APOCALYPTO Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Touchstone Pictures
Grade: A-
Directed by: Mel Gibson
Written By: Mel Gibson, Farhad Safinia
Cast: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Jonathan Brewer,
Morris Birdyellowhead, Carlos Emilio Baez
Screened at: AMC Empire, NYC, 12/8/06
Opens: December 8, 2006 New Age people like to call Native Americans of former times
(those are the folks who used to be called Indians) "noble" while
more cynical types called them "savages." What does Mel
Gibson call them? Actually, both. He focuses on one
civilization, the Mayan–which had its moments of greatness
before the white man arrived half a millennium ago–and refuses
to lump all together. Some are noble. Some are savage. Isn't
that, mutatis mutandis, what we can say about all of our six
billion people in the world today? "Apocalypto" is the sort of film made only sporadically today. It
has subtitles, which is not unusual, though some film scholars
note that only about one percent of Americans take the trouble
to attend such "alien" works. But the subtitles do not translate
the familiar Romance, Teutonic, Chinese or Japanese
languages, but the near-dead Mayan tongue. Populating his
film exclusively with Native Americans–with the exception of
mere seconds in which white guys appear ominously in boats
sporting a large crucifix–director Mel Gibson delivers a film
remarkably powerful, gorgeously photographed, thoroughly
original at least by the standards of the current year. Gore
exists: hearts are cut out of bodies, still ticking, and in one case,
the unfortunate fellow who loses his heart (to a man with a knife,
unfortunately) lives for a few moments to watch the organ
tossed into a pot as an offering to a god. A boar, and later a
man, get impaled by a trap set in the jungle, pierced by a bevy
of knives, both living to watch their victimizers smile and laugh
in their conquests. Two men literally running for their lives are
struck down, one by a spear thrown by a Mayan who could have
been an Olympic javelin gold medal winner, the other by an
archer who could compete with the goddess Diana. A woman,
her small child, and her ninth-month fetus are stuck in a pit
about three stories in depth, but lest we think they will starve to
death, never fear: the greater likelihood is that they will drown
as torrential rains cover the landscape. One man sinks into
quicksand. Another, who has rubbed berries on his sexual
organs, runs yelling out of his hut to the raucous laughter of his
clansmen–at least some of the pain is humorous. This is essentially a capture-and-chase movie, as a group of
Mayans intent on selling women or another clan into slavery and
sacrificing their men to a god invade a small village, set it
ablaze, tie the inhabitants to poles, and march them several
miles to an urban center–bringing to mind Mel Gibson's
depiction of calvary in his "The Passion of the Christ." Gibson, utilizing a text he co-wrote with Farhad Safinia, opens
on a Mayan village deep inside a jungle, where male bonding
involves practical jokes that you might find in a typical American
high school. A group of males sit around exchanging gossip
and joking. One complains that his "old hag" of a mother-in-law
is harassing him that she wants a grandchild, and that he is
unable to satisfy her wishes, try as he may. His pal suggests
rubbing berries where they might do the most good. He does so
and runs yelping from the hut, as the women join the men in
rolling on the floor with convulsive laughter. The laughter gives way to fear and trembling, however, when a
neighboring clan surprises the village at night, torching the huts,
tying up the residents, and painting them with a coat of
blue–leading the victims to depend on a bold leader who arises
among them, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), who, like them,
is decorated with tattoos and ornaments that would be the envy
of any hip American today. Jaguar Paw's counterpart, Zero
Wolf (Raoul Trujillo), is taller than the others, has more
ornamentation, and is allied with the supremely sadistic Snake
Ink (Rodolfo Palacios). As the prisoners are pushed along as
though on a medieval Bataan death march, a Shakespearean
figure in the form of a young, sickly girl announces that the
conquerors will meet their doom–but them, we in the movie
audience knew that all along. A truly epic scene, the keynote visual in the movie, involves the
human sacrifice that takes place on and around a pyramid,
similar to the ones you've seen if you traveled to Mexico's
Chichen-Itza or have seen it in National Geographic. A man is
dragged from the crowd of prisoners, stretched out across a
rock, and slain with a dagger as the executioner utters a prayer
to a god. After the heart is ripped out, the man's body is
unceremoniously heaved down the steps of the pyramid, a
structure that owes its presence in the film to production
designer Tom Sanders. When Jaguar Paw escapes, as we all know he will, he has two
tasks before him. One is to escape a bevy of hostile men armed
with bows and arrows and spears. Another is to rescue his wife
and now two children from the pit. Rudy Youngblood proves
agile and photogenic, yes, even charismatic in his role.
Photographer Dean Semler makes terrific use of Mexican jungle
scenery outside of Veracruz, specifically the Catemaco
rainforest, with additional photography in Costa Rica. Whatever
you may think of Mel Gibson, the person, should be set aside in
favor of Mel Gibson, the film-maker. "Apocalypto" must be
seen. Rated R. 137 minutes 2006 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online | 
