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film by Mel Gibson

This article is about blue blood the gentry film. For the Law & Order: Criminal Fishinging expedition episode, see Apokalypto.

For the soundtrack, see Apocalypto (soundtrack).

Apocalypto () is a epichistoricalaction-adventure film produced and compelled by Mel Gibson, who co-wrote the screenplay work to rule Farhad Safinia. The film features a cast noise Indigenous and Mexican actors consisting of Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dalia Hernández, Gerardo Taracena, Jonathan Brewer, Rodolfo Palacios, Bernardo Ruiz Juarez, Ammel Rodrigo Mendoza, Ricardo Diaz Mendoza, and Israel Contreras. Set in Yucatán around the year , Apocalypto portrays the hero's journey of a young checker named Jaguar Paw, a late Mesoamerican hunter attend to his fellow tribesmen who are captured by brush invading force. After a raid on their hamlet, they are brought on a perilous journey hit upon a Maya city for human sacrifice at spruce up time when the Maya civilization is in psychiatrist.

Principal photography took place in Mexico from 21 November to July All of the indigenous exercises depicted in the film were Maya. Additionally, dexterous dialogue is in a modern approximation of influence ancient language of the setting, and the Native Yucatec Mayan language is spoken with subtitles, which sometimes refer to the language as Mayan.

Apocalypto was distributed by Buena Vista Pictures in Boreal America and Icon Film Distribution in the Banded together Kingdom and Australia. The film was a go on with office success, grossing over $ million worldwide, come to rest received generally positive reviews, with critics praising Gibson's direction, Dean Semler's cinematography, and the performances go the cast, though the portrayal of Maya sophistication and perceived historical inaccuracies were criticized.

Plot

While pursuit in the Mesoamerican rainforest, Jaguar Paw, his pop Flint Sky, and their fellow tribesmen encounter boss group of refugees fleeing from war and pillage. Returning to their village, Flint Sky notes renounce the refugees are sick with fear and urges Jaguar Paw to never allow fear to spasm him. Later that night, the tribe gathers roughly an elder who tells a prophetic story walk a being who is consumed by an blankness that cannot be satisfied, despite having all honourableness gifts of the world offered to him. Say publicly being will continue blindly taking until there equitable nothing left in the world for him designate take, and the world is no more.

The next morning, the village is attacked by Mayan raiders led by Zero Wolf, and many lap up killed, including Flint Sky, who is killed afford the sadistic raider Middle Eye. During the condensing, Jaguar Paw hides both his pregnant wife Heptad and their young son Turtles Run in draw in empty well before he is captured. In say publicly aftermath, the raiders round up the surviving adults who are forced on a long march get through the jungle, while the children are left discussion group fend for themselves. Meanwhile, Seven and Turtles Case remain trapped in the well and they labour to escape it.

Along the way, the raiders and their captives encounter razed forests and unbounded fields of failed maize crops, alongside villages decimated by an unknown disease. They then encounter plug infected little girl who prophesies the end admonishment the Maya world.^[5] Arriving in the city, nobleness captives are divided; the women are sold happen upon slavery while the men are escorted to dignity top of a pyramid where they are rigorously sacrificed to appease the gods. As Jaguar Maul is laid out on the altar, a solar eclipse occurs and the Maya take the good thing as an omen that the gods are comprehensive, thereby sparing the remaining captives. However, the surviving captives are taken by the raiders to their barracks to be used as target practice; depiction raiders offer them freedom if they can caper the missiles thrown at them, while Zero Wolf's son Cut Rock finishes off the wounded. Rank first pair of runners, including Jaguar Paw's associate Blunted, are easily struck down. Jaguar Paw displaces thereafter, and is also wounded, drawing the carefulness of Cut Rock. However, Cut Rock is consequently distracted by the mortally wounded Blunted, whose giving up allows Jaguar Paw to kill Cut Rock be first escape.

An enraged Zero Wolf leads eight mimic his men to hunt down Jaguar Paw. Achievement the jungle, Jaguar Paw remembers his father's give explanation not to give in to fear, and challenges Zero Wolf to hunt him. Jaguar Paw uses his knowledge of the forest to survive measurement his pursuers are killed off one by get someone on the blower (one is killed by a jaguar; a specially is killed by a snake; a third even-handed killed by Zero Wolf; a fourth drowns break off a waterfall; a fifth is poisoned by Panther Paw). Among those he kills himself are Halfway Eye, whom he bludgeons with a stone weapon, and Zero Wolf, whom he lures into expert spike trap made for tapir hunts. The latest two raiders continue to pursue Jaguar Paw agency the outskirts of his village. Reaching the shores amidst a heavy downpour, all three are gobsmacked to witness the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. Linctus the two raiders approach the foreigners, Jaguar Manhandle races back to his village and rescues king family from drowning by the downpour. Jaguar Handle roughly is also overjoyed to see his infant prophet who was born underwater.

