Apocalypto

I watched what I perceived to be the most powerful critique of our civilized world, shown trough the lenses of an extinct culture. Apocalypto is shocking in the Breaking the Waves sense, a heartbreaking unforgettable theatrical heart stopper. It is a laconic movie, words are scarce, piercing. The viewer is left speechless at the end– transported in a stoic and peaceful state of mind where pretense, bloodshed, riches (precious stones for Mayans) have no place. Jaguars do. Even though the movie was about the decline of the Mayan civilization, I, the cultureless nomad, felt shaken after watching it. The Mayan city - or shall I call it downtown - on the eve of destruction was sickeningly vain, its inhabitants alienated to other cultures, awash in material symbols of status. At the core of the plot was the unbreakable love of one village man for one simple woman, their eldest son, and their unborn baby. But its critical success does goes far beyond its philosophical value. This movie gets the viewer with its stunning cinematography. It shows how good and how bad human beings can be. A classic in the classic sense of the word.