1492: Conquest of Paradise

Plot synopsis:
In the beginning, Columbus is obsessed with making a trip westwards to Asia, but lacks crew and a ship. The Catholic theologians at the University of Salamanca heavily disapprove of it, and they are not keen on ideas that go against the writings of Ptolemaeus. After continuous warnings at the monastery, he becomes involved in a brawl with the monks, ending up lying in the monastery courtyard to pay penance. His eldest son, Diego, one of the monks, looks on disapprovingly. As Columbus continues his penance through a vow of silence, he is approached by Martín Pinzon, a shipowner from Palos, who introduces Columbus to the banker Santángel. Queen Isabella I (Sigourney Weaver) owes money to Santángel. Columbus meets with the queen, who grants him his journey in exchange for his promise to bring back sufficient amounts of riches in gold.
Columbus tricks many crewmen by telling them that the voyage would only last seven weeks. He goes to confession at the monastery to absolve his sins, and the monk reluctantly gives him absolution, as he is unable to inform the crewmen without breaking his oath. The next morning, three ships leave for the trip to Asia, with the flagship being the Santa Maria. During the voyage at night, Captain Méndez notices him navigating by the stars, a skill previously known only to the Moors. Columbus then happily teaches how to use the quadrant to find the North Star and that the 28th parallel must be followed to find land. Nine weeks go by and still no sign of land. The crew becomes restless and the other captain turns against Columbus. He tries to reinvigorate them, to let them see the dream that he wishes to share. While some of the crewmen were still not convinced, the main sail suddenly catches the wind, which the crewmen see as a small act of God's willingness. At night, Columbus notices mosquitoes on the deck, indicating that land is not far off. Some days later, Columbus and the crew spot an albatross flying around the ship, before disappearing. Suddenly, out of the mist they see Guanahani ("San Salvador") with lush vegetation and sandy beaches, their first glimpse of the New World.
They befriend the local natives, who show them gold they have collected. Columbus teaches one of them Spanish so that they are able to communicate. He then informs them that they are to return to Spain momentarily to visit the Queen and bring the word of God. They leave behind a group of crewmen to begin the colonisation of the New World. Columbus receives a high Spanish honour from the Queen and has dinner with the Council. They express disappointment with the small amount of gold he brought back, but the Queen approves of his gifts. On the 2nd expedition, Columbus takes 17 ships and 1,500 men with him to the island; however, all the crewmen left behind are found to have been killed. When the tribe is confronted by Columbus and his troops, they tell him that other strangers came and savaged them. Columbus chooses to believe them, but his commanding officer Moxica is not convinced. They begin to build the city of La Isabela and eventually manage to hoist the town bell into its tower, symbolising the arrival of Christianity in the New World.
Four years later, Moxica cuts the hand off one of the natives, accusing him of lying about the whereabouts of gold. The word of this act of violence spreads throughout the native tribes and they all disappear into the forest. Columbus begins to worry about a potential war arising, with the natives heavily outnumbering them. Upon return to his home, he finds his house ablaze by Moxica and his followers, confirming his unpopularity among a certain faction of the settlers. Soon, the tribes arrive to fight the Spaniards and the island becomes war-torn, with Columbus' governorship being reassigned with orders for him to return to Spain.
Christopher Columbus is accused of nepotism and offering administrative positions to his personal friends, thereby injuring the pride of the nobles such as Moxica; so, he is replaced by de Bobadilla. It is revealed that Amerigo Vespucci has already travelled to the mainland America. Therefore, Columbus returns to Castile. Columbus is sentenced to many years in prison, but he is bailed out by his sons soon after. When summoned by the Queen about seeing the New World again, he makes a case for her about his dream to see the New World. She agrees to let him take a final voyage, with the proviso that he does not go with his brothers nor returns to Santo Domingo or the other colonies. Columbus and his son go to Panama.The closing scene shows him old, with his youngest son writing down his tales of the New World.

