A lurid sequence set at a Mayan pyramid temple includes a speech that could be applied to contemporary politics and a hideous ritual that could be seen as an indictment of the culture of death, while a mountain of corpses connects the scenes of human sacrifice to the Holocaust.Ībove all, the film speaks the language of violence.
A village elder retells an intriguing myth about the unique power and restless hunger of man, who borrows the strengths of all the animals before they realize that man has a hole inside him that will make him take and take until the world has no more to give.Ĭhristological echoes crop up in the film: An unsettling prophecy suggests that the hero, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), may be somehow chosen to overcome against the cruel Mayans, and a nearly miraculous turn of events strongly suggests that whatever powers that be are on his side. There’s an opening quotation from historian Will Durant: “A great civilization is not conquered from without, until it has destroyed itself from within.” There are suggestive speeches about the crippling effects of fear, how it crawls into the soul and destroys inner peace. Is there any larger meaning? The film offers various possible clues. The film depicts the murderous conquest of peaceful jungle villagers by cruel Mayan warriors, some to be sold as slaves, others destined for a more terrible fate. With its pre-Columbian Mesoamerican setting, unknown cast of indigenous, largely first-time actors, and subtitled dialogue (Yucatek Maya), Apocalypto turns out to be a brutal action movie with unusually exotic production values.
Actually, although the English word “apocalypse” connotes the end of the world, the real meaning is revelation, “unveiling.” The form used in the title of Mel Gibson’s latest movie, Apocalypto, means “I reveal.” But what, if anything, is revealed by the film? What is Apocalypto about?
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