Apocalypto (spoilers)
2/4
Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Raul Trujillo, Rodolfo Palacios, Morris Birdyellowhead
Rated R for Sequences of Graphic Violence and Disturbing Images
Note: I discuss the ending, and its resulting controversy, in detail. Those who haven't seen the film and want to should bail out now and come back later.
The first time I saw "Apocalypto," I hated it. But like with a few other movies, such as "Hollow Man" and "The Jackal," curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to give it another shot. My views have softened, although not by much. "Apocalypto" is too violent for its own good.
Jaguar Paw (Youngblood) is a young man living in a small village. He has a wife named Seven (Hernandez), who has given birth to one child and is pregnant with another. One day his peaceful village is attacked, and those who are still alive are captured and taken to a Mayan city. The women are sold as slaves, but the men are to be sacrificed to the gods. Jaguar Paw escapes, and is pursued by a number of men, led by Zero Wolf (Trujillo) and Snake Ink (Palacios), intent on killing him. Making matters worse is that rain is coming, and in an act of desperation, Jaguar Paw hid his wife and child in a large hole in the ground during the attack.
I am not one to criticize a film for its violence and gore. Like everything, it has its place. But there's something about "Apocalypto" that I found to be a turn-off. It seems to revel in the violence and brutality in a way that made me feel uneasy. I have seen movies that were more intense ("Frontier(s)") and gorier ("Saving Private Ryan"), but neither of those rubbed me the wrong way. There is an air of cynicism running throughout this film that casts a pall over the proceedings. Adventure movies don't have to be as light as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to work, but they should have a sense of joy and fun. That's missing here.
Perhaps had the film given me a character worth caring about (or failing that, feeling something for), it might have worked. But no movie will succeed when the central character is upstaged by just about everyone else and the scenery. Director Mel Gibson chose non-actors for his cast, and while then-newcomer Rudy Youngblood isn't bad, he's more or less invisible (to be fair, the script doesn't do him any favors). Of the other members of the cast, the only ones who are worth mentioning are Raul Trujillo, the main villain since he's given a little depth, and Morris Birdyellowhead (who play's Jaguar Paw's father, Flint Sky), who is quite good.
Like his other two directorial efforts, "Apocalypto" was faced with a number of controversies. Some felt that it was racist against the Mayan people, showing them to be nothing but violent and brutal. This isn't true. Both the heroes and the villains are Mayan, and Jaguar Paw's tribe is made of loving, happy people. He commits violence only as a means to survive. Others criticized it for its lack of historical accuracy, but such a complaint is moot, since it's not a documentary.
Nothing about this movie was more discussed and debated than the ending. Some said that Gibson was evangelizing and portraying the incoming Spanish conquistadors as white heroes who will solve everything by converting everyone to Christianity. I don't buy that, just as I don't buy that "Braveheart" was homophobic or that "The Passion of the Christ" was Anti-Semitic. First off, Gibson isn't a political filmmaker or actor, nor is he politically conservative (he applauded Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" and even offered to finance it, and he said that the "fearmongering" in "Apocalypto" reminds him of the Bush Administration), nor is he an evangelist (to offer an example: he was given the opportunity to voice himself in a "Family Guy" episode that parodied him and "The Passion of the Christ. He turned it down, but later regretted it because he thought the episode was hilarious). Second, there's no follow through. We don't see the Spanish doing anything but rowing to shore. Finally, the surviving characters say that they're going back into the forest and look for a new beginning.
Different films speak to different audiences. "Apocalypto" is light on story and character because its appeal is intended to be purely visceral. So if Jaguar Paw forges a deeper connection with you than he did with me, you'll probably like it.
Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Raul Trujillo, Rodolfo Palacios, Morris Birdyellowhead
Rated R for Sequences of Graphic Violence and Disturbing Images
Note: I discuss the ending, and its resulting controversy, in detail. Those who haven't seen the film and want to should bail out now and come back later.
The first time I saw "Apocalypto," I hated it. But like with a few other movies, such as "Hollow Man" and "The Jackal," curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to give it another shot. My views have softened, although not by much. "Apocalypto" is too violent for its own good.
Jaguar Paw (Youngblood) is a young man living in a small village. He has a wife named Seven (Hernandez), who has given birth to one child and is pregnant with another. One day his peaceful village is attacked, and those who are still alive are captured and taken to a Mayan city. The women are sold as slaves, but the men are to be sacrificed to the gods. Jaguar Paw escapes, and is pursued by a number of men, led by Zero Wolf (Trujillo) and Snake Ink (Palacios), intent on killing him. Making matters worse is that rain is coming, and in an act of desperation, Jaguar Paw hid his wife and child in a large hole in the ground during the attack.
I am not one to criticize a film for its violence and gore. Like everything, it has its place. But there's something about "Apocalypto" that I found to be a turn-off. It seems to revel in the violence and brutality in a way that made me feel uneasy. I have seen movies that were more intense ("Frontier(s)") and gorier ("Saving Private Ryan"), but neither of those rubbed me the wrong way. There is an air of cynicism running throughout this film that casts a pall over the proceedings. Adventure movies don't have to be as light as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to work, but they should have a sense of joy and fun. That's missing here.
Perhaps had the film given me a character worth caring about (or failing that, feeling something for), it might have worked. But no movie will succeed when the central character is upstaged by just about everyone else and the scenery. Director Mel Gibson chose non-actors for his cast, and while then-newcomer Rudy Youngblood isn't bad, he's more or less invisible (to be fair, the script doesn't do him any favors). Of the other members of the cast, the only ones who are worth mentioning are Raul Trujillo, the main villain since he's given a little depth, and Morris Birdyellowhead (who play's Jaguar Paw's father, Flint Sky), who is quite good.
Like his other two directorial efforts, "Apocalypto" was faced with a number of controversies. Some felt that it was racist against the Mayan people, showing them to be nothing but violent and brutal. This isn't true. Both the heroes and the villains are Mayan, and Jaguar Paw's tribe is made of loving, happy people. He commits violence only as a means to survive. Others criticized it for its lack of historical accuracy, but such a complaint is moot, since it's not a documentary.
Nothing about this movie was more discussed and debated than the ending. Some said that Gibson was evangelizing and portraying the incoming Spanish conquistadors as white heroes who will solve everything by converting everyone to Christianity. I don't buy that, just as I don't buy that "Braveheart" was homophobic or that "The Passion of the Christ" was Anti-Semitic. First off, Gibson isn't a political filmmaker or actor, nor is he politically conservative (he applauded Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" and even offered to finance it, and he said that the "fearmongering" in "Apocalypto" reminds him of the Bush Administration), nor is he an evangelist (to offer an example: he was given the opportunity to voice himself in a "Family Guy" episode that parodied him and "The Passion of the Christ. He turned it down, but later regretted it because he thought the episode was hilarious). Second, there's no follow through. We don't see the Spanish doing anything but rowing to shore. Finally, the surviving characters say that they're going back into the forest and look for a new beginning.
Different films speak to different audiences. "Apocalypto" is light on story and character because its appeal is intended to be purely visceral. So if Jaguar Paw forges a deeper connection with you than he did with me, you'll probably like it.
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