by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
A Rated R 137 min
Mel Gibson again pulled off another filmmaking masterwork of visceral action and primal energy, exploring the Mayan civilization in decline in the months before the Spaniards landed in search of gold and riches. The story is seen through the eyes of Gibson’s protagonist, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) who lives deep in the forest with his wife and child, far away from the Mayan city. His life is happy and carefree, but in a key scene, while out with a hunting party, he sees a bedraggled group of other natives passing through the forest with fear in their eyes. It’s his first experience with the emotion of fear.
It’s an ominous omen of the terrible terror to come. The powerful king of the Mayan city has gone mad with blood lust under the guise of appeasing the gods with massive human sacrifices. It’s the only way he can hang on to power as the population starves from a terrible famine. To feed his bloodlust, he sends his warriors into the forest to capture innocent natives to be brought back to the city to be sacrificed in a bloody ritual.
The characters speak the native Mayan language with English subtitles, which doesn’t distract from the action on the screen. The forest natives are portrayed as peace-loving people who play practical jokes on one another for amusement. They have no idea of the horror to come as they live happily with plenty of game to eat. Gibson took the time to develop these characters so the audience would care about them when the Mayan king’s reign of terror hits them.
Jaguar Paw’s tribe is a peace-loving group who are not warriors. So when the Mayan king’s army invades their village, they are easily killed or captured, despite their bravery. The kings’ warrior leader Zero Wolf (Raul Trujillo), who is decorated with human jaws, and his sadistic henchman, Snake Ink (Rodolfo Palacios), see the fire in Jaguar Paw’s eyes. When he reveals his father to the warriors, Snake Ink kills Paw’s father in front of him to torture his soul.
Before the warriors overrun the village, Jaguar Paw is able to hide his family in a deep hole in the ground. He promises them he will return for them. But he is captured and tied to a long pole with his fellow villagers. The entire population of the village is marched through the jungle tied to these poles through treacherous mountain passes and river rapids. It’s a death march. The lucky ones die before they know their fate in the city.
Gibson has brilliantly captured the Mayan civilization in its downward spiral. Its once mighty city is dying as people desperately try to fathom what’s happening to them. Surely, if enough people are sacrificed, the gods will help them out of their nightmare? But they face an even greater enemy than famine when the Spaniards appear bringing their European diseases and terror.
The premise is about how civilization can reach a zenith and then, for whatever reason–disease, famine, or internal conflicts–begin to decline. For Jaguar Paw, he seeks to save his family and return to the forest to lead a simple but happy life. Imagine his shock when he and his fellow captives lay eyes on the Mayan city, its pyramids, white-dust-covered-stone workers, and an idle wealthy class. He is overwhelmed by its majesty, but he quickly understands that he and his tribe are going to be sacrificed.
During the tribe’s march to the city, they encounter a little girl–a mystical prophet who warms them of their immediate future. Zero Wolf takes her prophecy as a bad sign of their impeding doom. Jaguar Paw takes it as a sign he might get his chance to escape and go back to save his family. But time is running out, and the rainy season is near, which means the hole his family is in will fill up with water. To make matters worse, Paw’s wife is ready to give birth.
Gibson has created another epic magnum opus that grabs the viewer and never lets them go. Its adrenaline-pumping excitement, painted with a broad strokes of the sophistication of the Mayan civilization, is a backdrop to Jaguar Paw’s race through the jungle with Zero Wolf hot on his tail. The new beginning has come at a high price for Jaguar Paw and his tribe. Like the universe itself, the world is in continuous flux.
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