March 19, 2006

"Attention! We are all dying here! We are all dying!"

Mel Gibson shouts through a bullhorn. He's directing "Apocalypto":
Hundreds of local extras—many of whom have never seen a movie, let alone acted in one—are pounding fake limestone to build a temple used for human sacrifices....

[I]f there are complaints about Apocalypto's portrayal of human sacrifice by the Maya, whose mostly impoverished descendants today are a cause célèbre for liberals, Gibson says he won't care. "After what I experienced with The Passion, I frankly don't give a flying f___ about much of what those critics think."...

"The parallels between the environmental imbalance and corruption of values that doomed the Maya and what's happening to our own civilization are eerie," says Safinia. Gibson, who insists ideology matters less to him than stories of "penitential hardship" like his Oscar-winning Braveheart, puts it more bluntly: "The fearmongering we depict in this film reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys."
He's a man with his own vision, and he doesn't give a flying f___ what you think. And the vision, apparently, isn't right-wing politics, it's penitential hardship. Always a great subject for art.

16 comments:

Robert said...

One wishes for more artists like him. Not his politics or religious values; the genuine iconoclasm. In theory, most of Hollywood should be acting like that - Matt Damon should be saying "I have my millions, and now I'm going to make art, and if you don't like it I could give two s***s."

But instead they grub for more popularity and cash.

Ricardo said...

I've seen some previews of Apocalypto, and the scenery is artistically breathtaking. Regardless of what message you want to take away, the packaging is very attractive.

tiggeril said...

Could we please have some movie that aren't reminiscent of President Bush and his guys?

tiggeril said...

Some movies, that is.

J said...

"We are all dying here!"

That's what they get for being left alone with Alton Benes.

"The fearmongering we depict in this film reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys."

I'd love to see the context of this remark.

""The parallels between ..."

Amen to tiggeril's remark - we all thought that Santayana/Marx nonsense was profound in high school, but it's time to retire this tiresome device. I did some work on the house this weekend, and when finished I threw the clothes I wore in the wash. First the soap came for the dirt, then it came for the sweat, then it came for the sheetrock dust. The parallels between the last load of laundry I did and the rise of the Nazis are eerie...if I stretch my analogies far enough.

knox said...

J said: "The parallels between the last load of laundry I did and the rise of the Nazis are eerie...if I stretch my analogies far enough."

LOL. I love it.

I suspect that word is out in Hollywood that if you suggest there are anti-Bush undercurrents in your film, you're a shoo-in for an oscar nod...

e-closure.com said...

Sure he's a little crazy. But at least he's still got his sense of humour as we saw during the Oscar clip. And apparently he doesn't give a flying f.

s1c said...

The flying f*** comment is worth watching the movie. Knowing Gibson it will be another blockbuster film and Hollywood will ignore it again because he doesn't bend to the prevailing wind of the movie jet set.

Al Maviva said...

You fools all make merry, but you don't realize what will happen when this movie comes out. It will spur *those* Christians on to go out and Maya bash. Soon we'll have Maya pogroms, Maya lynchings, and Maya Angelou. The horror... the horror.

I'm calling on the religious and secular humanist community to engage in an ecumenical outreach effort to comfort our Mayan brothers in sisters in this time of need, when they may feel under assault by the reactionary elements in our society. Besides, it's the American way. I may not agree with your sacrificing of tens of thousands of virgins on blood-soaked altars by ripping their hearts out with dull stone knives, but I'll defend to the death your right to do it...

Now if I could just find some sympathetic Mayans to provide me with a good pull quote about how scared they are with this conservative ultraconservative Mel Gibson's conservative film...

Freeman Hunt said...

So why don't the conservatives who are interested in these movies put their money where their mouths are and finance more of these movies?

They are. That's how Narnia was made.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Robert: Iconoclasm from Gibson?

His production company is called "Icon."

James said...

I'm also a Clooney fan, even if I think he was too eager to self-congratulate himself and the other directors this year. Part of that, I think, is that he personally likes the other directors, not just their films.
The other thing is that Clooney, for what it's worth, seems to enjoy talking about stuff, whether's it's politics or anything else -- a guy who enjoys hashing things out. I'm OK with that. Gibson seems somewhat the same way in that general view.

Going back to the first comment, I want Matt Damon to make a couple more "Bourne" movies before he decides to make art. Especially if his art is going to resemble "Bagger Vance."

Jeremy said...

So why don't the conservatives who are interested in these movies put their money where their mouths are and finance more of these movies?

End of the Spear.

Conservative religous types have been churning out movies for themselves for years. They just typically end up of the "crappy" variety, see "The ButterCream Gang", The Left Behind series, etc. But either the money hasn't been enough or the machine has rejected their cash. I suspect that you'll see more and better films from these folks in the future.

Unknown said...

Guess my comment didn't make it before...
but I look forward to his films, like I look forward to Malick's films. They take chances. They are interesting, which is the threshold issue of the What-is-Art question for me. Both of them deal with the spiritual realm by actually attempting to portray the world within rather than by talking about it (the Imaginary rather than the Symbolic to theory mavens). Both seek the Garden and lament its loss.

Craig Ranapia said...

"Penitential hardship"? Is that code for 'the same sadistic crap I've been making my whole career, just way more pretentious'? Seriously, The Passion was the first (and last) film that literally had me puking in a trash can in the theatre lobby. At least the medieval hobgoblins who make dreck like Saw and Hostel (which I sat through because I was being paid for my humiliation) treat their audiences with naked - and unapologetic - contempt.

Unknown said...

It takes an old time Catholic to get "penitential hardship" I guess. :)