Apocalypto - IS IT THAT GOOD

YES IT IS!

Apocalypto, a Mel Gibson film from 2006 is absolutely, without a question, a masterpiece. It is an example of a film that does not require a big fancy movie star actor or actress to lead the movie. It as an example of how you take an historical idea, make a story out of it, take a brilliant visionary director which wrote it with Farhad Safinia, add a fabulous cinematographer (Dean Semler) spice it with one of the greatest movie composer there ever lived (James Horner) and you got a masterpiece.

Gibson, before his drunken period, anti-Semitic quotes, Jesus fanatic and other problems is a great actor and more than that one of the greatest director there is. Since Braveheart there hasn’t been a movie so epic with its details, costumes, makeup and authenticity such as Apocalypto. If you haven’t seen it, it is a must!

Like I said before, you won't find a movie star here. You will only find a movie that tells a story about the Mayan empire just before the white people invade and took their land. The movie doesn't use English at all, all the characters speak the Yucatec Maya language and it is beautiful.

 A small village with Mayan deweelrs try to leave their life peacefully, with our hero Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngboold) along with his pregnant wife and his little kid among the rest of his brothers and sisters and friends. Their peace cut off when the Holcane tribe intruders came and sack their village, raped and murdered some of them and took them as prisoners. this is Jaguar Paw's journey. just before he was talen he managed to hide his wife amd son in a dried weel. his all journey is to stay alive and return to them.

The director, used the magnificent jungle footages to show us how vast and dangerous the land is. From rocks, to dense trees, rivers gone wild and more, just to make the trip to the city more exhausting. The city on the other hand is a beautiful repica from the historical point of view. The usage of Jade stones everywhere, starting with people teeth and through their jewelry and hair. The tattoos, the lwardrobes, the stylish hair the weaponry. Everything is meticulously done, and not a single detail missed. The set is like being taken from Cecil b. Demille movie. Everything was hand made. lots of extras all with full detailed makeup. No CGI in the process which gives you a genuine and authentic feeling while watching this monstrosity city.

Gibson, as you know, doesn’t afraid to show blood, or severed body part in his films. Braveheart, Passion of Christ, and his recently film Hacksaw Bridge all have their share fair of bloody images. In this case it fits perfectly. The city scenes with the religious sacrifices to end the drought or the falling city, the hearts that had been taken from the live bodies on the pedestal, the beheading and headed being thown down the stairs, and the bloody images all serve a great purpose. Showing you how they lived, how they prayed, how history portrayed the Mayan kingdom and their habits.

If your heart and stomach can bear gory images it is the right movie for you. It is not a horror flick that just poor buckets of blood without a thought behind it. It is not to gross you out. Every blood drop, every heart removing or every cut serve a purpose in this movie. Like I said, a masterpiece.

Mel Gibson, a smart guy, took again an Oscar winning composer to give his vision the music it deserves. James Horner (May he rest in peace) was the brilliant composer behind Braveheart, Titanic and much more great movies. He is one of my favorite movie scorers there are. The sensitive music he brings are just joy. For the score of Apocalypto, Horner has foregone the use of the 90-piece orchestras that he's used to working with, and in exchange has employed a small ensemble of musicians. The resulting work blends rhythmic tribal percussion, ethnic flutes, pipes and woodwinds, synth strings and brass, and vocalizations. It's an unconventional score, but there are moments that are distinctly that of Horner's style. There are a few themes, mainly heard on the ethnic flutes, representing the love that Jaguar Paw has for his wife and son, as well as the jungle itself, and the safety that Jaguar Paw seeks within its comforting green canopy. As the movie is a masterpiece, such as its soundtrack!

Even if you are not a Mel Gibson fan, you have to respect his vision, his details awareness and his director skills. 

P.S (and a spoiler alert)

Whenever I see the pregnant wife deliver her baby in a flooded well with her oldest son on her shoulders I remember my own wife screaming while given birth of my son and daughter or how I feel when my stomach or head hurts, I think wow, we became so spoiled.  J