AC/AL 2006 138m MAYAN 40m GV/N (Eng. Sub) CAST: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Raoul Trujillo, Jonathan Brewer, Fernando Hernandez & Morris Birdyellowhead CREDITS: Director: Mel Gibson; Screenwriters: Mel Gibson/Farahad Safinia; Producers: Mel Gibson/Bruce Davey; Director of Photography: Dean Semler; Production Designer: Tom Sanders; Editor: John Wright; Costume Designer: Mayes C. Rubeo; Music: James Horner THE SYNOPSIS Hundreds of years ago in Mesoamerica (modern Mexico and parts of Central America). Young Mayan warrior Jaguar Paw (Youngblood) hunts game with his tribe, learns life lessons from his village elder father Flint Sky (Yellowbirdhead) and loves his beautiful, pregnant wife Seven (Hernandez) and son Turtles Run. Jaguar Paw’s tranquil existence comes to a shattering end one morning when his entire village is attacked a tribe of Mayan raiders, led by the sadistic Zero Wolf (Trujillo). Jaguar Paw’s father and many others are massacred, by he manages to hide Seven and Turtles Run in a well. Paw returns to fight the raiders, but is subdued and taken prisoner along with a few other survivors. Zero Wolf and his dastardly band of warriors lead the prisoners to the Mayan Capital City, a large city that sports beautiful pyramids and a myriad of lush costumes, exotic animals and slaves. Many slaves. The Mayans are a conquering race and subject their prisoners to horrific acts. Jaguar Paw and his tribesmen are led to the top of the largest pyramid, where human sacrifices are staged for the spectacle and amusement of the Mayans and their haughty monarchs. A solar eclipse occurs just as Jaguar Paw is about to be sacrificed. The Mayan High Priest takes this as a bad omen. Jaguar Paw and a few others are sent to an obstacle course, where they are to flee for their lives while Zero Wolf and his warriors try to kill them. Jaguar Paw manages to escape—but not before killing Zero Wolf’s sadistic son in self-defense. With a crazed father and his men after him, Jaguar Paw races into the jungle and prepares himself. He must kill his pursuers and save his family from drowning in the well back home. He must also interpret the sight of large boats appearing in the bay, carrying white men wearing metal armor… THE CRITIQUE Leaving Mel Gibson’s personal idiosyncrasies out of this review, I do have to admit that as a filmmaker, Mel definitely has a command of the visual medium (this one being Mel’s 4th feature as a director (following 1993’s The Man Without A Face, 1995’s multi-Oscar©-winning Braveheart & 2004’s controversial--yet successful The Passion Of The Christ). APOCALYPTO turns out to be a violent, yet exciting and visually-stimulating tale of a Meso-American culture and the inkling of its downfall in the early years of the New World. Credit must go to director-producer Gibson for taking another chance on a topic that would not likely fill many seats at the local multiplex (if you remember, this was the same problem with Passion). Spending approximately $40,000,000 of his own money on production, Gibson puts it all up on the big screen. Directing APOCALYPTO with a muscular style, Gibson gets some strong acting from his large cast of thespians (whose ethnic diversities include Native American, Hispanic & South American Indian heritages--more on that later). Gratefully, Gibson keeps the proceedings moving at a good pace, regardless of the robust 138-minute running time. A part of that kudo must go to ace veteran editor John Wright (Speed/The X-Men/The Passion Of The Christ), for the taut cutting evident on the screen. Though a bit long, I was never bored. Moving on, APOCALYPTO was co-written by Gibson and co-producer Farhid Safinia, an Iranian-born and Cambridge & NYU-educated screenwriter. I’ll assume that they wrote it in English, but when shot, the movie’s dialogue was recorded in what the press notes refer to as Yucatec Maya (a modern variation of ancient Mayan spoken in regions like Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula). The screenplay in-and-of-itself is decently-written; actually, I am more impressed with the fact that Gibson followed through with his promise of shooting this picture in an ancient tongue (much like he did with Passion). Even more impressive? He (once-again) okayed the use of subtitles for us peasants to read. What a guy!! The filmmakers also get credit for casting the movie with ethnically-appropriate actors & non-actors. I bring this up, because if anything, Mel is exacting--and he wanted realistic-looking people in front of the lens...as opposed to the Golden Age studio pictures where white actors were dressed in native costumes. Leads Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Morris Birdyellowhead and Raul Trujillo (as the muscular, evil-eyed Zero Wolf) are all well-chosen for their appropriate roles. Part of that credit must also go to costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo (Avatar/Sunshine State) for enabling these thespians to really get into character with some terrific costumes draped onto them. APOCALYPTO was lensed by veteran Aussie cinematographer Dean Semler (Oscar©-winner for Dances With Wolves; he also shot The Road Warrior, XXX & Click) and its cinematography is easily one the movie’s best selling points. However, it is also a