nan | 楠木

Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto is a brutal and stunning action film. It’s also a great reconstruction of the old Mayan empire in its full glory (and just before the beginning of its end).

At the center of the film is a young hunting tribe, which resides in the great forest. They are a peaceful tribe, wanting no dealings with the outside world, but their peace is shattered when their village is raided at dawn by a vicious group of warriors. All the adults are taken captive. In an act of desperation, Jaguar Paws (the leading character of the film) lowers his wife and son into a deep well before being captured.

The tribe is taken on a journey to the great Mayan city, where the women are promptly sold as slaves, and the men are led to the pyramids. There, they would be slain as a gift to the gods, as there was a great plague ravaging the empire. Just as Jaguar Paws is to be sacrificed, a solar eclipse occurs, which is taken as a sign from the gods, and he is saved. He then manages to dramatically escape, and sets in motion an intense chase which takes up the remaining half of the film.

The beauty of this film is in its uncompromising depiction. The film is often intensely graphical, and the brutality fits with the society it is trying to portray. The settings and ambience are spectacular, full of vivid colors and images, often creating surrealistic scenes which are instantly memorable. The downside, though, is that those spectacular moments are often short-lived, and their gory glory might not appeal to everyone.

7/10