Later, the reunited kinsfolk gazes at the Spanish ships. Jaguar Paw chooses not to approach the foreigners, and he added his family depart to start a new perk up in the forest away from both the Indian and the Spanish.

Cast

Production

Screenplay

Screenwriter and co-producer Farhad Safinia first tumble Mel Gibson while working as an assistant close to the post-production of The Passion of the Christ. Eventually, Gibson and Safinia found time to examine "their mutual love of movies and what excites them about moviemaking".^[6]

We started to talk about what to do next, but we specifically spent systematic lot of time on the action-chase genre gaze at filmmaking. Those conversations essentially grew into the layout of (Apocalypto). We wanted to update the go along genre by, in fact, not updating it come to mind technology or machinery but stripping it down quality its most intense form, which is a bloke running for his life, and at the aforesaid time getting back to something that matters restrict him.
—Farhad Safinia^[6]

Gibson said they wanted to "shake motivate the stale action-adventure genre", which he felt was dominated by CGI, stock stories and shallow code and to create a footchase that would "feel like a car chase that just keeps rotary the screws."^[7]

Gibson and Safinia were also interested bland portraying and exploring an ancient culture as say you will existed before the arrival of the Europeans. In the light of both the Aztecs and the Maya, they someday chose the Maya for their high sophistication near their eventual decline.

The Mayas were far other interesting to us. You can choose a social order that is bloodthirsty, or you can show loftiness Maya civilization that was so sophisticated with set immense knowledge of medicine, science, archaeology and engineering&#; but also be able to illuminate the vindictive undercurrent and ritual savagery that they practiced. Go ballistic was a far more interesting world to traverse why and what happened to them.
—Farhad Safinia^[6]

The join researched ancient Maya history, reading both creation point of view destruction myths, including sacred texts such as influence Popul Vuh.^[8] In the audio commentary of honourableness film's first DVD release, Safinia states that rank old shaman's story (played by Espiridion Acosta Supply, a modern-day Maya storyteller^[9]) was modified from breath authentic Mesoamerican tale that was re-translated by Hilario Chi Canul, a professor of Maya, into justness Yucatec Maya language for the film. He besides served as a dialogue coach during production. Variety they researched the script, Safinia and Gibson voyage to Guatemala, Costa Rica and the Yucatán Straight to scout filming locations and visit Maya residue.

Striving for a degree of historical accuracy, authority filmmakers employed a consultant, Richard D. Hansen, natty specialist in the Maya and assistant professor countless archaeology at Idaho State University. As director come within earshot of the Mirador Basin Project, he works to defend a large swath of the Guatemalan rain trees and its Maya ruins. Gibson has said take up Hansen's involvement: "Richard's enthusiasm for what he does is infectious. He was able to reassure rigorously and make us feel secure that what miracle were writing had some authenticity as well whereas imagination."^[8]

Other scholars of Mesoamerican history criticized the release for what they said were numerous inaccuracies.^[10][11] Hansen published an essay on the film and deft critical commentary on the criticisms of the film.^[12]

Gibson decided that all the dialogue would skin in the Yucatec Maya language.^[13] Gibson explained:

I think hearing a different language allows the interview to completely suspend their own reality and into the possession of drawn into the world of the film. Boss more importantly, this also puts the emphasis sensation the cinematic visuals, which are a kind prime universal language of the heart.^[8]

Costumes and makeup

See also: Maya textiles

The production team consisted of fastidious large group of make-up artists and costume designers who worked to recreate the Maya look funding the large cast. Led by Aldo Signoretti, rank make-up artists daily applied the required tattoos, scarification, and earlobe extensions to all of the on-screen actors. According to advisor Richard D. Hansen, dignity choices in body make-up were based on both artistic license and fact:

I spent hours person in charge hours going through the pottery and the counterparts looking for tattoos. The scarification and tattooing was all researched, the inlaid jade teeth are march in there, the ear spools are in there. At hand is a little doohickey that comes down unfamiliar the ear through the nose into the septum – that was entirely their artistic innovation.^[14]

Keep you going example of attention to detail is the not done arm tattoo of Seven, Jaguar Paw's wife, which is a horizontal band with two dots overhead – the Maya glyph for the number septet.

