Thursday, March 29, 2007

I am Jaguar Paw and this is my forest.

Very occasionally, I get bitten by a bug that makes me want to do something quite unlike me. Recently, it was the urge to watch a movie in a theatre. "Some movie, any movie", I whined.

The next question was, "Which movie?" S said that he heard that "300" was good, and so I looked up the reviews, and went back to him, saying, "I read that it is too violent, let's go to a lighter movie".

"Ok, your choice", he said.

I searched high and low and found that "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Pursuit of Happyness" sounded good - and I zeroed in on Little Miss Sunshine.

S very kindly acquiesced, and we landed at PVR cinemas. But I was in for a little surprise. The show that I thought started at 7 40 was indeed there, but it was the Gold class show - with tickets costing Rs.450. Now, even when I am in the crazy mode, some sense does prevail. Paying Rs.150 for the usual ticket itself pains me - but 450? Nothing doing! S was open to the idea, but I just walked off. So what do we do now? In PVR with nothing to do?

None of the other movies seemed interesting, and those that were interesting were sold out.

Then S's eyes caught sight of Apocalypto.

"I've heard it's good", he said.

I hadn't even heard of the movie. "Fine", I said, "If you think so", and we bought the tickets.

We were already ten minutes late, and we rushed to the hall.

As we entered, S whispered, "Its about Mayans."
"Wow", I thought.
As we settled into our seats, he said, "It's directed by Mel Gibson. It could be, err.. a little gory".
"How gory can it be?" I thought, already transfixed by the sight of the larger-than-life images of the people of an ancient Mayan tribe on the screen, with emerald green forests in the background.

The conversation was in some alien language, but there were subtitles, of course. It just needed five minutes to get me totally immersed in the movie. Those characters, with their dress, make up, their language, the picturisation, the sound - it was very good.

As the movie progressed, everything seemed hunky-dory - the seemingly idyllic life of a village in the jungle - but then there was a sense of foreboding. Both in the characters in the screen, and in me.

And then it began.

Carnage. Bloodshed.

I promptly shut my eyes. But I couldn't shut the screams out.

S watched for a couple of minutes, and then he looked at me. "We can always walk out, you know, if you cannot stand it. I don't mind at all", he said.

"I'm fine with staying and watching the movie", I said. I was already too engrossed in the movie, violence and all. "But let me know when I can open my eyes", I clarified.

So that is how the rest of the movie went. The slightest hint of blood and gore and I would avert my eyes. S would watch it and then after the scene finished, he would tell me, "You can watch now".

So I actually spent half of the movie examining my fingernails, admiring the pattern on my handbag, or looking at S and observing his reactions to the movie. Not a wince, not a shudder from him, but an imperceptible stiffening as the screams and noise increased. Then he would visibly relax and say, "You can watch now". And I would watch. And I loved what I watched.

It is a very well-made movie. It must have needed a lot of effort to make. The dress, makeup, the entire movie being in the Mayan language, the forests, the cultures, even the ghastly customs - made for gripping viewing.

Oh, what is the movie about, do you ask? It is about this guy Jaguar Paw, who is captured along with his tribespeople, to serve as human sacrifice to appease the Mayan Gods, and about how he escapes.

The Title of this post? One of the oft-repeated dialogues, which I loved - "I am Jaguar Paw, son of Flint Sky. My Father hunted this forest before me. My name is Jaguar Paw. I am a hunter. This is my forest. And my sons will hunt it with their sons after I am gone. "

If you can stomach loads of blood and gore, then do watch the movie.

As for me, my "I-want-to-watch-a-movie" sickness seems to have been cured once and for all.

21 comments:

Srik said...

Me first this time!!

I have not yet read the post, but wanted to comment first.

Here I am!!

Srik said...

Very nice Shruthi.

Wow!! I need to catch up with this movie sometimes.

Anonymous said...

LOL!! You make me want to hold you and let you cry! :))

Mel Gibson should have been your cue - this guy really loves his ketchup! ;)

Reminds me of the time when we went to Naa Ninna Bidalaare (I was a kid), thinking it would be something like Na Ninna Mareyalaare, and I spent the rest of the movie peeping thru my fingers.

ano

Manasi said...

Well the posters of the film don't really conceal the goriness, but then you were in a 'mood' :)

Madhat said...

Hmm.. looks like 300 rupees were well spent. You might have spent more and seen Sunshine. I hear it is really good.

Shammi said...

Hmmm... If I watch Apocalypto, I'll end up doing exactly what you did :) I dont intend to see 300, because my brother saw it and his one-sentence review was "I wish I hadnt". :)

Viky said...

:D
I recommend "Namaste London". Fun movie. Total timepass. Review coming soon.

Too busy with appraisals till weekend :P

Anonymous said...

