shailendra
New member
...Ah ha! I will have to very amicably disagree with you on this one, Priti!!!
Who ever said (or was so advertised) that the movie ‘Apocalypto’ boasts of being an accurate historical presentation piece in the first place?
I agree that there has been some controversy on the gory details already, and that the critics have lambasted him for showing a supposed great civilization in such a poor light. But the fact of the matter is that even now Historians or anyone else don't really have any solid proof or theory on how the civilization after creating such grandeur temple structures (which by the way still stand perfectly in thickly over grown forests having taken the ravages of time and nature) just disappeared into thin air!…
Also, the backdrop to the story (the theory of a civilization moving to it’s ultimate doom) may not really be that far off as you may actually think: recent studies and archeological facts point to the mass destruction of the green forests on a large scale by the Mayan’s to built their pyramid temples (apparently the huge amount of construction materials to create natural concrete etc. for the mass construction meant the felling of a lot of trees and wiping out crucial lifeline of settlements to create solid effegies for the gods)… and this destruction may well have triggered a lot to the imbalance to the region that led to the civilization’s eventual fall. [Also if you happened to notice in the movie there is a piece depicted of the same where you see trees being felled in mass and even the doomed slaves covered in the white concrete being created]
But having said that (and not wanting to get into some historical discussion at this point) Why not take the movie in the vein of; for example 'Ben-hur' or 'Gladiator', which both by the way had very conveniently twisted the true Historical facts in the name of creative license. ...and so did Mel Gibson for that matter in this one. To my mind he makes no bones to taking it to the point of exaggeration and glorifying their peculiar (and horrifying) methods of sun worship and human sacrifice’s to appease the gods (to bring the elusive rain and prosperity)
In any case, the idea is to get a thrill out of such historically set movies; to transport you into a different world, and to completely absorb you into it. I personally think it managed quite well to do that! The special effects were breath taking and the pace breathless!
[There is no doubt that Mel Gibson made a very clever decision in keeping it to subtitles; ensuring that you are completely transported into those times, language and all!]
...True! I didn't see anywhere that its a true depiction of history...actually didn't do my homework well before watching it...somehow had this notion in mind that its about christian missionaries introducing themselves to the mayans and it turned out to be a complete mayan episode...did like the lead characters determination to reach his family though...ok ok i wont reveal more of the storyline here keeping prospective watchers in mind...thanks for detailing the context and purpose as usual
...now i might actually appreciate it in retrospect...
)...was the most refreshing i have ever seen. His relation with Gul was super cute!
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