[Tonchi]

Thank you for posting that article from the Archaeology Magazine, it covers a lot of things I wanted to discuss when I planned to reopen this thread. Unfortunately, the movie has not yet arrived here and I wanted to see it before, but I have seen many interviews with the actors (in Spanish) and quite a few filmclips and read at least 8 reviews that came out during the first week the film was available. It appears that Apocalypto was rushed into release and sent to certain media outlets so that it would make the cut for Oscar nomination, and the rest of us can see it eventually.

First I want to say that this is not going to be an easy movie for most people to watch. Even if you like your blood and guts at horror-movie level, there is no plot to captivate you in between the slaughter. It appears that Mel Gibson took all the FX he learned from making the Passion and brought it to the jungles of Mexico. But this is not gratuitous violence, this is the way these pre-Colombian people really lived. It's not that life was cheap then, they believed your life was borrowed and the marker could be called at any time by those in authority, or the gods, if they needed it. Blood was the food of the gods, and they fed their gods often and heavily.

They had knives made from spalled obsidian and flints, they were sharp as razors and they knew how to use them. Warfare was constant throughout the Maya civilization but RITUALIZED: mostly they had forays into neighboring territories or pissing contests between noble leaders or knights of various power centers where you knocked down and captured somebody on the other side who was then required to present himself for sacrifice at the appropriate time and place. At the time of this movie, the larger cities of the classic period had disappeared several hundred years ago and the civilization was in decline. Far from the romanticized view of the indigenous people living in harmony with the land, the Maya had devastated their environment, were short on food, authority was breaking down, towns were now fighting for total conquest of their neighbors and evidence exists that cannibalism may have been more common than previously believed due to famine. So Mel went to a lot of trouble to research and show the authentic feel of the times; by most accounts he was successful except the historians agree that what he showed at the ending could not possibly have taken place at the time in which he places his story.

No Indians were harmed in the making of this movie, nor were their traditions disrespected. Shamans and elders were consulted, and as told in the Archaeology article, the appropriate politicians were paid off. I have no illusions about how long Mel will be involved in his "improvement of the quality of life" projects in the area, but he did what he had to do and it seems to have turned out well for everybody.

The Indian actors who were interviewed said the makeup crew was all Italians (no doubt Passion veterans). There were communication problems because the cast and supporting actors spoke Spanish or several Meso-American dialects, most of the crew was European, Gibson of course speaks English, you get the picture, but everything was planned pretty well and it all came off in very high quality. During this time, we know there was a serious problem with storms and flooding in the area and Mel had also begun to drink heavily (which culminated with him back in rehab after his embarrassing meltdown during that traffic stop in LA).

The interview with the Indian who plays Jaguar Paw was really interesting. After he got the part, Mel put him on a diet and sent him to the gym to turn his body into what they thought a warrior ought to look like.

The main reason I am looking forward to seeing this movie is because it appears to be authentic. I have been all over that area and the thing that always did not fit in my mind was how it must have looked with all the "average people" living in the areas around the huge ceremonial centers. Those centers and the rulers who had them built were supported by huge numbers of farmers and wood cutters, and finally I will see how it was for them. The Yucatan is not an ideal place to live: the weather is hellish in the summer and hurricanes are always offshore to wipe the place flat, yet the first great North American civilization rose from there. If Mel did his homework as well as they claim, I will really enjoy this movie.