The New World (2005)

Terrence Malick's fourth film rolls across the screen with undulating waves of tall grass and murky water that laps right up against the edge of your seat. No other director uses his natural environment in such a profoundly physical way. Nature permeates this film. It's everywhere, and it constantly establishes itself in relation to the characters, helping the characters relate to one another. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Love Story ▶ Yes please
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Production Level ▶ Polished
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Pace ▶ Slow
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

The New World: The Extended Cut (2008)

In December of 2005, I saw the 150-minute cut of The New World, which was screened for my critics group for awards consideration. The film as a whole didn't quite sink in until I saw the 135-minute cut a month or so later. I'm not sure if the shorter cut played better for me, or if it took a second viewing to cement the idea that this was a true masterpiece. Now New Line has released an "extended cut," running 172 minutes. My guess is that this new cut has nothing to do with director Terrence Malick. For one thing, it's specifically called an "extended cut," and not a "director's cut." And there's no information on the disc or anywhere else explaining how this cut came about. Malick is secretive and reclusive, but I'm sure that if this were his director's cut, it would be called the director's cut. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Love Story ▶ Yes please
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Production Level ▶ Polished
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Pace ▶ Slow
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

Gertrud (1964)

When Gertrud was released, cinema had changed into a faster, hipper, younger medium, and the film was not welcomed. It was considered stuffy and slow. Only the French auteurists at Cahiers du Cinema and America's Andrew Sarris praised the film, and -- of course -- it turns out that they were right. Some priceless home-movie footage included on the DVD shows Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and actress Anna Karina fawning over the 70-something Dreyer at the movie's Paris premiere. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Love Story ▶ Yes please
• Production Level ▶ Polished
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Pace ▶ Slow
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

Story of a Love Affair (1950)

In 1950, Michelangelo Antonoini had just finished with a series of short documentaries, and his surprising feature debut Story of a Love Affair (a.k.a. Cronaca di un amore) showed his style almost fully-formed. In a way, it prefigures Antonioni's masterpiece L'Avventura (1960), but it also owes a debt to films noir and crime films like Visconti's Ossessione (1943). read more...

Search for streaming:

• Love Story ▶ Yes please
• Romantic Love ▶ Doomed
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating

A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

Edward Yang's four-hour A Brighter Summer Day (1991) is even more complex and intriguing than Yi Yi. Set over the course of most of a year in 1961, the film deals with a subculture of Mainland Chinese who fled to Taiwan after the victory of the Chinese Communists in 1949. A printed introduction explains that their children are now living in a state of uncertainty and have taken to forming street gangs for a sense of safety and control. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Love Story ▶ Yes please
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time