If you had the chance to do your research, then I think u did pick 300 over this one hehehe :)

BTW, 300 is absolutely awesome :D, and a must watch in theatres only. I am waitng apocalypse on dvd though...

S

Anonymous said...

Nice review!!

Shruthi, I just watched "300" yesterday and I thoroughly recommend it. Yes, its an out and out battle movie but the feel of the movie and the scenes are amazing!! A lot of man to man combat but no needless violence - this is a tale of a group of Spartans defending their land against the mighty Persian army lead by Xerxes.

The movie has a superb feel to it, you can feel it in your bones while you watch it. If you liked LOTR, you will like this one too.

Having said that, not for people who don't like battle scenes at all... for e.g. if you did not like Troy or Gladiator, then you may not like this one too.

And hey, I also watched Superman Returns, thats a great one as well...maybe I'll just do a post on both of them! :)

- Sachin

Shruthi said...

Srik, yes, do watch it!

Ano, how sweet of you :)
I hope you don't want to get a hold of me like in "Naa ninna bidalaare" ;) Heh heh.. me imagining little Ano with eyes covered with little fingers :D

Manasi, that's the very problem - I hadn't even seen the posters!

Madhat, 900 instead of 300 (rupees, not the movie ;))? I'd rather wait for the DVD ;)

Shyam, really? Someone else highly recommended 300 to me yday!

Viky,ooh all the best!

Suyog, that's exactly what I told S! :) Actually, Apocalypto is also a theatre-watch kind of a movie. Catch it if you are inclined...

Sachin, ohh ok! I did like Gladiator. Will look out for both the movies - and your reviews too!

Anonymous said...

Hi shruthi

If u tot this was gory and hell lotsa bloodshed then i wud recommend you to please watch "The Passion of Christ"

I bet u'll ve some hard time rating amongst Apocalypto and Passion of....

Anyways it was fun reading ya blog

All the best
Vatsa

Shark said...

Blood and Gory films are not for me as well!
Whenever P says we will go for a english movie, my first quetion will be "Do you think I will be able to sit thru it?" :)

Oracle said...

S's version:

Plan worked to perfection, my instincts were right, she isnt senseless enough to go for gold class...

Its working like magic..she hates gore and god I make better watching than the patterns on her bag.

Nothing thrills more than a plan well hatched than the one thats perfectly executed!

said in jest

Anonymous said...

qpvAppreciate you ..you first selected to watch an english movie in theatre :-)
I remember watching only one english movie, 'Catch me if you can' , was good indeed.

when the whole world was talking about Mungaaru maLe, hogodalva ? I think PVR nalli its still running! .

Anonymous said...

So you watched it in bits and pieces.
Reminded me of a friend who went to see "Kabhie Kabhie" and reported that he could watch it only "Kabhie kabhie" because he and his wife had to keep on taking their crying ten month old daughter out of theatre quit often.

Shruthi said...

Vatsa, yes, I did hear that Passion of the Christ was too gory for words... I will definitely not watch it if I can help it :) and thanks!

Shark, smart question. I had told S that as long as a movie is not a horror movie, I am game to watch it. I guess I have to add "bloody and gory" to the "can't watch" list too :)

Oracle, ha ha! :D

Veena, I usually watch only English movies in theatres... S and I avoid Hindi and Kannada movies in the theatre. We don't mind watching those on CD/DVD, where we can forward the silly dancing and singing. ;)

Nagraj, heh heh :D They took a kid to watch a movie? Brave people ;)

Anonymous said...

Shruthi,

Not a fair comment on the kannada/hindi movies... I dont mind watching anthiralri..? hmmm.. !! :-) :-)

Shruthi said...

Veena, seriously, think about it. Do you really think the overall quality of movies is good? There are, thankfully, exceptions in both Kannada and Hindi movies in recent years. Let them make good movies and show us, then I will make "fair" comments. Anyway, lets take this discussion offline :)

Sandesh said...

you've got haemophobia??? eh??

Sandesh said...

regarding regional movies - Even i dont like the song sequences but i'm a movie buff! I watch only kannada movies ( dont like watchin other languages other than english)

Once a song comes, i start messaging fwds! Sometimes, ( when i go crazy) i watch two movies in succession! Just like that without any reason!

BTW, if you are plannin to watch mungaaru male, photography is good! A few dialogues are okay! Story hasnt got anything with it! Totally idiotic story! If ya get a chance, watch Naayi Neralu!

Anonymous said...

during gory scenes - I tell my wife (I'd have let her handle it but Im concerned because she's due to deliver) that think of how many times they're rehearsing this shot. and while they're shooting it using tomato juice and so on for blood etc, there are dozens of people sitting behind the camera and laughing and having fun watching the whole thing. So just be like the camera without a memory reel, just watch and leave it and don't record anything! :-)

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