Apocalypto (2006)

May 29, 2009

DVD, Seattle, WA

*** ½ / ****

Off with Their Heads

By Scott Muoio

Regardless of your opinion of Mel Gibson, the media created egomaniacal anti-Semite freakshow, there can be little doubt that he is anything but a visionary director. His technique, style, and purpose make him a uniquely original filmmaker whose epics Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ stand as modern masterpieces. Yet too often critics and the general public focus on the artist rather than his art resulting in an odd stereotype for his pictures that are part truth, part fabricated hatred, and all controversy. Apocalypto, Gibson’s latest, least viewed, and most lambasted film falls squarely into the category of cart before the horse critique; another Gibson masterpiece that deserves far more kudos than its lukewarm coverage would have you believe.

The film’s plot involves the destruction of a small rain forest village during the height of Mayan expansion and the aftermath of internal dominance by one culture over another. In particular, it follows the plight of young Jaguar Paw (Ruby Youngblood) as he is taken from his massacred village to be sacrificed by the dominant society of the Mayan civilization.

Deliberately paced, stunningly beautiful, and crafted with brilliant subtlety and eternal relevance Apocalypto thoughtfully shows how a civilization can rise and fall as it unknowingly tears itself apart. The message is slow in arriving but when the brilliant twist ending makes landfall the epic revelation grows gargantuan. Indeed, the film’s opening epigraph, “A great civilzation is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within” becomes all too chilling as we discover there is always a bigger fish.

The only unfortunate aspects of Apocalypto are several groan inducing moments when the villains sneer and it’s overall glacial pace. But those are minor quibbles for a movie whose tone, message, and uniqueness make it a terrific film. So regardless of the opinions on Mel Gibson the man, his Apocalypto is no doubt another triumph that proves once again that even if Gibson is the kookiest guy in Hollywood (and that’s saying a lot) he is also one of its very best filmmakers.

Director: Mel Gibson

Producer: Mel Gibson, Farhad Safinia, Bruce Davey, Ned Dowd

Writer: Mel Gibson, Farhad Safinia

Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Serbulo

Original Music: James Horner, Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Cinematographer: Dean Semler

Editor: John Wright