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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Apocalypto Stars: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Jonathan Brewer, Morris Birdyellowhead, Carlos Emilio Baez, and Maria Isabel Diaz Director: Mel Gibson Scriptwriters: Mel Gibson and Farhad Safinia Touchstone Pictures Running Time: 102 minutes Rated: R Touchstone Pictures will be hanging its head for years at the release of this disaster. Director/scriptwriter Mel Gibson tells the story of a man caught up in the sacrifices of a Mayan city, probably located in the country we now call Guatemala. The countryside has been saddled with illness and drought, so the logical thing to do, according to the priest, is blood sacrifice, one person after another. The sacrifices are brought back by raiding parties. Music is OK , acting is OK and it was filmed on location, but the constant zig-zagging of the camera through continuous chase scenes may bring on a headache to some. It did to me. Story is set in the 16th century and the Mayan civilization is at its peak. In a small village, a father, his son and other men are on a hunt and manage to get a large boar. They are interrupted by harried people from a distant village who offer fresh fish in exchange for passage through the land. A man from this group tells them to flee. Not thinking there is anything wrong, the village celebrates the hunt and guess what happens the next morning. That's right, a Mayan raiding party decimates the village and takes villagers as slaves.The lead, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) hides his pregnant wife and young son in a large pit with smooth walls. Rudy then has to go with the rest of the "slaves" but now is ear-marked for death because of his defiant attitude. There are now two stories going on. Rudy's adventures on his way to the city and Mayan temple and that of his wife and son trying to survive in the pit. The scenes of human sacrifice are sickening, but Rudy manages to escape and head back to the pit with a group of Mayan warriors on his trail. I hope Rudy Youngblood got hazard pay for his role as Jaguar Paw. I imagine this film will be looked upon by some as a commentary on the end of civilizations. Turning to sacrifice to appease the gods is classic when there are serious problems. Apocalypto doesn't help us understand this aspect, as the story that is given us is of raiding parties, beheadings, throat cuttings and no understanding as to why this is happening until the captives reach the city. Granted part of the violence is off-camera, but the implications are certainly enough. Dialogue is apparently in the Mayan language with subtitles that sometimes use modern language, including a certain four-letter word. The chase scenes with Jaguar Paw are fairly good, but when the camera goes back to his wife in the pit, it becomes just plain farcical. What this woman endures is out of a comic book. One gets the idea that there was a great deal more film footage to this story and that it was chopped down to a little more than 100 minutes now. Some scenes appear shortened and go from one location to another in a hurry. First, the captives are in the jungle, then they are climbing a mountain side, then a village with plague-ridden people, etc. My guess for the timeline of this story would be about 15 days. It seems that long for the audience. Copyright 2006 Marie Asner Submitted 12/6/06
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