1492
Conquest of Paradise
Paramount Pictures
CAST: Gerard Depardieu, Armand Assante, Sigorney Weaver, Frank Langella, Loren Dean,
Angela Molina, Fernando Rey, Michael Wincott and Tcheky Karyo
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
RATING: PG-13
RUNNING TIME: 145 minutes
1992
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The journals of Christopher Columbus reveal that the New World wasn't the tranquil paradise befitting of today's history revisionism, but a chaotic land populated by sparse factions of nomadic hunting tribes. One such descriptive passage details the atrocities that occurred within the Arawak tribe, a group that considered cannibalism, rape, and infanticide to be basic rights of passage. The Caribbean tribes were also suffering from starvation, hadn't yet discovered the wheel, nor did they have any form of written language. But even amidst such discoveries, Columbus openly embraced this new culture, ultimately penning: “Life has more imagination than we carry in our dreams.” 1492: Conquest of Paradise is the cinematic realization of that statement.
Although 1492 went largely unseen upon its release on the 500th Anniversary of Columbus's remarkable voyage (subsequently placing Paramount over $80 million in the red), its reputation has grown tremendously in the years since. Resonating with adventure, spirituality, conviction, uplift, sorrow and tragedy, 1492: Conquest of Paradise is, without question, Ridley Scott's finest film.
The most offsetting --and thus least effective-- part of the story is the film's first-third, wherein Columbus (a commanding lead performance by Gerard Depardieu) must convince Spain's hierarchy to fund his proposed voyage. Although Depardieu conveys a tremendous amount of passion in these early scenes, there's never a clear sense of conviction in either Columbus's motivation or reasoning. This side of Christopher Columbus exists solely to be cold exposition of historical facts. Period.
The film begins proper once the fateful voyage of discovery has set sail. The problematic journey (near mutiny; tortuous self-doubt) and eventual discovery of paradise is vividly recreated, with Depardieu's emotional walk along San Salvador's shoreline perhaps the most memorable aspect of the movie.
The second act unfolds with the introduction of Moxica, a pastiche of European aggression played with incredibly sinister verve by Michael Wincott. Presented as Columbus's arch nemesis, Moxica is actually a man who sees the New World not as an uncharted region of wondrous mystery, but as a frightening place of the unknown. The character is created to be a literal incarnation of the Inquisition, and as a human representation of Spain's painful struggle to accept the world beyond. The final confrontation between Moxica and Columbus is unsettling because of two worlds colliding… which one was actually vanquished is left for history to decide.
The film's lengthy last act traces Columbus's harsh imprisonment, his final voyage to the West, and his ultimate redemption by his own son's pen. As Columbus gazes out at the sea during the film's last moments, his earlier words echo like the very promise of the New World itself: “Nothing that results from human progress is achieved with unanimous consent. Those who are enlightened before the others are condemned to pursue that light in spite of the others.”
1492: Conquest of Paradise remains the most underrated film of the last decade.
--Yim Yip
Read the Script by Roselyne Bosch
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