film: Apocalypto

[L2R]

^always a pleasure to read.

 

[Ravr]

Hey Mel,

I want my money back!...

Such a story...

 

[ego_loss]

I just watched this movie for a second time last night. The first viewing left me less than thrilled. I was too focused on the cheesier, over dramatized elements to really focus on the underlying theme.

The interpretation I got from the movie upon a second viewing was far different than the first. This time I knew everything that was going to happen so I could focus more on the subtle aspects of the story/character arcs.

I won't go too far into what I took from the movie the second time, except to say that it's deeper levels seem to contain a pretty broad commentary on society and human nature in general. Statements that could work in pretty much any culture throughout history. From the quote at the very beginning of the film to the hunter chief's campfire parable to the sick little girl's prophecy... it seemed like Mel was trying to make a specific point about a culture's tendency to self destruct from within making it more vulnerable to eventual extinction or domination through outside forces. In other words, the Myans were already on their way out when the Spaniards landed, it just made them that much easier to eradicate. Of course, I'm probably just reading too far into this. I'm actually ashamed to give Mel that much credit.

Meh.

All in all, I enjoyed the movie far more after viewing number 2.

 

[StatuS tickleS]

my vote of five stars is more about my personal enjoyment of the movie, which is no doubt paramount in some cases, with the plot and content, subject matter being the sort of things i am interested in. but from a technical standpoint i'd give it a four.

 

[AmorRoark]

I'm glad this was bumped!! Considering pennywise and tambo are two of my favorite posters seeing them argue is quite fun.

 

[ego_loss]

^^
I would normally agree with you, but I think this time you are pretty far off. Writing off a movie simply because of it's director should only be done when the words "Uwe Boll" and "video game" are involved. If nothing else, your argument would have far more credibility if you at least watched the movie once.

 

[junctionalfunkie]

I wish I'd seen it in the theater....

From imdb.com:

Whats with Waldo ?
Waldo is the star of the "Where's Waldo" series. The character is known for his distinct wardrobe of a red and white striped shirt, blue pants, shoes, red and white striped socks, glasses, and his red and white bobbled hat. He appears in the cinema version of Apocalypto for just one (1) frame, were Jaguar Paw falls into the field of disposed corpses with matching red and blue background colours. This inlay is not animated, rather a one frame human-manaquine setup. In Apocalypto, Waldo is laying dead among the corpses with an arrow shot through his head. The DVD edition has this frame cut out.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472043/faq

:D

 

[LoveAlways]

What is the historical inaccuracy?

To my knowlege, the aztecs enganged in human sacrifice in a manner basically consistent with what was depicted in the film.

The only thing that bothered me about this movie (I LOVED it otherwise) was the fact that the Mayans (not aztecs) had arguable the most sophisticated calendar known to date. They would have known about the eclipse!!! I'm sorry but the little girl prophecy was just dramatic, there is really no way they wouldn't have already known about the eclipse. I've been to the REAL Mayan ruins in the Yucetan penisula many many times. I distinctly remember seeing their tools used to acurately follow the moon and the sun.

As for the sacrificing. I have seen the "playing fields" and pits where they sacrificed people, animals, mostly children I think actually (thanks Mel for not making us watch them kill children!!) It seems to have been a large part of their culture (more that .01% I'm afraid) Of course none of us can be certain as to how much, why, or how they did it-just that it was done. From what I remember being told people generally gave their children or animals for sacrificing (to bring rain, or more cows..you know.) I mean to say from what I understand people willing sacrificed their loved ones or even sometiems themselves. There were also games where people were beheaded. I think it would have been interesting to see something like that. They probably could have used the actual ruins in fact...

I also think the ending was just for dramatic effect--because shit, how else would he have ended it??

Overall I really liked the movie. It annoys the hell out of me when people get pissed that its not in english--thats one detail I really really admire about Mel Gibson. It made the movie for me.

 

[rachamim]

Saw it earlier this year and then a few times after, not by choice. First, I liked it with English subtitles, until the scene where they are going to sacrficie him because to me that ruined the whole film. It was so meaningless, a big chase through the bush. Wowwwww, never seen that before! Interesting at first because of the indigenous folks, but of course the film is just final confirmation that Gibson has fried his noodle besides just being a redundant Jew hating Catholic Extremist.