point of view of someone who also watches as many films as possible (especially critically aclaimed films)the film is far above most because of its uniqueness. It does not follow the typical hollywood narative and becomes, well I'm not sure exactly what it becomes? Lets just say it becomes its own beautiful genre, far removed from the tedious traditional hollywood storylines into a world of four hundred years ago when two cultures clashed and changed our world forever. Those Americans reading this today may be speaking Spanish or French w/o a democratic form of government if it wasn't for the Jamestown Colony and its perserverence as the first permenant English colony in the New World. Don't forget that by the time the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts was established in 1620, settlements expanding from Jamestown Virginia had already reached out all around the Chesapeake Bay region and the population was well over one thousand. So thank you Terrence Malick for making this beautiful film on the eve of Jamestown's our Country's 400th anniversary. |
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