Tuesday, January 15, 2008 - You Had Me At Apocalypto!
I recently saw Apocalypto on cable, for the third time. It’s Mel Gibson’s brutally realistic take on the Mayan culture. The first time I saw it was on the big screen. After the movie, I felt like running through a jungle. The last time I had that feeling was the very first time I saw a Bruce Lee movie as a young kid in the Philippines. I must have been seven or eight. My dad took my brother and I, and after the movie, we were kicking and karate chopping everything in sight. It was definitely a “guy’s” movie. It’s like watching the Super bowl, then playing catch after the game.
But besides being a guy movie, I loved its historical content. It’s how I imagined the lives of natives were lived, prior to the colonization of Western Europe. Even in that time, I can imagine the differences between city folks and people of the forest, very well depicted in the film. Just when they thought things were already bad, they still didn’t know how worse things can get. In Apocalypto, just as with most of Mel Gibson’s films, there is always a religious and biblical undertone.
I love the risks that Mel Gibson has taken over the years. I saw “The Passion of the Christ” with a church youth group. It was definitely an emotional experience. I would go as far as saying that Mel Gibson is to Christians what Steven Spielberg is to the Jews. They both definitely serve their religions very well. I loved all the dialogue and controversies that Passion created. Even though Mel Gibson was criticized for its blood and brutality, I could tell most filmmakers wished they could have done the film. Not only was the film great, but also from what I remember, Mel made a killing in the box office!
I recently watched Braveheart on cable, and was reminded of how great a job he did on the movie. I remembered that he won a couple of Oscars for it, and that it was his first film as a director. That movie started his “retelling of history” genre, which is a very popular genre in the theatres these days. Mel Gibson also starred in The Patriot, The Bounty, and one of my favorites, The Year of Living Dangerously, all great historical retellings.
Mel has had some honest opinions over the years. When he did the voice of John Smith for the Disney movie Pocahontas, there were many protestors during the red carpet premiere. Mel couldn’t understand why anyone would protest against a cartoon. He approached the protestors and basically told them: “You should all go home. You are protesting a movie in which a raccoon talks!"
I know that if he wasn’t such a stud, at least when he was younger, he’d probably get more credit for his filmmaking. If he looked like, say, Peter Jackson or Stanley Kubrick, you’d probably call Apocalypto a “Gibson film”. Instead, it’s just a “Mel Gibson movie”.
I also know that Mel Gibson has had some negative moments in his personal life. With his drinking problems and his well-documented anti-Jewish comments, it really shows us his human side. It’s actually fitting. Don’t most artistic geniuses have an eccentric side? Yes, after seeing Apocalypto, I would credit Mel Gibson with having some artistic genius. I can almost guarantee that long after he is gone, future filmmakers will look at Passion and Apocalypto and consider them great, underrated films.
So what’s next? I hope something as good and as risky as Apocalypto.
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About Me
Robert Calixto read a simple quote, and suddenly his creative floodgates opened! One of those self-defining, quotable quotes you read on Reader’s Digest. He is patiently working on a scifi/political thriller, a self-help/sales manual, and a biography. Being a columnist helps him focus on his newfound challenge, writing! The quote? ”You don’t find yourself, you make yourself.”
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