Susan Granger’s review of “Apocalypto” (Touchstone Pictures/Disney)
After “The Passion of the Christ” generated nearly $1 billion in ticket sales, Mel Gibson took off for Mexico to write, direct, produce and finance this bizarre, action-packed spectacle, spoken in Yucatec dialect.
From about 2400 B.C. to the 15th century A.D., the Mayan civilization dominated Mexico and Central America with its extraordinary mathematics, astronomy, art and urban planning. But none of this ethnography is explored on-screen.
Instead, Gibson and co-writer Farhad Safina concentrate on its cruelty and barbarity, following a warrior named Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood, a Comanche/Cree Indian), who, along with many of his tribe, is captured by marauders and marched to a great Mayan city where he’s chosen as a human sacrifice. But, thanks to a solar eclipse, he escapes, racing through the rain forest and eluding treacherous pursuers to rescue his very pregnant wife (Dalia Hernandez) and young son who are trapped in a deep crevasse. Reunited with his family, having mastered his fear, he then faces a new danger: the landing of Spanish conquistadors.
Taken from the Greek, “Apocalypto” means “the unveiling” or “a new beginning.”
Cinematographer Dean Semler utilizes Panavision’s new high-definition Genesis camera system, achieving an exotic, compelling visuality, and the smeared blue body paint evokes memories of “Braveheart.” Graphically brutal with relentless, intense violence, the torture scenes are gruesome and repulsive, while the subtitles lack subtlety and conversational nuance; one simply states, “He’s fu**ed!”
Parallels between contemporary America and the Maya’s constant warfare and ruling corruption are blatantly obvious. As Gibson told Time magazine, “The fear-mongering we depict in this film reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Apocalypto” is a savage 4, reflecting the morbid, sadistic manifestations of an angry, bitter man.
