Though sharply divided over its general merit, mainstream critics all last week sung in loud unison about one element of Mel Gibson's subtitled Mayan chase film "Apocalypto": its violence. Gibson's preoccupation with bloodied barbarism, it was purported, manifested itself onscreen with a demented, primordial, almost pornographic quality. To hear such seasoned moviegoers and reviewers piously lament the film's unsubtle bloodlust would have you believe they'd never watched "Gladiator," "Saving Private Ryan," "The Departed" or even "Kill Bill," whose comic gore still remain immensely graphic.
"Apocalypto" does contain heavy carnage — clearly more than, say, "Finding Nemo" and most of Hollywood's output. Here's what makes it digestible, though, and distinguishes it from the suffering depicted in Gibson's searing 2004 triumph, "The Passion of the Christ" — the camerawork in "Apocalypto" rarely lingers on its fits of savagery. The pacing of this film is so frenetic and at times breathless that, before the next body could be decapitated or torso impaled, the central locus of activity had already quickly advanced elsewhere. So, perhaps you heard it here first. "Apocalypto" is not intolerably violent.
It is, however, a supremely rousing and entertaining muscular thriller — a conventional template spruced up with unconventional touches by a highly cracked filmmaker. The cast is comprised of utter no-names, all the dialogue is delivered in an obscure Mayan dialect and the subtext focuses on the implosion of this civilization. Consider this: No white person utters a single line in this film — pretty remarkable for the allegedly reactionary Gibson.
The narrative centers on the mangled travails of Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), who is more a vehicle for bruised expressions and physical prowess than a character of developed depth. From its opening sequences, "Apocalypto" is covered in a foreboding haze as the story progresses from anthropological glimpses at Mayan civilization to internecine strife. The tranquility of Jaguar Paw's isolated community is overthrown when a marauding band of fierce, exotically dressed outsiders sets in on his people, and rape and pillage until only smoldering ruins remain. Their method of combat is swift, vivid and wholly destructive. But, again, the visual toll this inflicts is blunted by how frenzied the scenes are. Before becoming enslaved himself, Jaguar Paw is able to nestle his pregnant wife and young son away in a hollowed-out pit. That this spot is so tenuously safe only adds to the film's bristling tension.
The second act lags slightly as it depicts the newly captive natives being roughly escorted far from their home and taken through foreign passages. It does serve to generate fuller hostility between Jaguar Paw and Snake Ink (Rodolfo Palacios), one of the two ostensibly central villains of "Apocalypto." Snake Ink sneeringly nicknames Jaguar Paw, "Almost," and doesn't cease in harassing him throughout the long journey.
But this is merely a mocking, playful prelude to what awaits the slaves in their captors' city. Gibson depicts this beautiful locale like a Mesoamerican Rome: grand, teeming with life and spectacle, but also lavishly decadent. A massive, kingly ziggurat-like structure towers over the city and is where the slaves are taken for religious human sacrifices. These are moments of dispiriting barbarity: Not only are severed hands liberally thrown around, but also the reaction from the on-looking masses is one of ebullient approval.
A chance intervention, perhaps from the divine, stops Jaguar Paw's impending execution and sets up the explosive 45-minute end stretch. It's an incomparable chase sequence, rife with improbable escapes and sly, "at one with the jungle" maneuvers. The murderous Zero Wolf (Raoul Trujillo) leads the hunt with ferocity and makes the Christ-like Jaguar Paw painfully earn his way back home. Though their ultimate survival is little in doubt, Jaguar Paw and his family have an unexpected beach encounter with a new people (any guesses?) that upends "Apocalypto's" feigning closure.
It is a rare film that can be judged such an astounding success with performances that are not noteworthy and a script, co-written by Gibson and Farhad Safinia, that is sparse and almost negligible. "Apocalypto," however, is no ordinary film. Youngblood carries his fate's burdens with convincingly troubled eyes and a heavy heart, but the physicality he displays ultimately defines his turn as Jaguar Paw. No other actor here holds enough screen time to offer a full-bodied performance.
"Apocalypto," effectively, is a silent film. It is one of the more visually-driven works that you will ever see. And what glorious visuals are on display here. Dean Semler's cinematography paints the lush, escapist Mayan landscape on a stirring canvas. From the rush of a mammoth waterfall, to the peaks of the villains' capital city to the hectic run through a booby-trapped jungle, the camerawork lucidly captures the thrill of natural life in contrast to its inhabitants perpetrating wanton death. The most memorable scene depicted Jaguar Paw literally being preyed upon a real jaguar. During this sequence, the pacing slowed and drew attention to the animal's vivid features, as if it was poised to jump through the screen. It was a remarkable moment that highlighted this film's sterling exercise in craftsmanship.
"Apocalypto" opens with a quote from American historian/philosopher Will Durant that reads, "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within." This line hints at a more penetrating historical study that this film is never willing to truly undertake. Its focus lies elsewhere and for good reason. Mad Mel excels at rendering straightforward, literal stories, not heady essays on the inter-workings of a civilization. You could almost say that "Apocalypto" represents the junction point of "Braveheart" and his '80s "Mad Max" trilogy: a bloodied struggle with a thin layer of greater doom and destruction on the horizon. No matter which way you slice it, this is a jolting thrill of a movie.
I've purposely avoided expounding upon the highly publicized demons of Mel the private individual, as opposed to Mel the director, because I find it completely inconsequential. It's regrettable that many will allow his baggage to color their perception of "Apocalypto" or dictate that they do not see it altogether. They're missing out on a great work of pop entertainment.
Grade: 4 out of 5
