The New World - Terrence Malik

[ur54sold]

Ok, so my favorite movie is the New World, directed by Terrence Malik, and I think it is a unique movie in the sense that I believe that you have to be "intelligent" to enjoy it. First off, if you ask someone who has seen the movie they are either going to hate it and say its the most boring movie ever made or they are going to love it and say it's the greatest movie ever made (my source being browsing through hundreds of reviews on IMDB and other various sites). Now the New World is quite the opposite of most films coming out of Hollywood, its a slow paced, maximum style and dialog
film. It is also very "high-minded" (as the critics called Thin Red Line, also by Malick). Now the only reason I am posting this is for people who have seen the film and can share their thoughts on whether or not viewing this film could be a simply diagnostic test, such as IQ, for intelligence. I know it sounds ridiculous, but humor me for a moment. Lets assume film is the medium, instead of a test. It seems to me that one must posses some kind of abstract intelligence and vision to appreciate such a work of genius.

Captain John Smith: [voice over] Who are you whom I so faintly hear? Who urge me ever on? What voice is this that speaks within me... guides me towards the best? We shall make a new start. A fresh beginning. Here the blessings of the earth are bestowed upon all. None need grow poor. Here there is good ground for all, and no cost but one's labor. We shall build a true common wealth, hard work and self reliance our virtues. We shall have no landlords to reack us with high rents or extort the fruit of our labor.


thanks for your time.

[ur54sold]

hmm... so you are all a bunch of idiots and haven't even bothered to view such a masterpiece.... nice to know I'm the smartest person on this forum : )

[tame_deuces]

Experience of a story/narrative is a subjective experience. Saying appreciation of this movie has value as an IQ test is like saying the color pink has value as an IQ test.

A simple analogy is jokes and how people respond to them. For instance you can understand the point of a joke and still find it extremely boring and unfunny. So obviously your understanding is not what makes you appreciate the joke, even if it may be necessary to understand it to find it funny. It is also possible to not understand a joke and still find it a pleasurable experience (you might like that everyone laughs, the auditive flow of the joke, the choice of words or find the story compelling etc.)

And requirements of the audience's logical capacities is not a very good indicator of a narrative's artistic worth. If we assume that a joke requires incredible spatial temporal reasoning, does that make the joke a masterpiece?

[Bill Haywood]

A test of intelligence? UNH uh. A test of whether people have the same taste as you? uh HUH. Some really smart people hate movies.

I liked it, though not as much as Thin Red Line. It does drag, but the vision of first contact -- mystery, curiosity, amazement, fear -- that was great.

[hitch1978]

[ QUOTE ]
Ok, so my favorite movie is the New World, directed by Terrence Malik, and I think it is a unique movie in the sense that I believe that you have to be "intelligent" to enjoy it. First off, if you ask someone who has seen the movie they are either going to hate it and say its the most boring movie ever made or they are going to love it and say it's the greatest movie ever made (my source being browsing through hundreds of reviews on IMDB and other various sites).

[/ QUOTE ]

Your sample is self selecting.

You know those stickers on the back of trucks that ask, 'how's my driving?' and then give a telephone number? Well how many operators at the end of that phone have heard someone ring up and say, 'His driving's ok. Not really anything much to say about it.'

(I have actually done this ^ and the guy tried to stay professional, but couldn't stop himself laughing. Allot.)

[andyfox]

I thought it was marvelous, a thing of indescribable beauty, and I'm a dummy. So that shoots your theory all to hell. BTW, they filmed it right near where the actual events took place.