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Apocalypto Essay

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Apocalypto was perhaps one of the films in which I was most curious to see because of my Hispanic heritage. I was excited and then shocked by the films brutal portrayal of the Mayan culture. I remember only hearing good things about how advanced the Mayans’ were in astronomy, math and architecture but never the bad stuff. After watching the film I began reading more about the Spanish conquest and the Pre-Hispanic America, so it was interesting to see the historical references and level realism captured in the film.
The film Apocalypto was shot digitally by Dean Semler under the direction of Mel Gibson. He had previously worked with Gibson in several films such as We Were Soldiers, The Road Warrior and others but never with Gibson as …show more content…

The film starts deep in the jungle where an isolated village is carrying on their hunting and peaceful ways of life. The story follows the brave character Jaguar Paw and his tribesman as their intimate village is decimated and taken captive by a larger Mayan tribe. Jaguar Paw fortunately is able to foresee the impending attack on his village and hides his wife and son in a profound cenote. However, Jaguar and some of his fellow tribesman are taken captive and partake on a long journey through the jungle to a large Mayan city. Not knowing what lies ahead, Jaguar Paw holds on to hope that he will see his family again and fights desperately to escape his captors from certain death. Upon arrival, the steep stepped pyramids, flourishing markets, and most of all human sacrifice shock the captives. However, Jaguar Paw manages to escape and take the fight to his home territory. He eventually finds strength and takes the upper hand against the hunters, as they become the hunted. He eventually arrives upon a beach and once again becomes overwhelmed by the site of Spanish Ships. The hunters trailing behind him also become shocked and forget about Jaguar Paw as he escapes to rescue his family from a flooding cenote. Towards the end of Apocalypto, Jaguar Paw reunites with his wife and daughter began to drift off through the jungle to begin a new

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