There should be a video or DVD of this masterpiece. It won TWO Oscars, for goodness sake, so it can't be all bad. It combines exciting symphonic music with breathtaking aerial and ground photos of pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Mexico and elsewhere showing the haunting ruins of civilizations that have disappeared. The narrative calmly tells of the Maya and their superior astronomical science that calculated time by solar eclipses, resulting to a calendar more accurate than the one in use today. The Maya also used the number 0 in their mathematics. But what happened to them? Where did they go? The answer, of course, is that they are still here, living among the people of Mexico and Central America (Mexico is in North America in case you forgot). This is a wonderful cultural eye-opener that puts our neighbors in an entirely different light. I am surprised PBS or someone doesn't have this as a regular fixture in some history studies. Americans have too long been fascinated by the accomplishments of ancient Egypt. That is fine, but similar triumphs have occurred in our own back yard and we have all but ignored them. Where do you think the largest pyramid base (the pyramid was not completed) was constructed? It's still there. Sentinels of Silence spans an amazing amount of time, geography and architecture in 18 minutes. It needs to be released in video or disc and get some wider exposure. Its subject, message and images are all timeless.
