As soon as Apocalypto was out on DVD I rented it because after having seen Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ a few weeks ago for Easter on TV I was curious what this film was going to be like. Passion was a disaster of a film, stupid blood shedding and nothing but. No good actors, no story whatsoever, no detectable direction - just hearing spoken Latin in normal dialogues was what made me stay through the film. I was amazed how much I understood when subtitles were missing out on short sentences from time to time. Having learned Latin in school wasn't so bad after all! But the rest of the film was just looking like the extract of a sick mind. Sorry.
So, now Apocalypto. After just a few moments I was surprised that it was good what I was watching. It didn't look so much like a feature film but like a documentary. The actors didn't act, they were. Which is a quality in an actor you often don't even find in the great ones. But here, faces you've never seen before, you completely believed every bit of what you saw. Laughter, jokes, bitterness, timidness, joy, everything was the real thing. Normally you get this in European independent films only. But this here was a major production from Hollywood. Or not.
Congratulations to all members of the cast, you will hopefully get lots of good parts in the future, especially Rudy Youngblood and Jonathan Brewer. They can show lots of known actors how to act. The supporting cast was great, down to the smallest part. And certainly people from the departments for make-up, hair and costume did an absolutely fantastic and stunning job. I don't say too much in saying you've never seen things like these before in a film like they created.
I just wish - and that's why this film gets only seven out of ten points - there would have been a script which had been treated with the same care as everything else. There was almost no story. A man gets separated from his family, is brought to another place, can flee and gets back to his family. Is that really all you can come up with if you think of the Mayas? If you put up such an effort why use such a bleak storyline? This weak story took much of the characters' depth away which is a pity as the actors filled them with so much life. What would they have been able to do if the story had been greater? One can only imagine.
I'm curious what Mel Gibson's next film project might be. He doesn't seem to be a bad director. He just shouldn't participate in writing the script, rather concentrate on directing. He could make really good films, I believe. Thrillers, action films, mysterious stuff. Just concentrate on directing. Let somebody write a terrific story and then make a great film out of it! Within those limits... yeah!
So, now Apocalypto. After just a few moments I was surprised that it was good what I was watching. It didn't look so much like a feature film but like a documentary. The actors didn't act, they were. Which is a quality in an actor you often don't even find in the great ones. But here, faces you've never seen before, you completely believed every bit of what you saw. Laughter, jokes, bitterness, timidness, joy, everything was the real thing. Normally you get this in European independent films only. But this here was a major production from Hollywood. Or not.
Congratulations to all members of the cast, you will hopefully get lots of good parts in the future, especially Rudy Youngblood and Jonathan Brewer. They can show lots of known actors how to act. The supporting cast was great, down to the smallest part. And certainly people from the departments for make-up, hair and costume did an absolutely fantastic and stunning job. I don't say too much in saying you've never seen things like these before in a film like they created.
I just wish - and that's why this film gets only seven out of ten points - there would have been a script which had been treated with the same care as everything else. There was almost no story. A man gets separated from his family, is brought to another place, can flee and gets back to his family. Is that really all you can come up with if you think of the Mayas? If you put up such an effort why use such a bleak storyline? This weak story took much of the characters' depth away which is a pity as the actors filled them with so much life. What would they have been able to do if the story had been greater? One can only imagine.
I'm curious what Mel Gibson's next film project might be. He doesn't seem to be a bad director. He just shouldn't participate in writing the script, rather concentrate on directing. He could make really good films, I believe. Thrillers, action films, mysterious stuff. Just concentrate on directing. Let somebody write a terrific story and then make a great film out of it! Within those limits... yeah!