word-eating maya
upon the recent dvd release of apocalyto, the film i railed against vehemently in a post somewhere below, i am writing to eat my words. i am also restarting this blog, in conversation with inkaquatic, who has put in her own two cents about the movie. i saw it in the theater when it came out in november. i had my arms crossed for the first thirty minutes, my mouth in a snarl. it was cutesy and odd at first. but when they get to the temples and then the chase, i undid my stance and leaned in, almost off my chair.
i relived that again with friends this weekend. it was even better in the 2nd go 'round, watching it without the possessive posture. rereading what i said about mel, i feel that i was only right to question what was gonna go down, especially after "passion," but perhaps being removed from the subject, not so close to it as he was with christ, served him better. he got so heavy-handed and preachy and violent and just forgot about story in passion and apocalypto was the place for him to explore what real, open ideas of humanity he seems to have. he put together ideas about the maya that i've read about in whole new ways, ways i could see clearly. i guess that can be the function of film, to uncomplicate. it isn't a historical document but it uses history very well. the temple scenes were as grotesque as they were gorgeous, i was totally torn by this gruesome empire and its fabulous fashions, all the jade bling that the ahaus (maya kings) rocked, i loved it and it hurt me.
it does get ludicrous but mostly holds together, especially that last hour in the jungle. the lead character learns to use the forest as the movie learns to use the forest and it's just magical. i could not fight that, it was real homage to a natural world and a smart way to go with the action and story, not getting to caught up in the details of history and using the drama of nature. i do still think that he is some kind of hollywood conquistador, and i will forever envy the white men with access to great storytelling devices, but at least this time he used his powers for good.
i relived that again with friends this weekend. it was even better in the 2nd go 'round, watching it without the possessive posture. rereading what i said about mel, i feel that i was only right to question what was gonna go down, especially after "passion," but perhaps being removed from the subject, not so close to it as he was with christ, served him better. he got so heavy-handed and preachy and violent and just forgot about story in passion and apocalypto was the place for him to explore what real, open ideas of humanity he seems to have. he put together ideas about the maya that i've read about in whole new ways, ways i could see clearly. i guess that can be the function of film, to uncomplicate. it isn't a historical document but it uses history very well. the temple scenes were as grotesque as they were gorgeous, i was totally torn by this gruesome empire and its fabulous fashions, all the jade bling that the ahaus (maya kings) rocked, i loved it and it hurt me.
it does get ludicrous but mostly holds together, especially that last hour in the jungle. the lead character learns to use the forest as the movie learns to use the forest and it's just magical. i could not fight that, it was real homage to a natural world and a smart way to go with the action and story, not getting to caught up in the details of history and using the drama of nature. i do still think that he is some kind of hollywood conquistador, and i will forever envy the white men with access to great storytelling devices, but at least this time he used his powers for good.
Labels: apocalypto
posted by nightbreaker at
1:48 PM
1 Comments:
this post reminds me of that opening scene where the hunters are chompin' on boar guts--but they do it ritualistically, with honor, and the best part, with a sense of humor
i agree somewhat that white men have access to glossier storytelling devices, but do not discard the scene where the elder tells the villagers the story of fear--oral storytelling is the original literature--all aboriginal cultures share that power. that mel uses film is just another way to spin it. we can spin webs, too, and are not as messed up in the head as mel, i hope, to use our power for even greater good.
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