

Smith wishes to return to Pocahontas but dismisses the idea, thinking of his time among the Native Americans as "a dream". Smith discovers the settlement in turmoil and is pressed into accepting the governorship, finding the peace he had with the Natives replaced by privation, death, and the difficulties of his new position. The chief returns Smith to Jamestown with the understanding that the English are to leave the following spring, once their boats return. Coming to admire this new way of life, he falls deeply in love with Pocahontas, who is intrigued by the Englishman and his ways. Living as the Native Americans’ prisoner, Smith is treated well, earning the tribe's friendship and respect. After being questioned, the captain is nearly executed but spared when Pocahontas intervenes. Taking a small group upriver to seek trade while Newport returns to England for supplies, Smith is captured by Native Americans and brought before Chief Powhatan. While the settlement's prospects are initially bright, disease, poor discipline, supply shortages, and tensions with local Native Americans, whom Newport calls "the naturals", jeopardize the expedition. Aboard one ship is Captain John Smith, sentenced to death for mutinous remarks, but once ashore pardoned by Captain Christopher Newport, leader of the expedition. In 1607, Pocahontas, the adventurous daughter of Chief Powhatan, and others from her tribe witness the arrival of three ships sent by English royal charter to found a colony in the New World. The film was initially met with an only mildly positive critical response, although several critics later ranked it as one of the best films of the decade. The New World was a box-office failure even though it received many award nominations for Lubezki's cinematography, Kilcher's acting and Horner's score. The production team includes director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki, producer Sarah Green, production designer Jack Fisk, costume designer Jacqueline West, composer James Horner and film editors Richard Chew, Hank Corwin, Saar Klein and Mark Yoshikawa.

The cast includes Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, August Schellenberg, Wes Studi, David Thewlis, Yorick van Wageningen and John Savage. It is the fourth feature film written and directed by Malick. The New World is a 2005 historical romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, depicting the founding of the Jamestown, Virginia, settlement and inspired by the historical figures Captain John Smith, Pocahontas of the Powhatan tribe, and Englishman John Rolfe.
