APOCALYPTO…
I’d never been to Prasad’s IMAX even though it’s been around 9 months since I came here. I usually watch movies at Anand Theatre paying a meagre 25 rupees. Here, one has to pay a lot more. But last weekend I went to IMAX to watch a movie (courtesy a few friends from other cities). And what a movie it was!
Apocalypto is one of those movies that doesn’t seem like a movie. It’s more like shrouding oneself in an invisible cloak and peeping into the lives of the protagonists. The movie is so realistic that it made me cringe at times. One can feel the fear, angst, hopelessness and anger of the characters come alive sitting in the hall.
The movie has a great opening quote: “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.” — Will Durant
The movie is beautifully shot and edited. The opening tapir hunting scene is just the precursor of the gory scenes that are to follow. Hope Maneka Gandhi doesn’t see the tapir being so brutally killed. And the dismemberment of the tapir… God! I was close to puking. A guy actually eats the balls of the tapir!
The movie really is uninhibited in its portrayal of savagery and barbarism. One gets to see a lot of blood spilled, animals killed, heads rolled. In some of the scenes one gets to see the air bloodied for some time by the blood of the victims. Awesome work I must say! And with occasional glimpses of the private parts of both the males and the females, the movie takes the guise of a documentary on the tribals, the scene looking like straight out of a Discovery or Nat Geo production.
Rudy Youngblood is awesome! It’s a pity he doesn’t get to speak much. Most of the speaking is done by those eyes of his. It would have been lovely to hear his voice more often in the movie but he’s been handled quite adepty and comes across as just the perfect choice for his part.
Dialogues, like I said, are few and far between but no less lighter. In fact, some of the lines are so heavy that you can literally be weighed down by their significance. Most of the lines are left unsaid but then, that’s one of the strong points of the movie. And to add to it, James Horner presents a beautiful background score. The music so beautifully blends in with the mood and the flow that it seems as if it is the most natural music that could ever be there. It is kind of effortless yet stands out.
The Yucatan Maya language used in the movie is hardly understandable but the English sub titles more than make up for it. We had a trying time remembering what the Yucatan words for certain English phrases were. The Mayans are ahown as a corrupt, savage, ruthless people who keen on strengthening their position and civilisaiton do not hesitate to crush and destroy other’s. Some say the movie is factually incorrect, but who ever said that correctness is Mel Gibson’s forte??
The movie is immensely enjoyable and though the first half is a bit sluggish, the second half is more than enough to handle. But do not watch if you are one of those weak hearted guys/gals.
Filed under: Experiences, General, Movies, Music, Quotes |
9 Responses to “APOCALYPTO…”
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Okay. Got it Mr. Strong HEART
By the way, who has (had) come? BD?
@Bipin:
Hey, I never meant you by weak hearted. So, u got no reason to be sarcastic… And thanks for calling me Strong heart. Greatly appreciated. No yaar, BD hadn’t come. U know Jajju (Vegdevil) and Sarangi (Untouchable)? They had come. Find their links on my blogroll.
Hey thanks for adding me to your blog roll
though there is no H in arpit
Arrey nahi bhai.. I was not sarcastic. I was trying to be foonny :D.
Jajju bole to? Jajati? Electrical wala?
@Arpit:
Ha! I thought so initially but then since most of them have it here added it as an afterthought. Btw, u were always on my blogroll but through ur wordpress blog. Gud 2 c u have ur own thing now. And thanks 4 correcting the misnaming.
@Bipin:
Yeah, the same Electrical Jajati.
That’s great man. It has been pretty long I heard of him. Where is he now? Was in CTS, I guess.
After long I am visiting your blog, Well written. But texual content of this blog is lesser than what can be thought from U, as this movie has mesmerized all of us. And one correction, they kill a tapir.
@Untouchable:
Ya, the content was kept minimal keeping in mind that I’m not a reviewer of movies. It just details my experience on the movie. Sorry about the boar part. It was a tapir indeed!