Apocalypto

This weekend I saw Gibson's 'Apocalypto.' I came away extremely impressed. I was very surprised to learn that this is in fact a Disney film. How often does Disney sponsor works of such brutal violence or cultural awareness? I guess it takes Mel Gibson, the man who made 'The Passion.' The film displayed all the best features of a Hollywood epic in terms of elaborate sets, costumes, soundtrack and exquisite cinematography and yet was very unorthodox in its subject matter: a Mayan civilisation with dialogue from its now dead language and its sacrificial victims. While not much is explained about the theology, outlook, rich science, and technology of this civilisation because it is told from the perspective of a fringe hunter gatherer, living a traditional tribal lifestyle in the jungle. The film is aesthetic, visual, visceral, forcing the viewer to evaluate and relate to this completely foreign society and civilisation on purely emotional and instinctual level rather than an intellectual one. If nothing else, I took from it a much deeper appreciation for traditional human lifestyles and the warrior, hunter gatherer within all of us, whose role is largely destroyed in modern society. However, be assured that if all our our technology disappeared in a civilisation ending event, such is the life to which we would return.

If you cannot tolerate violence do not see his film. A lifetime of brutal violence and human suffering is displayed in a mere 2 hours. However, it was not as extreme as Gibson's 'Passion of the Christ' which enthralled so many Christians.

I reject the harsh criticisms I have read or heard about this movie. Mel Gibson is a very sick man, but a genius film maker all the same. For a better understanding of Gibson and his controversial work, I highly recommend the South Park episode, 'The Passion of the Jew.'