Apocalypto

Hmm. Not the best start to the year – I went and saw ‘Apocalypto‘ on Saturday afternoon to kick off 2007’s celluloid adventure, and Mel certainly seems to have as equal a fascination and repulsion with the horrors of the human body as Cronenburg. Stabbings, lacerations, beheadings, maulings, gouging, disembowelings and evisceration abound, and that’s just the opening credits. After the travesty of one of the most dangerous films of recent times I promised myself to never again fill the coffers of right wing racist Gibson, but some of the reviews were just so gushingly positive I couldn’t resist. I have learnt my lesson.

It’s 17th Century South America (specifically a little bit under the cape of Guatemala) and we are taken into the peasant lives of a group of indigenous yucatek natives. We are swiftly introduced to our main protagonist, a young male of the tribe, his son and conveniently pregnant wife. After a series of scene setting sequences, the tranquil atmosphere is shattered by a raid of the Mayan elites who demand new bodies for their brutal sacrifices.

Now, some people are understandably up in arms about the historical authenticity of the movie and normally I would dismiss such criticisms as largely redundant – a film is a work of fiction and as such liberty with certain truths are neccessary evils in order to get the picture made and coherent – but having seen the film I must concur with the naysayers. Gibson’s thesis, signposted in the opening credits, is that sick societies disintegrate from within – but if you’re not presenting the events accurately to such a overwhelming degree then your whole point is rendered meaningless. The final revelation also stinks of cultural imperialism, which I won’t elaborate on here but you’ll guess the ending long before it arrives. The last third is probably the best computer game movie made thus far (I think they call this damning with faint praise) as our hero has every possible obstacle thrown at him, with the odd boss fight thrown in for good measure – snakes, quicksand, rapids, waterfalls, wild animals, – eventually it just becomes so absurd you want the slippery bugger to take a javelin in the skull.

It’s Hollywood by the numbers – this is not a daring vision of an uncompromising artist who demands realism by insisting on accurate language reproductions – We’re talking your standard central protagonist in jepordy, three act stucture (set-up of village & capture, transport to city & escape, chase & resolution). The final sequence is quite simply so cliched that you leave the cinema shaking your head in woe. Avoid.

If anyone’s interested, I did manage to get over to see Marc Bolans shrine, pictures above. For the record, it was bloody raining and I still went on a Sunday afternoon – see how your precious tax dollars are spent on us lowly paid public sector workers?

January 8, 2007 | Categories: Music | 2 Comments