Mel Gibson is better suited behind the camera than behind the wheel, delivering another visceral, thrilling and gorgeous film.
Whatever troubles Mel Gibson has off the set and whatever people may think of him as a person, it can’t be denied that he is a great filmmaker. No film provides greater evidence of that than his latest movie, Apocalypto, which has recently been released on DVD.
For the second straight film, Gibson brings us way back in time and chooses to use the language of his subjects. Three years ago, it was the story of the last hours of Jesus and the actors spoke in Latin and Aramaic. In this case, it’s the ancient Mayans (and the Yucatec dialect), who ruled Central America until the arrival of the Spanish.
The story is about Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), whose village is attacked by another, more advanced tribe. He and several of his fellow tribe members are taken, as slaves and blood sacrifices, back to the city of their captors. Jaguar Paw has extra incentive to escape and return home as his pregnant wife and son are trapped in the well he hid them in during the attack.
Noted for its violence, Apocalypto certainly has plenty of it, in vivid and spectacular fashion, but it doesn’t come until Gibson has done an excellent job of establishing the happy life of Jaguar Paw’s village. There are some touching moments and some very funny ones, particularly at the expense of gentle giant, Blunted (Jonathan Brewer), who can’t get his wife pregnant and hears about it constantly.
Once the action does start, it is relentless. Even during the transporting of the prisoners, the movie maintains its intensity as the captives have to move across a raging river and small mountain ledges while being bound by the neck to long poles.
The last half hour or so of the movie is a fantastic chase scene as Jaguar Paw escapes and is pursued by a group of warriors through the forest, over some falls, and through the forest again. It’s a breathtaking chase, far more effective than the more prevalent car chase, as being on foot gives it a primal, visceral feeling, where you can almost smell the sweat and feel the anxiety.
The brutal warriors are led by Zero Wolf, played by veteran actor Raoul Trujillo (Black Robe, The New World). Trujillo simply looks great, both menacing and noble, with the effect augmented by outstanding makeup and costume work.
One can only blame bias against Gibson after his drunken, anti-Semetic rant for this movie not receiving Oscars for makeup and costumes; they are meticulous, as noted in the special features on the DVD.
Speaking of the features, there aren’t a lot, with the “making of” piece being pretty much it. But sometimes, less is more, and the “making of” feature tells us what we want to know without becoming too chatty and self-indulgent. The one thing that impressed me is that CGI is virtually non-existent and the city is an actual model built from the ground up.
Of course, some scholars have questioned the authenticity of this Mayan depiction but Apocalypto creators have openly admitted that they have taken some license for dramatic effect (for instance, the pyramids are from an earlier era, the Mayans didn't do human sacrifice as much, and some of the weapons are hypothetical).
Many people will ignore a man’s art because of his lack of character.
Roman Polanski, for instance, is still wanted in the U.S. for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. But it cannot be denied he is a great director and he was recognized for it, in a controversial decision, by getting 2002 Best Director Oscar honors for The Pianist.
Mel Gibson is in the same boat. He may be a racist drunkard but he is also an extremely energetic, innovative filmmaker, as evidenced by the beautiful, hypnotic and adrenaline-pumping Apocalypto.
