Hey folks, Harry here with a nice report on the state of THE NEW WORLD as updated by producer Sarah Green. If Malick is doing some tightening - I will say, for most audiences the film could do with it - and certainly I'd be curious to see that. And honestly folks - whatever it is you have a chance to see in theaters - you must go. This is a film shot mostly on 65mm and the clarity and beauty is simply a theatrical experience you must indulge in if you love nature and the history of this country. However, I'd love more details on the longer cut - we know that whole sequences and performances were cut from the film - and if the film we have is an indication of the acting throughout - those performances would be a welcomed addition. Here ya go...

Hey Harry & Co,

I caught a special screening last night of Terrence Malick's The New World at the Loews 20 in the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, MA. The screening was a fundraiser for Wellspring House, a local organization that provides shelter for homeless families. One of the producers of The New World, Sarah Green, lives in Gloucester, MA and organized the event with Wellspring. Q'Orianka Kilcher was also in attendance and joined Green at the end of the film for a Q&A session with the audience.

This won't be a review of the film. There isn't anything more to say about the film that Harry, Moriarity, and the Talkbackers haven't said already. I loved it. I really loved it. But I'm also a huge Malick fan so I guess I am biased. But I did manage to glean some info from Sarah Green regarding the multiple cuts of this film and its eventual DVD release.

I asked Green if it was true (as Moriarity mentioned in his article from 12/31/05) if Malick had cut a shorter version of the film for the nationwide release on 1/13/06 and she mentioned the following three details.

1.) The version we saw is the 155 minute version that is presently playing in NY and LA. She mentioned that this version "will always exist" but . . .

2.) Malick has trimmed this version and it will be this new cut that will be released when the film opens nationwide. She said that "none of the scenes were cut out, all the scenes are intact, but he did trim down scenes and made a tighter cut of the film."

3.) But, more importantly, she said New Line has agreed to release an extended cut of the film, even longer than the 155 minute cut, to DVD. Again, this was info straight from Producer Sarah Green. It's not as official as if it came from execs at New Line, but that's what she said, for what it is worth. She didn't confirm if the nationwide theatrical cut will be packaged with the extended cut or if New Line will drop the Extended Cut Super Special Edition (with flair!) some months after a bare bones DVD of the nationwide theatrical cut is released. I love Malick's work and I love this film but I can't see the public willing to double-dip for this film, so who knows what the DVD roll out will be exactly?

Despite all of the info, I couldn't help but get the feeling that the cut I saw, the same one in NY and LA, is going to fall by the wayside. By saying that this cut "will always exist" (she said it twice, in fact), one gets the feeling that what we saw (though it was finished with credits and a sweet sound mix) is just a glorified work-in-progress stuck somewhere between the tighter nationwide cut and the extended cut. I'm sure this version will "always exist" but only to the those who worked on it and the few who saw it. There's not much room in the market for three versions of a film unless it's Blade Runner or something like that. This isn't fact, though. It just seems to make sense with the info she gave.

As for Kilcher, she's very beautiful in person but really didn't have much to say in the Q&A, though. I did, however, run into her as my friend and I entered the mall to get to the screening. She seemed a little flustered because the Dippin' Dots vending machine wouldn't take her money. Of course, this means nothing to nobody but after I saw her very layered and downright honest performance in the movie projected up on the big screen, the thought of her just trying to get herself some Dippin' Dots brought a smile to my face. But hey, I'm simple like that.

Looking forward to a good '06 from AICN.

If you use this, please call me Fuckles.