Posted on 10/29/2005 6:40:07 PM PDT by Pokey78
His most recent film, featuring flayings and floggings and with dialogue in Aramaic and Latin, was a worldwide hit. Now Mel Gibson has announced his next project will be set against the bloodthirsty backdrop of the Mayan empire - this time in an ancient dialect called Yucatec. Gibson's The Passion of the Christ last year became the most successful independent film ever made, grossing more than £200 million worldwide. It was also a hit in America's bible belt, which has long felt ignored by Hollywood. The star claims that his new thriller, Apocalypto, will champion another neglected cause, the millions of Maya who still live in Mexico and Central America, many of whom speak one of the Mayan languages.
Anyone who turned nauseous at the flesh-ripping carnage of The Passion should fear for their stomachs again. While Mayan civilisation thrived for nearly 2,000 years before its mysterious collapse, mastering astronomy and the construction of pyramids, it also carried out savage rituals of human sacrifice to appease the gods.
'Hey, this is for kids with strong stomachs,' said Gibson, 49, responding to a question about plans for children's movies during a press conference in the Mexican port city of Veracruz, where the conqueror Hernan Cortes landed in the early 16th century en route to demolishing the Aztec empire.
The devout Roman Catholic said that the plot of Apocalypto - a Greek word meaning 'new beginning' - concerns a Maya Indian family man who 'has to overcome tremendous odds to preserve what he values the most'. The action movie - directed, produced, funded and co-written by, but not starring Gibson - will employ relatively unknown actors along with hundreds of extras speaking the Mayan tongue of Yucatec.
'I'm hoping that by focusing on this civilisation we're able to be introspective about ourselves,' Gibson explained. 'It's set before the Conquest, so we are using mostly indigenous people and actors from Mexico City. There's a lot of mystery to the Mayan culture, but it's just the backdrop to what I'm doing - creating an action adventure of mythic proportions.'
The star has endeared himself to his hosts by offering £560,000 to reconstruction efforts following Hurricane Stan, which devastated Mexico and Central America this month. The Mexican media highlighted images of Gibson meeting with President Vicente Fox. Tourism officials are hoping that the film, due to begin shooting in mid-November, will pump £11m into the economy.
A vanished civilisation
1) Mayan civilisation stretched across much of what is now southern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala and endured for nearly two millenniums, disappearing around AD 900.
2) Despite lacking the cartwheel or metal tools, the Maya built pyramids, palaces and courts for a ritual ball game. They inhabited vast cities such as Chichen Itza, Tikal and Uxmal.
3) Mayan astronomers mapped the phases of celestial objects, especially the Moon and Venus, and tracked a solar year of 365 days. They developed mathematics, using a base number of 20, and had a concept of zero. The civilisation was sufficiently stable to have a word for a 400-year time period.
4) The collapse of their civilisation, which occurred centuries before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, has long been a mystery. Theories include civil war, invasion, migration, disease, over-farming, over-population and drought.
"They'd load them down with gold and jewels, then shove them over the edge to sink and drown"
Hmmm, I wonder what the Mayan word for "choice" was....
My prediction: a blockbuster smash.
1) Escapist
2) Interesting
3) No "message" or propaganda
4) Hidtorical (and accurate)
5) It's Mel! MEL!
I don't care what movie he makes, as long as it isn't another in the "Lethal Weapon" series.
"Despite lacking the cartwheel or metal tools, the Maya built pyramids, palaces and courts for a ritual ball game."
Such an innocuous prhase that -- "ritual ball game." It give no inkling of what the true story is...which, of course, is what you would expect from the MSM. Here's a few facts about that "ritual ball game" via Wikipedia...
"The ball game was extremely violent. Players wore heavy padding. Even so, there were often serious injuries, and occasionally death. On some occasions post-game ceremonies featured the sacrifice of the captain and other players on the losing side. The association of the game with sacrifice and death was particularly marked on the Gulf coast. A loser's skull might be used as the core around which a new rubber ball would be made. (Guides at Chichen Itza assert that the prize for the winning team was to be deified by losing their heads, supposedly at the hands of the losing team."
Come to think of it, it sounds a lot like Australian Rules Football...
Also Signs. And don't forget Chicken Run.
... or wiped off the face of the earth by 'aliens'. Woo Hoo! I find the Mayans fascinating. I have been fortunate enough to explore some of the Mayan ruins near Playa Del Carmen and Xel Hah, Mexico twice while on vacation. They were truly a bizarre, scientific, religious and unique culture.
He had better get it done before 2012. That is when the Mayan calendar ends and supposedly, the world.
"Was it windy?" (As in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" windy?) ;)
I wasn't worried. Eventhough there was NO guard rail, and any of us could've taken a header into the pool at any given moment, I don't think anyone would mistake me for a virginal 10 year old boy. Plus I save wearing my "bling" for special occasions. ;)
I will say that the park system in Mexico leaves A LOT to be desired. They don't care for their treasures as we do. Trash everywhere, grafitti on the temples, etc. It was pretty sad, actually. I spend half the afternoon climbing up a Mayan pyramid just to read "Chico Loves Maria" when I got to the sacred temple at the top? Yeah. Sure. Whatever. (Everyone knows it's "Joanie Loves Chachi!")
Maybe Mel will clean up the place? :)
LOL! That is so cool that you know that. DH firmly believes that we are in the "End of Days" and that the 2012 prophecy will come true.
We're selling our business in 2010. Two years to party hearty and then the party's over. :(
We're just trying to get our $10 worth.
It still is probably better than our border protection with Mexico.
Yes, but as David Edelstein (movie critic Slate Magazine) asked Mel Gibson before:
Is it good for the Jews?
bttt
Yep. But having traveled extensively on both sides of our border, I can tell you that lazy people or hopeless people, or those that just don't give a chit can be found on either side.
Ask the next liberal you happen to meet. ;)
Cenote
Chac-Mol
Other buzz words from Chichen-Itza
How advanced could they be? Any kid can do a cartwheel!
LOL.
Right on!
Wow, the pressure! ;o)
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