Rent Apocalypto on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Mel Gibson & Farhad Safinia
Directed by: Mel Gibson
Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dalia Hernández, Jonathan Brewer, Gerardo Taracena
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.
Verdict
What an amazing movie, though I get why it flew under the radar originally. The setting and time period make it a completely different world, and the production design is impressive. We follow a captive that's trying to avoid his fate while also trying to rescue his family. The concept is so simple, and while it's been done before, it's never been in this time period which make this fresh. The story is great, the tension is off the charts, and the ending is even better. While it can be very violent, this was a primitive time.
Watch It.
Review
This is a movie that never garnered my interest. This was Mel Gibson's next movie after The Passion of the Christ, and it released just after negative headlines for Gibson and his run-ins with the law. This movie bore the brunt of it.
Set in sixteenth century jungles, a tribe is hunting and dividing up an animal. It's graphic, but I like the accuracy of their appearance. It's no surprise this movie went for authenticity over utility for the actors as it opts for the original language and subtitles. The makeup artists researched tattoos, scarification, and jewelry of the time to make the actors look like period appropriate warriors. While there were complaints about accuracy, it wasn't about the appearance but the brutal raids and sacrifices depicted.
This setting makes you abandon typical expectations. This is a completely new world, and we can't assume to know how it works. We get one character that's the butt of jokes to show us at least some things in society are universal despite how society progressed. Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) and his tribe encounter another village passing through the forest. Their lands were ravaged and they seek a new start. That was a sign.
 |
| Rudy Youngblood plays Jaguar's Paw |
Jaguar Paw's village is later attacked. The aggressors look more sinister, from their markings to decorations. The attacks are brutal as the invading Mayans ransacks the village. I wondered why they couldn't have lived peacefully, but some just want to take. The raiders weren't interested in sparing anyone during the raid, so why are they taking some of them captive and moving survivors? They leave the village in shambles. Jaguar Paw is one of the captives, and as he's herded away he can only look at the pit where he left his wife for safety. She survived the raid, but her future looks bleak now.
Jaguar Paw and his fellow captives are marched into this advanced Mayan city built of stone with tall temples and crowds everywhere. It looks like the Mayans have forced many other tribes into labor. As Jaguar Paw is marched deeper into the city, neither he nor we know what they're getting into. It doesn't look good, and the paintings on the walls indicate a premature death.
This movie is visually amazing. It recreates this world, and if feels so authentic though it is certainly violent. This tribe is kidnapped. Some are sacrificed, others are hunted for sport. Compare where Jaguar Paw is now, with how this movie started when he was just hunting for his tribe. He was content, but now he's in an unfamiliar land with a religion that thinks they have the right to kidnap and kill, taking what they want. It seems that the larger any tribe grows, the more that leads to destruction and upheaval.
With each step Jaguar Paw takes you think it can't get any worse but it does. He ends up hunted in the woods by Mayans, and as violent as this movie has been it gets crude and gory in ways you just don't typically see. This entire movie, from the start, is the idea that if the animals in the jungle don't get you people will. It's difficult to tell who is more dangerous. It's a brutal world, but I imagine it didn't seem that way to Jaguar Paw's tribe before they were raided.
Jaguar Paw is resourceful, and uses his jungle for an advantage. He's desperate to save his wife. His wife's plot line is small, but it's a bit much. I get tribes are primitive, but I did question that short arc.
I love the way this ends. We've seen this violence between tribes and when they reach the beach they see giant ships full of Spanish Conquistadors. It's got to be completely alien to the tribes. While Jaguar Paw has learned that strangers are dangerous, the Mayans are intrigued and approach. I'm sure some of that is ego. Only the viewer knows the death sentence this ship will be for the Mayans.
No comments :
Post a Comment