Apocalypto
Mar 27, 2024 22:36:36 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Mar 27, 2024 22:36:36 GMT -5
Apocalypto
Apocalypto (/əˌpɒkəˈlɪptoʊ/) is a 2006 American-Mexican epic historical action-adventure film produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Farhad Safinia. The film features a cast of American Indian and Indigenous Mexican actors consisting of Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dalia Hernández, Gerardo Taracena, Rodolfo Palacios, Bernardo Ruiz Juarez, Ammel Rodrigo Mendoza, Ricardo Diaz Mendoza, and Israel Contreras.
Set in Yucatán around the year 1511, Apocalypto portrays the hero's journey of a young man named Jaguar Paw, a late Mesoamerican hunter and his fellow tribesmen who are captured by an invading force. After the devastation of their village, they are brought on a perilous journey to a Mayan city for human sacrifice at a time when the Mayan civilization is in decline.
Set in Yucatán around the year 1511, Apocalypto portrays the hero's journey of a young man named Jaguar Paw, a late Mesoamerican hunter and his fellow tribesmen who are captured by an invading force. After the devastation of their village, they are brought on a perilous journey to a Mayan city for human sacrifice at a time when the Mayan civilization is in decline.
Review
First, let me say that the film is generally very well-acted and I find it a pleasure to watch repeatedly. The Native American physical appearance was generally very convincing.
Emotions, such as utter lust, terror, anguish, dismay, frustration, rage, outrage, humor, joy, love, friendship, shame, pride, worry, disgust, selfishness and sadistically add religiously motivated cruelty were very effectively conveyed.
The contrast between the degraded city-life and the life of the forest people, helps to accentuate the profound shock that the victims were feeling.
So the things that I am about to mention that I feel would have enhanced the film I consider minor in comparison to what the film accomplished. Here are some of the things that I found a bit distracting.
Emotions, such as utter lust, terror, anguish, dismay, frustration, rage, outrage, humor, joy, love, friendship, shame, pride, worry, disgust, selfishness and sadistically add religiously motivated cruelty were very effectively conveyed.
The contrast between the degraded city-life and the life of the forest people, helps to accentuate the profound shock that the victims were feeling.
So the things that I am about to mention that I feel would have enhanced the film I consider minor in comparison to what the film accomplished. Here are some of the things that I found a bit distracting.
Native Americans using Spanish words:
1. When the dog is barking just before the attack on the village, the sleepy Native American woman, Jaguar Paw's wife, refers to it as "perro", the Spanish word for dog.
2. When the raiding band's leader, Zero Wolf's son Cut Rock, is killed and Zero Wolf is holding him in his arms as he slowly bleeds to death, Zero Wolf tells him "duerme!" which is the Spanish word for sleep.
Solution: Don't have the Native Americans using Spanish words.
Solution: Don't have the Native Americans using Spanish words.
Unbelievable Physical Endurance
1. Then Jaguar Paw is shown easily climbing a tree, swimming against a strong river current, sprinting to evade a jaguar, and Running a veritable marathon after having his torso traversed by an arrow!
2. He is also briefly shown easily repairing the mortal injury by using a piece of bark from a tree.
3. Strangely, the bleeding is just a trickle of blood.
Solution? Have the injury be less serious.
3. Strangely, the bleeding is just a trickle of blood.
Solution? Have the injury be less serious.
European Physical Characteristics
1. The Mayan chief atop the pyramid has green eyes.
2. One of the captive forest villagers has blondish hair.
Dye the blondish Native American actor's hair black. Provide the chief with brown-colored contact lenses.
Controversial Depiction of Spaniards as Righteous
The small girl who appears to come under supernatural trance, refers to the Mayas are evil, while seeming to imply that those who a will arrive and put an end to their civilization, are righteous. History proves otherwise.
Solution: Have her prophecy not involve the contrast of good vs. evil.
Solution: Have her prophecy not involve the contrast of good vs. evil.
Unbelievable Lack of Concern
When the village chief sees a group of people pass through his land fleeing from a danger that has destroyed their village, he decides to ignore it. The very normal reaction would be to investigate to see if it posed some immediate danger. His argument, that to worry is wrong, seems imbecilic and hard to believe. So is the total unconcern by the other men except for the leader's son Jaguar Paw, who is shown silent brooding over it late into the night even while the festival is going on. .
Solution: Employ a more believable reason for their being caught totally by surprise such as maybe that their religious festival dedicated to their god on that special day prohibited worry.
Solution: Employ a more believable reason for their being caught totally by surprise such as maybe that their religious festival dedicated to their god on that special day prohibited worry.
Unbelievable ignorance of a Nearby City
As was demonstrated by Jaguar Paw's ability to run from the Mayan city to his village's location, the distance between the city and the village was approx.26 miles at at most.
Now, such a short distance between these two societies would make it impossible for them to have been totally ignorant of one another. In fact, such an extremely dangerous city would have been known to natives for hundreds of miles in all directions, as was the case with Mexico's Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
Solution: There is actually no solution to this one since adding distance would disrupt the whole drama. So its a matter of suspension of disbelief by the audience.
Now, such a short distance between these two societies would make it impossible for them to have been totally ignorant of one another. In fact, such an extremely dangerous city would have been known to natives for hundreds of miles in all directions, as was the case with Mexico's Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
Solution: There is actually no solution to this one since adding distance would disrupt the whole drama. So its a matter of suspension of disbelief by the audience.
Main article: Human sacrifice in Maya culture
Blood was viewed as a potent source of nourishment for the Maya deities, and the sacrifice of a living creature was a powerful blood offering. By extension, the sacrifice of a human life was the ultimate offering of blood to the gods, and the most important Maya rituals culminated in human sacrifice. Generally only high status prisoners of war were sacrificed, with lower status captives being used for labour.Important rituals such as the dedication of major building projects or the enthronement of a new ruler required a human offering. The sacrifice of an enemy king was the most prized, and such a sacrifice involved decapitation of the captive ruler, perhaps in a ritual reenactment of the decapitation of the Maya maize god by the death gods.
Sacrifice by decapitation is depicted in Classic period Maya art, and sometimes took place after the victim was tortured, being variously beaten, scalped, burnt or disemboweled.
During the Post classic period, the most common form of human sacrifice was heart extraction, influenced by the rites of the Aztecs in the Valley of Mexico; this usually took place in the courtyard of a temple, or upon the summit of the pyramid.
In one ritual, the corpse would be skinned by assistant priests, except for the hands and feet, and the officiating priest would then dress himself in the skin of the sacrificial victim and perform a ritual dance symbolizing the rebirth of life. Archaeological investigations indicate that heart sacrifice was practiced as early as the Classic period.
In common with other Mesoamerican cultures, the Maya worshipped feathered serpent deities. Such worship was rare during the Classic period, but by the Post classic the feathered serpent had spread to both the Yucatán Peninsula and the Guatemalan Highlands.
In Yucatán, the feathered serpent deity was Kukulkan, among the Kʼicheʼ it was Qʼuqʼumatz. Kukulkan had his origins in the Classic period War Serpent, Waxaklahun Ubah Kan, and has also been identified as the Postclassic version of the Vision Serpent of Classic Maya art.
Although the cult of Kukulkan had its origins in these earlier Maya traditions, the worship of Kukulkan was heavily influenced by the Quetzalcoatl cult of central Mexico. Likewise, Qʼuqʼumatz had a composite origin, combining the attributes of Mexican Quetzalcoatl with aspects of the Classic period Itzamna.