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All Movie Info
Starring:
Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Jonathan Brewer, Morris Birdyellowhead, Carlos Emilio Baez, Ramirez Amilcar, Israel Contreras, Israel Rios, María Isabel Díaz, Espiridion Acosta Cache, Iazua Larios
Directed By:
Mel Gibson
Written By:
Mel Gibson, Farhad Safinia
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Apocalypto (2006)
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I love the smell of fresh tapir carcass in the mor
When Mel Gibson is not getting pulled over, drunk, and spouting anti-Semitic remarks, he knows how to make a good film. All joking aside there is a real sincerity to this movie on being brutally honest about how harsh ancient Mayan culture was. The movie shows a kind of "end of innocents" and the old ways of life for the natives of Mesoamerica. It is not a pretty or glossy movie, it has a raw almost documentary/national geographic quality to it and if it weren't for the subtitles (translated from a Yucatec Maya language) you might actually feel like it was just that.
The story chronicles the struggle a young Mayan man named Jaguar's Paws goes through when his life is torn apart. Along with a group of his tribe and his father Flint Sky, Jaguar's Paw returns to his village after a successful tapir hunt. They encounter another tribe of refuges who explain that their village was ravaged by raiders and they are simply passing through to try starting a new life. Jaguar's father tells him not to let their fear overcome him, but he is troubled by a dream depicting one of the refuges holding his own heart out, pleading with Jaguar's Paw to "run." He awakens to the raiders attacking his village. In an effort to save his family, he hides his mate who is pregnant with his second child and his son in an underground cave. He is captured and must find a way to escape and fulfill his promise to return to his mate.
The story is somewhat predictable, but I found myself drawn in wanting to know what would happen next. Ultimately I knew what the outcome would be, however I was never deterred from wanting to see how Jaguar's Paw would get the end of his journey. You are thrown into the "survival of the fittest" mentality when you see the tribe being lead away by raiders and their children being left behind. There is a touching scene when they are forced to cross a raging river that the following children had no chance at crossing. A mother looks back at the group of children and one of the older daughters shouts, "I will take care of them, they are mine now.... They are mine now." You are shown how quickly the Mayans were forced to adapt to situations that would drive most people insane today, especially children. As the Raiders finish beating a village into submission, one of the villagers says, "I am sorry father" for not defending the village enough. One of the raiders realizes he cannot kill the younger villager for he is strong enough to be sold into slavery so he slits the father's throat instead. As an act of courage the father does not beg or cry out, he simply says to his son "do not be afraid." Rudy Youngblood as Jaguar Paw, Dalia Hernández as Seven, Jonathan Brewer as Blunted, Morris Birdyellowhead as Flint Sky, María Isabel Díaz as Mother-in-Law and Iazua Larios as Sky Flower were all very real in their portrayals of their characters. You get a true sense of kinship amongst the group of hunters (even after one of them is tricked into eating a less than appetizing part of the tapir they hunted.) There is a distinct look to this movie due to the fact that Gibson chose to film with a high-definition Panavision Genesis camera for some scenes and a Spydercam for others which gave it that raw look. He also chose to steer clear of using any digital (CGI) sets, opting for real buildings and locations. There was a lot of heart and dedication put into this film, not only for being historically accurate, but in keeping the history alive for future generations.
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