Apocalypto

Dear Diary,

After being expectedly called up for on-call duty over Sunday at IMM where hordes of teenage girls waited more than 8 hours to see and scream at their Taiwanese pop idols “Fahrenheit”, I had some good fortune in getting my Monday “off” which is today. =) Went to the library to borrow a book before proceeding to meet a friend for a movie. It then occurred to me that I was about to watch just the second M18 cinema movie in my life. The first movie I ever watched in the cinema which was M18 was “The Passion of the Christ”. So far, most of the movies I watched were PG-rated. I caught two NC-16 movies “Swordfish” and “Saving Private Ryan”. That’s about all. Haven’t yet to catch R(A) or R21 ones, hahaha…

The movie was yet another foreign-language film, making it the third one I ever caught in the cinemas. “Apocalypto” directed by Mel Gibson, depicted one man's experience during the decline of the ancient Mayan civilisation. Despite having a cast of completely unknown actors and actresses, Mel Gibson’s creation was a heart-thumping, compelling visual and emotional extravaganza, though stomach-churning violence was pretty excessive. I don’t know how accurate the historical facts of the movie are, but I could feel that human spirit of courage and defiance against the overwhelming odds of death in the main actor starring as Jaguar Paw.

Like “The Passion of the Christ”, Mel Gibson gave very thought-provoking scenes, subtle references and hints throughout the movie. In fact, sometimes I wonder if he likes to lead the viewer to a point of certain disgust so as to grip the thoughts and attention of him or her. The human sacrifice at the Mayan pyramids was gruesome indeed. Somehow, the movie also, in my opinion, seems to hint of the need of colonialisation of these savage people especially when Spanish Catholic missionaries were shown cruising the coast in their technologically advanced armadas.

I know it is a taboo to be talking about colonisation in many parts of the world. However, I can’t help wondering the fate of indigenous people over the continents of America and Asia at this point of time if European colonisation did not take place. Many of the manners, values and laws we took for granted, came from Western culture, values and Christianity.

A gripping movie indeed, which I actually would recommend if you can take hard core violence. It keeps your mind thinking.

God Bless,

Andrew