Mel Gibson Goes Native: Apocalypto

It's kind of a shame that Mel Gibson had that run in with the cops earlier this year (despite the joke mileage I've gotten out of calling my wife "sugar t*ts" when she annoys me and asserting that anything that goes wrong in my life is part of the "vast Jewish conspiracy"--that's comedy gold there, folks. I find it sort of amazing that people believe there's a "vast Jewish conspiracy"--but if you ever saw the documentary The Protocols of Zion you realize there's a whole lot of people who believe there really is one...man, this parenthetical aside is threatening to become its own column.) because public sentiment is sure to keep people from going to see his latest film, Apocalypto. This is a shame, because Apocalypto is probably Gibson's best film since Braveheart (sorry, I couldn't get into Passion of the Christ).

When I first saw trailers for this thing, I have to admit, I thought it was gonna blow. I was so completely wrong.

Rudy Youngblood plays a young native named Jaguar Paw. He lives in a small village and has a wife who's pregnant. Unfortunately, Mayan marauders swoop into his village, taking men hostage and killing nearly everyone (save for Jaguar's wife, who is trapped in the bottom of a pit). The prisoners are taken to the Mayan capital, where they're destined to become sacrifices to the Sky God. Jaguar Paw escapes, but the path back to his village is a treacherous one as he's chased by Mayan soldiers and must deal with the harsh realities of the jungle around him.

I think that maybe we can finally bestow the title of "auteur" on Mel Gibson. While his films may not be especially deep, he has a recurring set of thematic concerns (cultures on the brink of extinction) that tend to color all of his work. His films possess a unique visual style as well--one that makes them almost instantly identifiable to anyone who pays attention to movies. Top that off with the fact that he may be one of the greatest "gore" filmmakers working today (without ever having made a genre film) and he certainly stands out as a filmmaker worthy of the title. Gibson's films are unique in that only he could have made them--not unlike the films of Kubrick, Kitano, Wong Kar Wai, and Fellini.

Staying true to the form he started with Braveheart, Apocalypto is a violent film. The brutality and carnage on display here is certain to make a lot of people cringe as Gibson has elevated the effect of arterial spray to the level of artform (I haven't seen geysers of blood like this since the days of Lone Wolf and Cub and countless other Japanese samurai films from the '70s). Death is everywhere in Apocalypto (which is sort of fitting, given the title) and it's always savage. Impalements, beheadings, animal attacks...it's all here. Gibson never flinches when the opportunity to shock arises. I love him for this.

Mel's not solely an exploitation filmmaker though. Apocalypto is essentially a chase film, albeit one filled with beautiful images, genuine tension, and a distinct aesthetic visual style. Gibson has an eye for visuals, be it the foreboding shots of towering Mayan pyramids as Jaguar Paw is led into the city or a masterfully edited opening sequence wherein the men stalk a tapir through the dense jungle. In short, this is really good filmmaking--not just something visceral designed to go for the most base of reactions.

No less impressive is the film's breakneck pacing, which starts off fast and continually ratchets up the tension throughout the narrative. Every time you think the film has hit a wall, Gibson cranks the proceedings up another notch. By the film's end, I was essentially exhausted--in the best of ways.

While not for everyone (the graphic violence is sure to turn off some viewers), Apocalypto is an excellent film from a director who’s shown that he may not be the deepest guy out there, but that he understands how to tell a compelling story in visual images. This is a message film wrapped up in the veneer of your standard action flick, and in lesser hands would have assuredly fallen flat. Don’t let the fact that it’s subtitled (there’s not much dialogue anyway) or Mel’s personal issues put you off seeing it (remember, Leni Riefenstahl made Nazi propaganda films—that didn’t diminish the obvious art of her work). Apocalypto gets my seal of approval.