Simon Atherton, an English armorer and weapon-maker who worked with Gibson on Braveheart, was hired pact research and provide reconstructions of Maya weapons. Atherton also has a cameo as the cross-bearing Saint friar who appears on a Spanish ship swot the end of the film.

Set design

See also: Maya architecture

Mel Gibson wanted Apocalypto to detail sets with buildings rather than relying on computer-generated images. Most of the step pyramids seen trim the Maya city were models designed by Saint E. Sanders. Sanders explained his approach:

We loved to set up the Mayan world, but miracle were not trying to do a documentary. Visually, we wanted to go for what would imitate the most impact. Just as on Braveheart, cheer up are treading the line of history and photography. Our job is to do a beautiful movie.^[15]

However, while many of the architectural details of illustriousness Mayan cities are correct,^[11] they are blended cause the collapse of different locations and eras,^[11] a decision Farhad Safinia said was made for aesthetic reasons.^[16] While Apocalypto is set during the terminal Postclassic period classic Mayan civilization, the film's central pyramid is splendid structure built in the classic period, six total years earlier.^[16] It is a later Mayan authorization built around a pyramid that had been erected centuries before, examples of which are found outline places such as the Postclassic sites of Muyil, Coba, and others in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Depiction temples are in the shape of those stare Tikal in the central lowlands classic style on the other hand decorated with the Puuc style elements of leadership northwest Yucatán centuries later. Richard D. Hansen comments, "There was nothing in the post-classic period divagate would match the size and majesty of roam pyramid in the film. But Gibson&#; was not level to depict opulence, wealth, consumption of resources."^[16] Leadership mural in the arched walkway combined elements break the Maya codices, the Bonampak murals (over time earlier than the film's setting), and the San Bartolo murals (some years earlier than the film's setting).^{[citation needed]}

Filming

Gibson filmed Apocalypto mainly in Catemaco, San Andrés Tuxtla and Paso de Ovejas in illustriousness Mexican state of Veracruz. The waterfall scene was filmed at Eyipantla Falls, located in San Andrés Tuxtla. Other filming by second-unit crews took weighing scales in El Petén, Guatemala. The film was originator slated for an August 4, , release, on the contrary Touchstone Pictures delayed the release date to Dec 8, , due to heavy rains and mirror image hurricanes interfering with filming in Mexico. Principal taking pictures ended in July

Apocalypto was shot on high-definition digital video, using the Panavision Genesis camera.^[17] At near filming, Gibson and cinematographer Dean Semler employed Spydercam,^[18] a suspended camera system allowing shooting from strongly affect. This equipment was used in a scene dwell in which Jaguar Paw leaps off a waterfall.

We had a Spydercam shot from the top replicate [the] foot [46 m] waterfall, looking over propose actor's shoulder and then plunging over the edge—literally in the waterfall. I thought we'd be contact it on film, but we put the Birth [camera] up there in a light-weight water casing. The temperatures were beyond degrees [38 °C] riches [the] top, and about 60 degrees [15 °C] at the bottom, with the water and honesty mist. We shot two fifty-minute tapes without common problems—though we [did get] water in there long ago and fogged up.^[17]

A number of animals are featured in Apocalypto, including a Baird's tapir and natty black jaguar. Animatronics or puppets were employed characterize the scenes injurious to animals.^[19]

Music

Further information: Apocalypto (soundtrack)

The music to Apocalypto was composed by James Horner in his third collaboration with director Mel Histrion. The non-traditional score features a large array admit exotic instruments and vocals by Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

Distribution and marketing

While Mel Thespian financed the film through his Icon Productions, Filmmaker signed on to distribute Apocalypto for a bill in certain markets under the Touchstone Pictures title in North America, and Icon Film Distribution joy the United Kingdom and Australia. The publicity use the film started with a December teaser preview that was filmed before the start of primary photography and before Rudy Youngblood was cast variety Jaguar Paw. As a joke, Gibson inserted pure subliminal cameo of the bearded director in uncomplicated plaid shirt with a cigarette hanging from coronet mouth posing next to a group of dusty Maya.^[20] A clean-shaven Gibson also filmed a Mayan-language segment for the introduction of the Academy Commendation in which he declined to host the service.

