Film Analysis Of The Film Apocalypto

The film Apocalypto directed by Mel Gibson is a depiction on how the Mayan and other mesoamerican tribes conflicted throughout time. The movie opens with Jaguar Paw the main protagonist who is on a hunt with his fellow tribesmen for food. Throughout this sequence they show teamwork and acrobatic skills showing off the dynamics of hunting. After they hunt they encounter a passing tribe whose village was just raided telling Jaguar that they are coming creating fear which is essentially the theme of the movie. Upon return we see a warm family like feel that everyone in the tribe has. Everyone knows and loves each other expressing the love between family, that night they feast and pray that fear does not exist and no one should be afraid. The next

I think this was the film overall message because it gives us a good depiction on how mesoamerica was before the Europeans came to destroy them with war and plagues. I believe this happened for a reason, as history has shown us throughout time we have seen organization such as the Germany, The Nazi, Iraq, and before them the Mayan Empire. According to history “the horrors of unrestrained government and how tyrants always seize the reigns of control, press on the nerve of power and abuse, dominate and terrorize populations” (Jones and Watson). From the quote they are referring to the Mayan Empire who were destructive and power hungry creating lies to control the people and enslave people by telling the people that the gods will punish them if they don’t obey. This is the exact same concept used by any power seeking tyrants as we seen in the past the United States seperated from Great Britain, United States stopped Germany and Hitler, and now they are facing Syria which will probably be resolved in the coming months. In specific to the film there 's a particular scene when they are walking in pass a diseased girl and her dead mother and this scene foreshadows the events that are going to happen. From history we learned that the Spanish Conquistadors and other European settlers came and swept away the

These are a flaw because it combines and mixes the bad in one making it seem like Mayan culture was evil civilization. The film combines together “Classic Maya” period with the time period just a couple of days before the arrival of the Europeans. The movie details a period of agricultural failure and extreme food scarcity created thanks to a decreasing amount of rainfall, extremely descriptive of the Classic Mayan civilization of 250-950 C.E. (Lucero 2002; 814, 820). Some may argue that maybe Gibson perhaps to try and show the audience as much Mayan as possible in the film. The second is the wild exaggerations and violence that is seen in the movie. It is seen in the film that Jaguar Paw and his tribe never heard or seen a Mayan city where there are huge monuments and temples. According to the National Geographic “During the Classic period Maya settlement was so widespread that you lived at least within 10 to 20 kilometers [6 to 12 miles] of a large community. Pyramids were never more than 20 kilometers away from anywhere in the Mayan world.” So typically it’s impossible for Jaguar Paw to have never heard of the Maya before. The movies makes it seem like the tribe is the only living civilization living at the time and when they first meet the