Apocalypto is a beautiful story of a man's love for his wife and child that is surrounded by circles of other stories (brotherhood, family, culture, invasion, greed, the supernatural). Not to forget an important message at the beginning of the movie: A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within. Isn't that the case most of the time? I think that might have been the message but I found there to be another.
It is passionate, funny at times (in the early part of the film when the men are hunting) it shows tenderness and respect of elders (after dinner all the families gather around the elder and listen to a story then afterwards they DANCE!) and it is heart felt and wrenching, and yes a bit violent too. Though after hearing about the Atlanta Police, serving a no knock warrant, killing a 92-year-old woman last month because they suspected someone was selling drugs from her home, its just another version of art imitating life. People, those appalled by the gruesomeness that Mel Gibson delivers in this film, act as if the modern world of today is crowded with people who wouldn't cause a fly harm, as if there aren't wars tearing apart lush lands and polluting the air.
Apocalypto was said to be another version of The Passion of Christ, comparing the wounds of Christ with those of Jaguar Paw's. Supernaturally maybe there were some things to note (Jaguar Paw's dream, a little girl foretelling doom, an eclipse interpreted as a sign from the Sun God, etc.). Whereas Christ died for US, as many martyrs often do, Jaguar Paw withstands every terrible, bloody blow of fist and weapon (with the help, it seems, of nature) to escape, race back to a ravaged village and save the life of his pregnant wife and child. It is a must see.
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