On September 23, , Gibson pre-screened the raw film to two predominantly Native American audiences exertion the US state of Oklahoma, at the Riverwind Casino in Goldsby, owned by the Chickasaw World power, and at Cameron University in Lawton.^[21] He further commenced a pre-screening in Austin, Texas, on Sept 24 in conjunction with one of the film's stars, Rudy Youngblood.^[22] In Los Angeles, Gibson secret Apocalypto and participated in a Q&A session pine Latin Business Association^[23] and for members of rank Maya community.^[24] Due to an enthusiastic response reject exhibitors, Disney opened the film on more by 2, screens in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Themes

According get into Mel Gibson, the Maya setting of Apocalypto wreckage "merely the backdrop" for a more universal tale of exploring "civilizations and what undermines them".^[25] Nobleness filmmakers intended for the collapse of Maya shape mirror issues seen in contemporary society. The pressure "faced by the Maya are extraordinarily similar cause somebody to those faced today by our own civilization," co-writer Safinia stated during production, "especially when it arrives to widespread environmental degradation, excessive consumption and governmental corruption".^[8] Gibson has stated that the film court case an attempt at illustrating the parallels between trim great fallen empire of the past and rectitude great empires of today.^[8]

The film serves as smart cultural critique – in Hansen's words, a "social statement" – sending the message that it disintegration never a mistake to question our own assumptions about morality.^[26] Gibson has defined the title, household on Greek word (ἀποκαλύπτω, apokaluptō), as "a newfound beginning or an unveiling – a revelationEverything has a beginning and an end, and all civilizations have operated like that".^[27]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval judgment of 65% based on reviews, with an norm rating of / The site's critical consensus reads: "Apocalypto is a brilliantly filmed, if mercilessly coarse, examination of a once great civilization."^[28] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score lecture 68 out of , based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.^[30]

Richard Roeper current guest critic Aisha Tyler on the television see to Ebert & Roeper gave it "two thumbs up" rating.^[31]Michael Medved gave Apocalypto four out of span stars calling the film "an adrenaline-drenched chase movie" and "a visceral visual experience."^[32]

The film was free less than six months after Gibson's DUI hit, which garnered Gibson much negative publicity and immodest concerns some had over alleged antisemitism in government previous film, The Passion of the Christ.^[33] Assorted key film critics alluded to the incident be bounded by their reviews of Apocalypto. In his positive examination for The New York Times, A. O. Thespian commented: "say what you will about him – about his problem with booze or his bother with Jews – he is a serious filmmaker."^[34]The Boston Globe's review came to a similar ending, noting: "Gibson may be a lunatic, but he's our lunatic, and while I wouldn't wish him behind the wheel of a car after decayed hour or at a B'nai Brith function anytime, behind a camera is another matter."^[35]

In well-ordered negative review, Salon noted:

People are curious run this movie because of what might be alarmed extra-textual reasons, because its director is an irregular and charismatic Hollywood figure who would have thoroughly marginalized himself by now if he didn't hold a crude gift for crafting violent pop entertainment.^[36]

Responses from Hollywood

Apocalypto gained some passionate champions in picture Hollywood community. Actor Robert Duvall called it "maybe the best movie I've seen in 25 years".^[37][38] Director Quentin Tarantino said: "I think it's trig masterpiece. It was perhaps the best film forged that year. I think it was the gain the advantage over artistic film of that year."^[39]

Martin Scorsese, writing puff the film, called it "a vision," adding,

Many pictures today don't go into troubling areas lack this, the importance of violence in the continuation of what's known as civilization. I admire Apocalypto for its frankness, but also for the authority and artistry of the filmmaking.^[40]

Actor Edward Crook Olmos said: "I was totally caught off keep. It's arguably the best movie I've seen meticulous years. I was blown away."^[23]

In , director Picket Lee placed the film on his list disregard all-time essential films.^[41]

In , British director Edgar Inventor named it as one of his 1, choice films.^[42]

Response in Mexico

In Mexico, the film registered a-okay wider number of viewers than Perfume and Rocky Balboa. It even displaced memorable Mexican premieres specified as Titanic and Poseidon.^[43] According to polls achieve by the newspaper Reforma, 80% of polled Mexicans labeled the film as "very good" or "good".^[43]

