Mel Gibson - APOCALYPTO

synopsis : a heart stopping mythic action-adventure set against the turbulent end times of the once great Mayan civilization. When his idyllic existence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, a man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

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For his story, Gibson may have chosen the most obscure and fascinating topic yet. The once great Mayan civilization, which thrived in Central America for over 2000 years, is seldom talked about in mainstream culture. The ancient society was quite advanced in their political structures, had thoroughly developed agricultural and mathematical systems, and possessed unsurpassed astronomical knowledge (some of which is still being studied today), which helped them observe and outline an astoundingly accurate 365-day calendar. They were deeply devoted to their belief system, a lot of which ties into modern religion, and were highly prone to making human sacrifices. In all likelihood, they may be best known for their extraordinary architecture, most of which has practically been swallowed by the Mexican jungle after abandonment. Even more intriguing is their relatively sudden and rapid collapse in the early 1400s following many years of tremendous prosperity and dominance. The downfall of this great civilization has been studied for years and has been attributed to such factors as constant warfare, depletion of croplands, and unexpected droughts, but the exact reasons are still being deliberated.
 

gek-opel

entered apprentice
This is a weird fucking choice for Gibbo. At least it doesn't have any Jews in it for him to insult this time around though, so a safer bet perhaps? Is it going to be in ancient Mayan (like "The Passion" was all in Aramaic)
 
I think it's a brilliant choice for him. I just hope the story doesn't degenerate into a soppy tug on the heartsrings at the expense of some awesome scenery, settings and bloodletting...

...funnily enough I haven't seen the passion either but it couldn't be as a good as the book
 

nomos

Administrator
based on the trailer it looks like they don't speak anything in this one. but wow, definitely a surprising offering from gibson. i was prepared to never see anything by him again but even if the story turns out to be a bit naff, i'm really interested in this, if only to as a recreation of something that we've seen almost nothing of in popular culture.
 

Guybrush

Dittohead
This may sound like a weird question, but in the name of all infidels I wonder: Do you have to study the relevant Bible parts before seeing "The Passion of the Christ" in order for it to be worthwile, or is it pedagogical enough in its own right?
 
D

dubversion

Guest
So hands up who's seen Negativland's The Mashin' Of The Christ? :)

I've tried downloading it on bittorrent but it never comes down properly
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
This may sound like a weird question, but in the name of all infidels I wonder: Do you have to study the relevant Bible parts before seeing "The Passion of the Christ" in order for it to be worthwile, or is it pedagogical enough in its own right?
Everyone knows the basic story? The movie is like that only with special effects and a very horror-movie flagellation. I'm a biblical ignoramus of biblical proportions and thoroughly enjoyed it, though its no Last Temptation.

I bet Gibson will work the whole 2012 apocalypse/rapture front. Hes either a complete nutter or a marketing genius. Probably both. I get the impression he needs to lighten up.
 
yeah, supposedly it has an anti american corporate/globalist subtle background theme going on. There has even been some conspiracy talk of an agenda to limit gibbos power and influence hence the whole anti jewish thing blowing up but from what i can gather the film is more about celebrating new beginnings than end times...

...which is what 2012 is all about. The end of the age of motion and the start of the age of light heralding the next evolutionary step. This one though rather than being physical will be intellect/consciousness. As though a switch will be flicked and those who know will see and those that don't won't but the future progeny will be different from then on.

Maybe triggered by a harmonic shift in this universe fundamental vibrational signature or a panspermic interaction with another spore carrying comet :slanted: I'm pickin after 2012 it'll either be 'Village of the damned' or 'tomorrow people' ???

I hope in the movie theres a good heart ripping scene and a kick down the pyramid followed by the ritual carving up of the victim and a sharing out of the portions for some good eating. That reminds me of a dream i had once where I was stuffed into a big terracotta jar while still alive and buried in the corner of a pyramid as a consecration rite and then there was the dream of the smoking black round concave mirror which was dorian gray like, reflecting what my persona looked like. Or the one of flying over the avenue of the dead at teotihuacan and looking down on a spectacle of lavish colour reflected in the pools of the flooded avenue.
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
That reminds me of a dream i had once where I was stuffed into a big terracotta jar while still alive and buried in the corner of a pyramid as a consecration rite and then there was the dream of the smoking black round concave mirror which was dorian gray like, reflecting what my persona looked like. Or the one of flying over the avenue of the dead at teotihuacan and looking down on a spectacle of lavish colour reflected in the pools of the flooded avenue.
Well I have nothing to add to those weird-ass dreams except to say you're quite mental.

Although once the missus did make a chocolate cake and forgot to put in any sugar. She couldn't stomach it but I was like, "mmmm... no its good, its just got a reeeal dark flavour". And then I realised it was AZTEC POWER in cake form and no wonder cocoa was sacred to them.

According to wikipedia 2012 is one of the lesser demarcations of time...
This is confirmed by a date from Palenque, which projects forward in time to 1.0.0.0.0.0, which will occur on October 13, 4772 (a Friday). The Classic Period Maya likely did not believe that the end of this age would occur in 2012. According to the Maya, there will be a baktun ending in 2012, a significant event being the end of a 13th 400 year period, but not the end of the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar#2012

Also... my 38th birthday (23-12-2012) is:
the alternative date for the completion of the thirteenth b'ak'tun cycle in the Maya calendar, using a version of the GMT-correlation based on a JDN of 584285 (a.k.a. the "Lounsbury correlation"), which is supported by a smaller number of Mayanist researchers."
:)

And the Kyoto Protocol expires on 31st December of that year.

There is still a part of me that thinks there is a shift in human consciousness going on, with all the attendant New Age bells and whistles, but I try not to get too caught up in it because a lot of the hippies I've known who were into that stuff were pretty hopeless for anything but crystal-gazing and soap-dodging. Going into a new age bookstore is like walking into the twilight zone. The last time I visited the one in Wellington I got talking to the old woman working there and she began conflating Jung with Christ. It was mildly terrifying.

Anyhow - 2012 Dissensus Mexican Meet-Up... who is keen?
 
...aint nothing wrong with being mental, you should hear my interpretations of polynesian oral traditions and interactions with other cultures from pre history. It makes the black atlantic look positively shallow :D

FWIW my birthday is 20/12 and the 2012 galactic equinox is what's significant about that date...

...yeah I'd love to be in palenque or chichen itza for 2012 but then again I imagine there'll be millions of treehuggers there smelling like dead rat so maybe Rapanui/easter island might be a go

BTW I love talking to crackpot nu age quasi christians. Incidentally was she going on about the collective consciousness being a critical mass of the christ consciousness we tap into or heaven as a dimension of thought in string theory that we tap into and project ???
 
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