Yes, you read right, and yes, your cries of “WTF?!” are echoed across America. According to Time magazine, Mel Gibson is to speak en lengua maya at the Oscars this Sunday.

His last film, The Passion of the Christ, was spoken entirely in the dead languages of Latin and Aramaic. Now Mel Gibson will appear in a brief spot on this Sunday’s Oscar broadcast speaking another exotic tongue: Maya. That’s the sole language of Apocalypto, the adventure epic set in Pre-Columbian Mexico that Gibson is currently shooting on the edge of southern Mexico’s rainforests, in the state of Veracruz.

How will Mel do? Unfortunately, I won’t be able to rank on him as I obviously don’t speak the language. I can’t wait to see the blank faces of the Hollywood bigwigs. First, uncomfortable looks and eyes darting back and forth, followed by a boisterous white Hollywood liberal ovation.

As for the movie, Time asked Mel if he cares about possible criticism of scenes depicting human sacrifice:

“After what I experienced with The Passion,” he says, “I frankly don’t give a flying f— about much of what they think.”

Well, then…If Time’s description of the tone and stance of the film is to be believed, I can’t wait to see it:

Yet Apocalypto promises some surprises. The film, which Gibson co-wrote with first-time screenwriter Farhad Safinia, is an allegory about the collapse of civilizations–with warnings about environmental abuse and political fear-mongering, not the sort of thing to comfort conservatives. And the obvious care that has been taken with costumes, sets and the dialect-correct language suggests the kind of cultural attention filmdom has rarely if ever accorded the Mayas, who were the Greeks of the New World.

Via / Hispanic Film Archives and Time

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