First let me get this out of the way...I really don't know what point Mel Gibson was trying to make with "Apocalypto". The end of civilization? The destruction of nature? An allegory about our current situation overseas? Who knows? But I don't really much care. The film is so well-made, so beautiful to look at, and so alive with the joy of filmmaking that such questions are ultimately secondary. Sure, there are those who will rip Gibson for making them sit through multiple beheadings, stabbings, spearings, and other gory dispatches without giving them an overarching reason for having done so. And I say, fuck it...the movie is just an adventure, more violent and bloody than most, but a hell of an entertaining one at that.
As "Apocalypto" opens, we're introduced immediately to a tribe of Mayans in some unnamed South American jungle. A band of men from the tribe is stalking a tapir, and it's here, right off the bat, that Gibson hooks us. His camera fluidly and sinuously tracks through the jungle, capturing these men at work, trying to catch what will be dinner (and, one assumes, much more) for their tribe. We feel like predators ourselves, as if we've been let in on a secret tradition, allowed to watch the men while simultaneously taking part. The thrill of the hunt is just the beginning; after the beast is caught, Gibson gives us a scene of high comedy, as the tribe members play a joke on one of their own. It gets a big laugh, but more importantly, it humanizes these strange men, with their strange markings and strange tongue. It's a brilliant way to get us absorbed into their lives right from the start.
Then a figure emerges from the rest. He is Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), son of a tribe elder, who hears sounds in the woods. He turns to find some frightened members of another tribe, who explain their land has been ravaged and are trying to make a new start.
After a brief interlude drawing us deeper into the tribe, the village is set upon by the same evil men who ravaged the displaced group seen in the forest. The men of our tribe are all rounded up and brought to a Mayan city, where life is cheap, women are bought and sold, and the men are sacrificed atop a giant pyramid, their severed heads sent tumbling down the steps. But thanks to a sudden solar eclipse, and some quick running (and thinking), Jaguar Paw eventually escapes. The last third of the film consists of Jaguar Paw trying to make it back to his village to save his pregnant wife and son, all while being hunted by a group of deadly Mayan warriors.
From here on out, "Apocalypto" is by turns thrilling and horrifying, but always absorbing. The entire story is told in a dead Mayan language (with English subtitles) but -- as with his previous directing effort "The Passion of the Christ" -- his mastery of the medium is so complete, the film could have been silent and we'd still be able to understand exactly what is going on. Gibson's camera prowls restlessly, drawing us deeper and deeper into a world that's been lost to history. And the set design is incredible; the sequence in the Mayan city, where the captured men are marched to their deaths is a wonder to behold and worth the price of a rental alone.
"Apocalypto" is a breathtaking adventure, directed with gusto and style by a man who, 20 years ago, we probably never would have guessed had this kind of talent behind the camera. Gibson's directing gets more and more assured each time out. And perhaps the best compliment I can make is that I wish I had seen it in the theater, on a big screen. It's that kind of movie.
The film opens with a quote:
But by the end of it's 138 minutes, I don't think we're any closer to understanding what it portended for the story at the start. We do get some sense of a civilization coming to a close (or at least nearing the end), but
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