Miltimore on Movies: Apocalypto

Running Time: 125 mins

By by: Jon Miltmore

Rated: R

Running Time: 125 mins

Mel Gibson continues to defy Hollywood and the odds. When production companies refused to touch his last project - The Passion of the Christ, - with a ten-foot-pole, Gibson produced the film himself. Despite its challenges - Aramaic dialogue (subtitled), an R-rating, and an astonishing amount of violence - Passion went on to become the most successful independent film in history.

Apocalypto - Gibson's latest film - has all these challenges and more. Whereas the Passion had known talent - the gifted Jim Caviezel and luscious Monica Bellucci - not a single recognizable face in appears in Apocalypto. The Passion appealed to a very broad audience and told a story most viewers already knew; Apocalypto does neither. Throw in Gibson's recent personal problems and this film had disaster written all over it. Yet Apocalypto does not disappoint and looks to be another moneymaker.

Set in 15th century Meso-America, Apocalypto opens in a small, peaceful hunting village on the periphery of a fading Mayan civilization. Though clad in rough attire and decorated in fierce looking ornaments and tattoos, the village inhabitants seem much like us: family oriented, jocular, and amorous. But soon our hunters come across a neighboring tribe in flight, ragged and blood-spattered, portending perilous times.

Soon after, the village is attacked by a band of evil looking (and even more gruesomely decorated) warriors. Battle ensues and the hunters are quickly overwhelmed; many are killed, the rest are taken prisoner. However, the young man destined to be our hero - Jaguar Paw (who bears an uncanny resemblance to RHCP lead singer, Anthony Kiedis) - has managed to stash his pregnant wife and son away in a cavern before he is taken captive.

The survivors are marched to a Mayan city filled with death and decadence. Prisoners are divided into two groups: one to be sold as slaves, the other sacrificed to appease angry gods who have brought famine and pestilence to the mighty civilization. Our hero is selected for sacrifice, but through a quirk of fate he manages a brief reprieve and soon orchestrates his escape. When pursued by a band of warriors into his native forest - terrain known intimately by our hero - the stage is set for redemption. The battle is much like a 15th century Meso-American version of First Blood. Jaguar Paw is the Rambo toying with Brian Dennehy and his deputies (except, you know a guy named Jaguar Paw is not taking prisoners).

What makes Apocalypto a success is its stunning visuals and authentic feel. The original Mayan dialect (Yucatec) is used and the actors are all Native Americans bearing (presumably) genuine body apparel, tattoos, etc. The cinematography is magnificent. Gibson belongs behind the camera. With the exception of perhaps Clint Eastwood, no actor in recent memory has made such a smooth transition from player to director.

Viewers feel virtually transported to an ancient and extinct civilization.

Like Gibson's other films, Apocalypto possesses a Hobbesian feel; life is poor, nasty brutish, and short. From the very beginning we see a Darwinian chain where the strong survive and the weak are mere prey. It is the anti-Dances With Wolves.

Some may find the departure from the presentation of the Native American as "noble savage" unfair. But this misses the point. In Apocalypto, virtue is found in mammalian simplicity (i.e. the "noble savage). To Gibson, like thinkers from Tacitus to Rousseau, the antagonist is not "the savage," but civilization.

Apocalypto is not without flaws and is not a film for everyone (I heard a few grumbles exiting the theatre). In some of his earlier films, Gibson used violence effectively to evoke a feeling of realism, but in Apocalypto lines of effectiveness and taste our sometimes crossed, and instead of realistic, the violence feels gratuitous and contrived. One villain is so sadistic he becomes artificial and clownish. The ending is also a bit of a letdown in that it seems to ignore a prophecy made earlier in the film. (My theory: Gibson intended a different ending but wanted to conclude on a more enlightening note.)

But if you are seeking brief refuge into another world and don't mind a bit (okay, a lot) of gore and subtitles, go see Apocalypto. It is a beautifully shot, high-pulsed adventure that will some breathless and other horrified.