Sheer Visual Poetry: Apocalypto

Apocalypto (2006)

Mel Gibson has outdone himself, showing himself a filmmaker of the first rank after only a couple full-length features. The Passion was a masterpiece but you had to wonder, could he do another piece of work as good?

Apocalypto is a completely different genre than The Passion but every bit as powerful and moving proving that Gibson does have the vision to make interesting movies of profound ideas. Both The Passion and Apocalypto have their critics, but it is typically somebody with an agenda who wants to find penny ante faults rather than view the movie with some objectivity. Granted, movies are intensely personal entertainment, but nothing in either movie could begin to be explained as "bad" from an artistic point of view. That said, I found the movie an engrossing, intensely moving experience that was far more than I expected going in.

Unlike any current director, Mel Gibson has discovered the secret of purely visual story telling. His characters act and you can sense their relationships, their emotions, and their conversations even without words. You see loving family relationships and brothers horseplaying with their father. You see the mother's love for her child and you see the action seamlessly integrated to where it almost seems like there is no editing. In other words, the editing is so good and subtly done that it does not call attention to itself. The digital media is such a fine grain that you can see endless depths in the varied frames. All dialog is in the original aboriginal languages with brief English subtitles, yet you really get the whole story without having to consciously read anything. To beguile you in that way, my friends, is pure art.

Apocalypto is a story of pre-Colombian America, where the native Indians somewhere in borderless Central America subsist in a peaceful idyllic world surrounded by a sea of emerald foliage. Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is the protagonist, a young warrior in a party of hunters including his father (Morris Birdyellowhead) and brother. The other warriors play a joke on the brother by giving him the kill’s testicles – he has yet to father any children – and you can see the hunting party is full of sophomoric guys, even the father, laughing like a bunch of hyenas and good naturedly absorbing the pummels of the outraged young man. The father, in mock earnestness privately gives the son some red leaves to rub on his organ before his next attempt at fatherhood.

Suddenly Jaguar Paw notices a presence and commands them to identify themselves. A man with scared eyes emerges from the jungle and then a whole bunch, including women and children, come out of the foliage. They offer fish and ask for safe passage through the land which is granted. Jaguar Paw's father tells his son never to be scared like the guy obviously was. This advice is prophetic as they are attacked at dawn back in the village and the raiders kill everybody not suitable for taking back as their slaves. The killed ones are actually perhaps luckier than the captured ones, because their captors are Mayans and they are destined to be sacrificed so that the sun continues to come up.

I'll stop there because the movie does continue on and show the demonic splendor of the Mayan civilization and the great pyramid with its bloody staircase down which countless heads and bodies roll as a frenzied crowd cavorts below while the Mayan priest speaks like a tent show revival preacher (and probably passes the collection plate) in between killings, which are done by ripping the heart out of the living victim with a wicked flint knife.

None of this violence is over the top but is presented matter of factly as a part of the civilization - the part they probably neglected to tell you about in History of the New World 101. The final third of the movie concerns Jaguar Paw's escape and a harrowing chase back to his home territory by a savage war party of Mayans. The hunted (a skillful hunter) has a great time finding ways of tricking the hunters and dispatching them in innovative ways.

The Touchstone DVD is presented in 1.85:1 theatrical format in gorgeous color with a running time of 138 tense minutes. There is a good making-of documentary and a director's commentary included as extras.

Apocalypto is a must see for action fans, history fans, and people who appreciate artistry in filmmaking. Five big stars.