'Apocalypto': Then and Now

To those who considered

a violent, sadistic endurance test, Mel Gibson responds defiantly: "You ain’t seen nothing yet." His newest release, "Apocalypto" is a deliriously over-the-top thrill ride. It fuses indigenous cultures, human sacrifices and haunting prophecies into a riveting, highly cinematic package. If "The Passion of the Christ" was his take on the New Testament, then "Apocalypto" is drenched in the blood of the Old Testament. To filmgoers willing to take on this risky venture, "Apocalypto" offers visions of base humanity marked by brutality and heroism.

The film focuses upon the plight of an ancient village on the Yucatan Peninsula. The native men hunt tapir in the jungle. They play practical jokes on each other. (Evidently, guys have always questioned each other’s manhood and suffered under their mothers-in-law.) At night, the community gathers around the campfire to dance and tell stories. They embody the classic concept of the noble savage, living at one with the rainforest.

Their idyllic existence is disturbed when a bloodied and beaten rival tribe passes through. These neighbors offer a cryptic warning: "Our lands were ravaged. We seek a new beginning." The source of their misery soon materializes. Maya warriors from the city launch a surprise attack. They burn down the village and cart off the men and women to the Maya capital as slaves. It is a chilling vision of an empire in action, robbing and looting a less advanced society. "Apocalpyto" ignores the technological breakthroughs of Maya culture, questioning whether it can even be called "civilized."

The villagers’ forced journey out of the jungle leads to a series of remarkable urban vistas. Gibson and his Central American crew create a haunting vision of Maya civilization gone rotten. Crops are failing. Children are diseased. Yet, the heir to the throne is chubby and slovenly. The Maya are depicted as sadists, flocking to human sacrifices for both entertainment and religious conviction. They seek to appease the Maya deity, Kukulcan, to restore health and prosperity to their crumbling civilization.

But a bloody stream of human hearts and rolling heads cannot prevent paganism from failing. Priests offer false assurances from atop a majestic pyramid, while in the streets, the prophecies are full of doom. Life has been reduced to blood sport.

At the most basic level, "Apocalypto" is a love story. It is about our relentless drive to protect our families. Husbands and wives endure tremendous pain to preserve the next generation. Actor Rudy Youngblood brings conviction and presence to the role of Jaguar Paw. Dalia Hernandez portrays his pregnant, long-suffering wife, Seven. We root for Jaguar Paw on his journey out of and back into the jungle. He must conquer his fears and recover his best instincts to defeat the ferocious Holcane warriors.

As the army leader, Zero Wolf, Raoul Trujillo demonstrates how rites of passage can devolve into sending our sons to death. "Apocalypto" borrows conventions from chase movies and jungle adventures (including quicksand!). Through Jaguar Paw’s harrowing tests, Gibson demonstrates his belief in the redemptive power of suffering.

Continued on page 2: How far have we come? Do we have hearts of darkness? »