Two great actors stand out on the other side of the camera. And it is that nothing more intelligent than to ensure the future, when one is still an actor required for large productions, than to learn the trade of directing for when wrinkles do not fit in almost any role (Except for the case of Morgan Freeman who always fits with some). Because here we are going to focus on Mel Gibson's best films as a director. Obviously you don't want me to talk about Lethal Weapon I, II, III or IV ...
The point is that in what he said about great actors first and directors later, on the one hand there is Clint Eastwood and on the other Mel Gibson. So much ride, ride so much. In both cases their appearances as actors had declined notably and just as Robert DeNiro has been accepting roles with less grace, these two hide behind the camera and go out to interpret only when a role can give them shelter.
Of course, to lead you have to be worth it. And by being worth I mean, from the good instinct for the script, such as the ability to find the best shots or get the best out of the characters. As a result of the great films of one and the other, by faith that they thoroughly learned to direct ...
Top 3 best Mel Gibson movies
Apocalypto
AVAILABLE ON ANY OF THESE PLATFORMS:An epic on the brink of miscegenation between Europe and America to discover. A fast-paced story of survival in the Mayan world that exudes action but also transmits an overwhelming empathy. It will be a matter of their conversations completely in the Mayan language or the perfect setting in that jungle world, subject to ancestral rules where sacrifices and castes had room.
The film is peppered with mythical moments, shot with great skill. For example: the moment of sacrifice at the top of the pyramid where heads roll and whose summary judgment Jaguar Claw is led but which finally dodges thanks to an eclipse that convinces everyone that the gods are not satisfied with the bloody ostentation.
But the best comes in the last scenes. After the tension caused by the persecution and the imminent risk of death of the protagonist and his family, we reached a tremendous end, catarchic and sinister, a true marvel that is worth enjoying. I would be very comfortable telling it here. But I deprive myself just in case you are one of the lucky ones who have not seen the movie yet ...
Braveheart
AVAILABLE ON ANY OF THESE PLATFORMS:I went to see this movie with a friend at the cinema. When he left he told me that he would love to take a sword and storm a fort or the town hall, failing that, anything that sounded like power. And it is that it is an epic movie rarely achieved. Similar case to Gladiator or, looking for a literary simile, to "The Count of Monte Cristo." At least in the idea of the most just revenge as a vital cause.
A feature film that had everything, romanticism for lost love and the glimpse of new impossible loves due to the spiritual debt with that same love. But also unforgettable military scenes with the Scots facing everyone like those 300 Spartans who gave the Persians wax. With William Wallace captaining them, nothing could go wrong. His ingenuity was capable of coming up with strategies never seen before that inflame unforeseen soldiers and bewildered spectators.
Then there is politics, of course. And when the Scottish lords begin to negotiate with the English to secure their dominions over the incipient liberating revolution. Betrayals that point to the end of Wallace's great work, friends who never leave him, touches of humor and the forging of the legend that was already loaded by the chronicles of his time.
Passion of Christ
AVAILABLE ON ANY OF THESE PLATFORMS:Shooting a movie about Jesus Christ in his last days does not have much to venture into plot novelties. And neither do events point to the surprising turn or the discovery of many other plot threads. But, just as he did JJ Benitez in his "Trojan Horse" series, you can always delve into the character and the events down to the core.
Gibson wanted to make superhuman suffering a physical sensation. If man was able to execute God with the blow of a fustiga, with encrusted thorns, with spears in his side and nails in his hands, why not represent him in the most reliable way? Putting ourselves in the shoes of Jesus Christ is not just anything.
In fact, the tape pointed to blasphemy for not a few ecclesiastical circles or for Jewish communities, because in the last 12 hours of the life of Christ that Gibson narrates, the blood splashes us with full effect. To raise awareness according to which areas with the mere reflection of what happened means that it has been fully successful.
A wild movie… maybe. But surely much less than what men themselves did to God lived in the first person, or from the eyes of a mother and some friends who, perhaps due to the excessive punishment, were convinced of the need to transmit their message.