Hey, here comes Cabell off the deep end again, but let me give you my ideas
on Films vs poetry, painting and fiction.
I have trouble breaking into the analysis but I think that (even) for
historians since they too are people, films convey a much more emotional
impact. Part of it is the double whammy of a sound-and-light show of which
the other media have only one, mostly light. Music is a big part of it.
Can you picture STAR WARS with the theme replaced each time by TIPTOE
THROUGH THE TULIPS?!?! So perhaps historians are reacting to the fact that
they know the general public is going to be influenced far more by the movie
(and TV) medium than the others media, and that the movie 'should have been
more true to the facts.' Maybe even my stalwart, THE HISTORY CHANNEL, must
take some of the blame for making it so easy for us to experience history
with those re-creations of events. Therefore the ordinary movie viewer is
inclined to take more as gospel the movie, and of course it always helps to
have a heroine and love interest. e.g. Pocohontas
Randy Cabell
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Johnson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 9:42 AM
Subject: Re: NYT praises "The New World," new version
>I haven't yet seen it, but from what I gather it's more of a lyrical,
> poetical interpretation of the Smith/Pocahontas story and the founding of
> Jamestown than it is intended to be hard historical truth.
>
> I find myself wondering if the same folks that are upset at Malick's "The
> New World" hold Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride" or Benjamin West's
> painting "The Death of Lord Nelson" in the same disregard for their
> historical inaccuracies.
>
> It's interesting to me that film, for whatever reason, seems to evoke more
> distress or contempt among historians than other artistic media (poetry,
> painting, even fiction) when it comes to portraying historical subject
> matter--anybody have a sense for why this may be?
>
> Cheers,
>
> --Eric
>
> Eric D. M. Johnson
> Proprietor
> The Village Factsmith Historical Research & Consulting
> http://www.factsmith.com/
> [log in to unmask]
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Henry Wiencek" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 9:14 AM
> Subject: NYT praises "The New World," new version
>
>
>>I think a lot of people expected "The New World" to be an adventure story.
>> I had that idea too, but I had also seen Malick's earlier films so I had
>> learned to "expect the unexpected." I would agree with the New Yorker
>> critic, who wrote: "Whole passages of non-event stream by, and you half
>> want to scream, and yet-damn it all-by the end of "The New World" the
>> spell of the images, plus the enigma of Kilcher's [Pocahontas] expression
>> . . . somehow breaks you down." It IS slow, but I didn't really mind (a
>> Bach sonata is slow too), and when the story reached England I felt the
>> whole thing ascend into something wonderful and extremely powerful and
>> moving.
>>
>> Henry Wiencek
>>
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