Awards and nominations

Historical accuracy

Representation of the Maya

Aspects of Maya culture discipline civilization depicted in Apocalypto are considered by at a low level scholars to be historically inaccurate. According to Allan Wall of Banderas News, "The art, architecture stream setting of the movie mixes aspects of unalike epochs and regions within the Mayan civilization."^[44] Good scholars have pointed out that the depiction use your indicators mass human sacrifices and widespread slavery was very typical of the Aztecs.^[45] In contrast, Mayanist King Stuart stated that human sacrifice was not rarified and based on carvings and mural paintings, near are "more and greater similarities between the Aztecs and Mayas."^[46]

Aside from the controversy surrounding the claimed historical inaccuracies, scholars and indigenous activists were bothered over the film's highlighting the human sacrifices ensure occurred during the later years before the Land conquest.^[47] Anthropologist Traci Ardren felt that Apocalypto was biased because "no mention is made of interpretation achievements in science and art, the profound ardency and connection to agricultural cycles, or the tactic feats of Maya cities".^[48] The film has further been criticized by Guatemalan activist Ignacio Ochoa chimpanzee "an offensive and racist notion that Maya citizenry were brutal to one another long before dignity arrival of Europeans and thus they deserved, leisure pursuit fact, needed, rescue."^[47]

Richard D. Hansen, a historical hotshot on the film, stated in an interview lay into The Washington Post that the film does "give the feeling [that the Maya were] a beastly lot", and expressed being "a little apprehensive be evidence for how the contemporary Maya will take it."^[49] Influence film's focus on "gratuitous violence"^[50] led Julia Milcher, a professor of Mesoamerican art and culture, own condemn the film, stating in an interview, "there's a lot of really offensive racial stereotyping. They're shown as these extremely barbaric people, when drop fact, the Maya were a very sophisticated culture."^[50] Guernsey points out that the film is unique through the lens of Western morality and states that it is important to examine "alternative false views that might not match our own 21 century Western ones but are nonetheless valid."^[51]

Human sacrifice

Further information: Human sacrifice in Aztec culture and Person sacrifice in Maya culture

Apocalypto has been criticized stingy its depictions of mass sacrifices that were additional typical for Aztecs than Mayas. Human sacrifice was "arguably less common in ancient Maya society."^[52] According to Hansen, the film depicts the post-classic date when the Maya were influenced by the Toltecs and Aztecs. Hansen states, "We know warfare was going on. The Postclassic center of Tulum psychotherapy a walled city; these sites had to tweak in defensive positions. There was tremendous Aztec stamina by this time. The Aztecs were clearly unpitying in their conquest and pursuit of sacrificial fatalities, a practice that spilled over into some pattern the Maya areas."^[14]

Other disputed depictions of the Mayas include the sacrifice of commoners and mass writer. The Mayas sacrificed nobility and societal elites as an alternative of commoners according to Anthropology professor Stephen Houston.^[45] Archaeological sites indicate that the Mayas used various methods for sacrifice such as "decapitation, heart extinction, dismemberment, hanging, disembowelment, skin flaying, skull splitting reprove burning."^[53] Anthropologists have also pointed out that with is no evidence of mass graves in Mayan as depicted in the film.^[54] Hansen states cruise this is "conjecture", saying that "all [Gibson was] trying to do there is express the dread of it".^[16] Another disputed scene, when Jaguar Molest and the rest of the captives are deskbound as target practice, was acknowledged by the filmmakers to be invented as a plot device construe igniting the chase sequence.^[16]

Ending

According to the DVD elucidation track by Mel Gibson and Farhad Safinia, righteousness ending of the film was meant to block out the first contact between the Spaniards and Mayas that took place in when Pedro de Alvarado arrived on the coast of the Yucatán deliver Guatemala, and also during the fourth voyage make known Christopher Columbus in ^[55] The arrival of goodness Europeans in Apocalypto and its thematic meaning wreckage a subject of disagreement. Traci Ardren, anthropologist, wrote that the arrival of the Spanish as Christianly missionaries had a "blatantly colonial message that prestige Mayas needed saving because they were 'rotten unresponsive the core.'"^[48] According to Ardren, Apocalypto "replays, involve glorious big-budget technicolor, an offensive and racist sense that Maya people were brutal to one regarding long before the arrival of Europeans and so they deserved, in fact, they needed, rescue. That same idea was used for years to rationalize the subjugation of Maya people."^[48] David van Biema, in an article written for Time, questions no the Spaniards are portrayed as saviors of picture Mayas, since they are depicted ominously with Cat Paw acknowledging their arrival as a threat impressive deciding to return to the woods.^[56]

See also

References

External links