Director Mel Gibson Explains 'Apocalypto'
Mel Gibson's epic adventure 'Apocalypto' is in a Mayan dialect, but the story is primally universal: During a bloody raid on his tribe's village, young Jaguar Paw quietly hides his pregnant wife and toddler before he's kidnapped for ritual sacrifice. Narrowly escaping certain death, he must outrace his captors to return to his family. Find out why the controversial director says this is a heartpounding thriller any movielover should see.
More about 'Apocalypto'
On the Hero's Journey
"The story as I structured it was mythical in nature," Gibson says of the arechetypical tale of Jaguar Paw's against-the-odds journey to save his family. "He's an everyman who had the capability to become an extraordinary man and to do extraordinary feats and of course be normal in most respects."
In His Own Words
On Casting Jaguar Paw
Gibson auditioned hundreds of men for the role, but Rudy Youngblood was just what he wanted: "He takes a lot of pride in his ability to perform physically, and I think that’s evident when you see him," he says. "He had a natural grace of movement. Very athletic, very unaffected. Kind of like an animal moving."
On the Vigor of Youth
Part Comanche and Cree Indian, Youngblood, 25, had to perform the kind of stuntwork even Gibson finds difficult: "Doing 'Braveheart' for me was like that. I was 38 when that happened," he says. "But when you're in your early 20s, man, nothing stops you. So he had that going for him for sure ... Oddly, I never heard him even whine about anything."
On Choosing Mexico
After scouting visits to rainforests in the Americas and even Fiji, Gibson chose Veracruz, Mexico for his production. "You had primary growth in the trees and you had some flat ground, since you needed room to move," he says. "And we were going to move. If you look at the film, there is hardly anything that isn’t moving."
On Gratuitous Violence
"I’ve been merciful in some of these scenes. You don’t have to see stuff close up all the time. You don’t have to see a heart being popped out of a chest cavity," Gibson says. "If you're going to deal with a culture that at times could be pretty hard and savage, you better make the audience feel the intensity of that."
On Keeping It Real
Gibson only auditioned people from indigenous cultures and wanted no known actors: "It's far better to have people that don’t have any baggage attached to them," he says. "You can ... live that vicarious experience better when you are just getting to know someone rather than coming in with preconceptions."
On Being "Almost" Done
To get to his wife and son, Jaguar must stay literally steps ahead of the brutal crew he escapes from, including this tribesman who gives him an insulting nickname: "His main nemesis guy calls him 'almost' as if he is incomplete somehow," he says. "And in a sense he is incomplete. He becomes complete throughout the course of the film."
On Scariest Dudes Ever
With all of their piercings, ritual tattoos and elaborate body armor, the captors rank high on the list of frightening movie villains. "It took many hours every day to get people looking like that. But I think what we managed to do with the warriors was to make these some of the scariest dudes you could see," he says.
On the Thrill of the Chase
The last third of the film is an intense, 40-minute-long foot chase as Jaguar battles his surroundings -- from a wild animal to quicksand to flying spears -- to get home. "I think the thing here was to keep variety and movement and surprising things happening within the chase," Gibson says of the visceral sequence.
On the Fall of Civilization
The sophisticated tribe where Jaguar's clan is taken have exhausted their natural resources and believe the gods demand sacrificial blood. "It has a lot of underlying messages, particularly about what we might be doing to ourselves. Are we destroying our environment? Are we guilty of using fear as a manipulative fear? Are we guilty of having people in high places be corrupt?" he says.
On Jungle Difficulties
Shooting in the rainforest, even during dry season, caused numerous delays, but the cast and crew kept up their spirits. "I think only one day happened where we did nothing. We just sat around and watched each other, " he says. "But even that was a good social experience, because after you finished being disappointed, you say ‘what the hell, let's tell jokes.'"
On Why People Should Go
"The one thing that I noticed in the release of the ‘Passion of the Christ' ... was that people were really starving for another cinematic fare that is not being catered to," Gibson says. "This is an attempt to go down the road a little bit and supply them with a different experience. One that takes them by surprise."
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