Horner\'s score aids the emotional journey that Jaguar Paw takes, as well as effectively providing tension and energy during the lengthy chase sequences.Įschewing a traditional orchestra for synthesizers and plenty of solo instruments, Horner creates a rather unique primal sound palette that sets the score deep in the jungles of the Maya empire. Exceptionally violent at times, Apocalypto is essentially a chase film, but there is enough emotion to the characters that we can relate to them - even though the whole film is spoken in an obscure Mayan dialect. The story is simplistic, but allows us to get a glimpse into a world never truly explored on film with such accuracy and graphic detail.
The film is about a Maya tribesman, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) and his journey from the jungle (where he lived with his expectant wife and son) to the Maya city, where he was to be sacrificed after being captured by a ruthless tribe, and then his escape back to the jungle where he tries to outwit and outlast his pursuers and return to his family. Apocalypto, the new film by Passion of the Christ director Mel Gibson, reunites the director with composer James Horner, who had worked with Gibson previously on Braveheart and The Man Without a Face.
