Staring: Dalia Hernandez, Marya Serbulo, Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Trujillo, Rudy Youngblood
Premise: A young warrior named Panther Claw, from a South American jungle tribe, has his life thrown into chaos when Mayan warriors steal into his village and slaughter or enslave all those there. Dragged against his will from all he's ever known, he sees the great Mayan civilization going through the throes of drought and pestilence. He and his are to either be sold or become sacrifices. Sacrifices, which according to those in power, will appease the gods and make life good again.
Review: A totally gorgeous film - the vistas and photography were amazing. One beautiful thing done right off the bat, is how Mr. Gibson gets the audience to resonate with Panther Claw and his fellows through a joke played on one of their friends. This basically breaks the ice between the audience and the film and we become immediately involved and start caring for these people who seemed so removed from all we know. A lot of the information comes across very subtly, hints of the Mayan politics, of the manipulation of the popullace, and attempts to retain order at any cost. A bit of mysticism is thrown in and an amazing assortment of actors that get things across regardless of language barriers. There are definitely a number of graphic scenes, like beheadings and the good old pulling the beating heart from the sacrifice--so you will probably want to see it first before taking the kids. Lots of attention to detail, weaponry, customs, attitudes. Lovely! Wish he could have spent more time in the big city so we could have learned more! ***1/2!!!!
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