Apocalypto
directed by Mel Gibson
rated R
2 hours, 18 minutes (2006)

by Abid Yahya

[If you’re a stickler for plotlines not being spoiled, tread carefully…]

Whether he’s accused of being anti-Semitic, arrogant, or just plain weird, Mel Gibson keeps giving to the world big-budget blockbusters, and we keep flocking to theatres and video stores in droves to see them. After raking in over $50 million at the box office, his latest, Apocalypto, was released on DVD in June. For about three weeks, every last copy at just about every Blockbuster location in town, my research indicates, was rented out.

Fresno State Chicano and Latin American Studies professor and fellow Undercurrent editor Matt Espinoza Watson purchased a copy, thinking the film might be pedagogically useful in teaching his students something about Mayan culture and history. He was thoroughly disappointed, and he told me as much when he let me borrow his copy. Admittedly, this may have colored my experience of the film.

And, admittedly, the film is riveting, the storyline is tight, and the direction is nearly seamless. Emotionally, the film does tug at you. Admittedly, the acting is superb. The casting, for the most part, was perfect. Admittedly, the costume direction was downright amazing. And, admittedly, Apocalypto focused the world’s attention, if briefly, on Mayan civilization. Much hype was made before its release of the noble attention being given by Gibson to historical accuracy. He did hire a number of anthropologists and Mayan cultural experts to work on the film. But let’s review the plotline. Our star, played by Rudy Youngblood, married and having a child, lives in a perfectly happy and peaceful village in the middle of the jungle when, one night, a band of Mayan bounty-hunters raids their village, raping the women, burning the huts, abandoning the children, and carrying off all the able-bodied males to some thriving old-world Mayan metropolis. There, the captives are taken to the top of an enormous step pyramid, where their heads are removed in ceremonial fashion and sent tumbling and spinning down the steps to the cheering masses, who are becoming more ecstatic with the removal of each head. Our star manages to escape, returning to his village to try to rescue his hidden wife and son. He is chased to the beach, where he and his two pursuers are struck dumb by something they see off in the distance, a couple of Spanish galleons off the coast, the arrival of Cortez. Cut to later, our star with his wife and son in the jungle watching the arrival of the white man, safe at last from the brutality of the Mayans. Roll credits.

What’s being suggested here sounds about right, right? The white man came to South America to rescue the oppressed rural indigenous folks from the cruel urban indigenous folks. And the Mayans, they just gathered in the streets to cheer at beheadings all day long. End of story.

Now, even if the human sacrifice stuff in the film is historically accurate (but let’s keep in mind that most chroniclers of Mayan history were Spanish and consequently had a clear interest in mis-portraying the natives), there were certainly other aspects of their culture. If, knowing nothing about Mayan history, you watch this film, your understanding of Mayan culture will be almost criminally narrow and, some would argue, altogether wrong.

My advice: watch the film if you must, but read a book or two first.