I see that the appalling Mr. Gibson has released his latest film: Apocalypto. And like his last film, it’s not one that I have any intention of seeing. Scenes of unremitting violence do not excite me.
However, unlike his last film, Apocalypto has found favour with the film critics. Take this review by Peter Bradshaw for example. Sample:
If people have got it in for Mel Gibson, he has only himself to blame. His behaviour has been repulsive. Everyone is prejudiced against his films. I am prejudiced against his films. So the sentence following this is going to take me quite some time to write, because between every keystroke, there will be a three-minute pause while I clench my fists up to my temples and emit a long growl of resentment and rage.Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto is pathologically brilliant. It is bizarre, stomach-turningly violent and frequently inspired.…My view is that for all the director’s personal obnoxiousness, the truth is that his mad and virile film makes everything else around look pretty feeble. This is an extraordinary cinematic journey upriver: a worryingly potent Mr Kurtz is sitting in the director’s chair.
And that is pretty much the point. Richard Wagner, as a human being, was a complete and utter shit. But he did give us the Ring cycle. It looks like Mr. Gibson is heading in a similar direction. I still don’t think I want to follow his art, though.
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