double-sided sword. Allow me to explain: The movie shot in high-definition video, using those versatile Panavision Genesis cameras (also used in such recent movies as Superman Returns, Balls Of Fury, The Condemned & Superbad, among others). As most of you (my loyal readers) already know, I am not a huge fan of shooting feature films in a video format. According to Semler & Gibson, an HD-camera package was chosen for mobility and shooting-length purposes--which is a legitimately good reason, as the filmmakers digitally shot & captured an equivalent of approximately 2 million feet of regular film stock on APOCALYPTO. I cannot fault the practicality and economical feasibility of using this new format; however, there is a danger of the “art” suffering for it. But what else is new in show business! Anyway, the movie looks crisp and exhibits a gorgeous color palette of jungle greens, blood red, fire orange and various other earth hues. As is wont with talented artisans behind the lens, Semler and his crew lit/lensed the show as if it were shot on film--thereby furnishing it with that satisfactory “film” look. The only times in the movie that give away its digital form are during night scenes and action sequences where the camera whips around--causing (oops!) digital motion blurring. That’s but one complaint; the other is the fact that the movie was shot and projected in the format’s native 16x9 (1.78:1 aspect ratio) as opposed to an anamorphic scope or even Super 35mm ratio of 2.40:1. This bugs me, not only because I am a fan & supporter of widescreen cinema, but I also feel that the 16x9 ratio does not take full advantage of the lush, sub-tropical location shooting (in various parts Mexico, near many Mayan stomping grounds) or the terrific, ethnically-inspired production design by veteran, Oscar©-nominated designer Tom Sanders (Bram Stoker’s Dracula/Braveheart/Saving Private Ryan). In the end, not a big deal, but still... If there are any aesthetic complaints, it comes from the questionable historical accuracy that APOCALYPTO posits. The press notes claims that many experts were consulted and consulting during the production. There are detractors who claim that many of the events, architecture, languages, norms and ideals set forth in APOCALYPTO are way off. Uhh...OK. Since I do not profess to be an expert in Mayan history, I can only go by what I see on screen and what I read in my research for this review. Wikipedia has a nice passage on the controversy (here) that should answer some questions about the debate. EIther way, the controversy is good publicity! As a movie expert, I can tell you that the basic premise does seem a bit anemic--especially in regard to the villainous Mayans who decimate the peaceful villagers in the name of conquest and pagan religion. More could have been devoted to their motivations and reasons, but alas...it was not. In light of the overall scheme, not a hugh turn-off. THE BOTTOM LINE APOCALYPTO is a kinetic and muscular chase movie that features top-notch production values, handsome (albeit digital) cinematography and a solid cast of ethnically indigenous-looking actors. Whatever Mel’s personal issues are, they don’t conflict with his filmmaking prowess. An exciting—if not entirely or historically accurate—telling of a small piece of New World history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_directorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_producerhttp://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=apocalypto.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmmaking#Productionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editor#Film_editorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenwritinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenwriterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenplayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_camerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_the_United_States#Golden_Age_of_Hollywoodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costume_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographerclick.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_%28camera%29supermanreturns.htmlballsoffury.htmlcondemned.htmlsuperbad.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_cinematography_camerashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_stockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_blur#Negative_effects_of_motion_blurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16x9#16:9_standardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_%28image%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphic_formathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_35http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widescreenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_designerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypto#Historical_accuracy_and_related_criticismshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19shapeimage_2_link_20shapeimage_2_link_21shapeimage_2_link_22shapeimage_2_link_23shapeimage_2_link_24shapeimage_2_link_25shapeimage_2_link_26shapeimage_2_link_27shapeimage_2_link_28shapeimage_2_link_29shapeimage_2_link_30shapeimage_2_link_31shapeimage_2_link_32shapeimage_2_link_33shapeimage_2_link_34