Mel Gibson Throws Extinct-Language Subtitle Writers Another Bone
The next three films Mel Gibson has in development feature only Dutch Creole, Esperanto and Mbariman-Gudhinmese dialogue respectively, but until then we'll have to settle for just plain old ancient Mayan:
Actor Mel Gibson, who turned a Latin script on the crucifixion of Christ into box office gold last year, is in Mexico to shoot his latest film: an action movie shot entirely in an ancient Mayan tongue.
The star turned independent director was in the eastern state of Veracruz this week where he is to film Apocalypto, a thriller set in an ancient Mayan settlement and shot in the Yucatec dialect.
"It's set before the Conquest, so there are no European faces, and we are using mostly indigenous people and actors from Mexico City," Gibson, sporting a long beard, said at a news conference in the port city of Veracruz.
"There's still a lot of mystery to the Mayan culture, but when all is said and done, it's just the backdrop to what I'm doing — creating an action adventure of mythic proportions," he said, blinking before a bank of flash lights.
While Apocalypto doesn't seem to have the kind of extended torture and mutilation scenes that are the hallmark of acceptable after-school entertainment for the Christian-values set, we think there could be enough poison arrow stabbing sequences to get the Dove Family Seal of Approval."