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Apocalypto

Apocalypto is the latest of Mel Gibson's history-inspired movies. When the previous two, Braveheart  and the Passion of the Christ  seem to be more faithful to the historical context, Apocalypto tends more toward fantasy, as if the director is Quentin Tarantino, and the movie is a Mayan-era version of Kill Bill!

The screenplay is not obliged to follow natural rules and historical events. The movie starts with this quote form Will Durant:

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.

But when it is expected to see how the civilization is destroying itself, it is shown how that civilization is destroying uncivilized hunter-gatherers nearby. These hunters seem to live at one or two days walking distance from the Mayan capital, but ironically they have not heard anything about the Mayan city, made with stones and bricks, except in old legendary stories! Aparantly the hunters speak the same language as the Mayans, but they haven't heard anything about Mayan sacrificing ritual until the time of being sacrificed! Also, it could be useful to consult an expert about the duration of a total eclipse, which in this movie it was about only 5 minutes from the very beginning of the partial eclipse! Watching this part reminds me of a famous scene in one of Tin Tin's adventures, in Prisoners of the Sun; considering the popularity of Tin Tin stories among 30-40 years-old generation of Iranians, my speculation of the origin of this part becomes more valid when we notice that one of the writers, Frahad Safinia, has a Persian name. To be fair, I think as his first major work, he has done a good job, but only in thrilling. 

In general, Apocalypto is a thrilling movie and bold enough to show unveiled violence scenes. However it fails to express its intended message, I assume, the Durant's quote.

Blood Diamond

I haven't watched the Departed or Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, but Blood Diamond has been my best movie catch so far in 2006.  It is a thrilling movie, but since the filmmakers want to be responsible and informative, sometimes it seems lengthy. It has a high level of violence, but still it doesn't unveil it all, just mentioning the extremes, but not explicitly showing it; for example when Danny Archer (DiCaprio) tells Maddy Brown (Connelly) about his own tragedy that how his mother was raped and killed and his father was decapitated by Zimbabwean freedom fighters, in his land, Rhodesia.   

Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly have excellent performances in this movie, although Jennifer Connelly is way too beautiful to be a journalist traveling to the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, or rebel-controlled Liberia, or Bosnia. I think her character in the story could be expanded more. Here, one of the weaknesses of the story is how suddenly Maddy Brown falls in love with Archer. 

The writers have assumed a high level of responsibility, to not sacrifice their message just for more thrilling. Sometimes the movie seems to be so direct-pointing as in a documentary about the blood diamonds.  I think this movie, however, has been effective enough that the next time when someone wants to buy a diamond ring to think twice and probably ask if it is not from Sierra Leon or Liberia.