Tags: dramatic, boring, historical, murder

Review:
Ridley Scott, director of Alien, Legend and Blade Runner, was telling the story of Christopher Columbus, starring the venerable Gerard Depardieu, all to a score by Vangelis which flew off the shelves faster than any film score since, well, Blade Runner.
It is a pity then that his English was nowhere near good enough to carry the film.For many years, I had been warned and had only seen the film dubbed in my native French (it did help that Depardieu dubbed himself, as did supporting actor Tcheky Karyo), but upon seeing the film "as intended" I was simply baffled.
Ridley Scott's direction and Gerard Depardu's leading performance gives us a genuine feeling of what must have faced Columbus and his crew as they set off on a voyage that, in their time, was more dangerous than space travel.
I think that the people who are down on the historical accuracies and "inaccuracies" of this film do not cease to realize that Columbus was out for more than spices from India but also a conquest to spread the Gospel to the people of the Far East.
That the acting is everywhere from adequate to brilliant, (yes, who could play Moxica better, and how can anyone seeing this movie in English be so arrogant to complain that Depardieu has a French accent??) Columbus used the plans of Da Vinci (is a light going on?) for an ideal city for his ideal New World.
This is no rousing epic that's full of derring do and swagger, it's over talky for the non historical movie loving crowd, and crucially it goes against the grain of what Columbus, we are now led to believe, was like.
Setting History on it's Ear. Director Ridley Scott and writer Roselyne Bosch play fast and loose with historical accuracy in this white-washed telling of Christopher Columbus' adventures.
Scott's Columbus is an idealistic visionary who only wants "a new world," yet is a pawn caught between bad people doing bad things.
Must be a lack of maturity of the people today in recognize a true work of art and distinguish them of the trash we see every week in theaters today.The film tells a wonderful story, intriguing and engaging, with great performances, great custom designs, perfect art direction, and editing, the soundtrack is completely awesome.With the film we understand how fragile was the relationship of the Europeans and its interests with the wild natives, and how these interests led to destruction of a local culture and introduced a new millennium to the American continent.
With the great performance of Gérard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver, and Armand Assante also with the fantastic direction of Ridley Scott, we also realize how sad was the story of Christopher Columbus that after discovering the new world, had its failure to colonize it efficiently in the eyes of the Spanish crown, and had his belated recognition out of its time, this recognition that ended up to Americo Vespucci.In the film we make a trip back in time, the scenes, the costumes, all landscapes, are extremely realistic and true to reality of the time, I guarantee to all that didn't watched this movie, after you do it will be one of your favorites.
Perhaps Ridley Scott's worst movie, and that's saying a lot.Turgid, overwrought, anachronistic, inaccurate, laughable, sanctimonious, and egregiously politically correct.A film to recommend to your vilest enemies..
This interesting film deals with Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people .
Colombus is well portrayed in a good acting by Gerard Depardieu who takes a contemporary approach as an ambitious adventurer who finally gets the Queen of Spain (Sigourney Weaver) along with a banker (Frank Langella) to agree to finance his voyage .
Not the least in charge of that are an ambient soundtrack by Vangelis and wonderful acting by Jerard Depardier, Sigourney Weaver and Armand Assante, whom I did not recognize until the very end.Regarding film's historical inaccuracies (though there are not many) one must remember "1492" is not a documentary but an epic.
Just like this film did.The first two hours of the film give dry facts on the reasons for Columbus' trip and the discovery of the New World.
Gerard Depardieu did a good job acting out as Columbus and the costumes and surroundings looked pretty nice and historically correct for a layman.
There's nothing left for me to say, except this: if you want to know about Christobar Columbus' journeys, it is better to pick up any history book than to watch this film.
I was enchanted by the art Ridley Scott (today one of the directors I prefer) brought to this movie picture and I just couldn't stop talking about what I had seen with my classmates the day after.This epic is extremely beautiful and realistic.
The performances are very good, especially the one by Gérhard Depardieu, who plays Columbus and is a great actor in my opinion.
It is a gloriously flawed film that has great art direction, production and music.A multinational cast with Depardieu speaking his lines with a heavy French accent but bringing presence.
You know early on things are going to turn ugly for the native in the new world.Scott likes his history, he admires Islamic history and you see it early on when it comes to the Reconquista.
When Moorish structures are destroyed and lost forever, it shows that the Spanish aristocrats were not appreciative of the arts and noble causes.They only care about the monarchy, church and gold.Columbus is painted as a romantic adventurer, misguided even naive.Depardieu cannot quiet hold the film together, frankly his English is not good enough.
In 1492, we witness an epic(in the original sense of the word) depiction of how things were around the period of the time when Christopher Columbus arrived at the "New World" in the fifteenth century.
For those who may not know, this movie shows that Christopher Columbus and his minions DID NOT discover this "New World", however they DID conquer it, hence the title of the move "1492: Conquest of Paradise"..
I mean you can identify yourself with the Indians and feel exactly what they experienced when the Spaniards came.The confrontation is between the idea that Spanish conquers the land for they king and in name of God and the native idea that land is free space and cant became someone's property, like if someone today claimed that the air belongs to him...When good will, hospitality and cooperation turn to oppression, the feeling of being in the Paradise turns to a bloody nightmare.A masterpiece work of Ridley Scott.
The subtitle 'Conquest of Paradise' says it all: a suitably grim Columbus (Gerard Depardieu) stumbles into a National Geographic centerfold Eden promptly spoiled by Old World exploitation, recreated by director Ridley Scott in a rush of overproduced hysteria worthy of Oliver Stone.
Unlike 'Columbus: the Discovery', which was so silly no one could take it seriously, the newer film takes itself so seriously that it winds up looking silly, reducing a complex historical drama into a big, empty technological experience..
This scene is like having Captain Cook visiting a kangaroo petting zoo before going to Australia for the first time.Columbus is considered to be one of histories best salesmen, for talking Queen Isabel into selling her jewels to finance his voyage.
Gerard Depardieu's language skills (in real life Columbus would have been spoke Spanish, Portuguese, Latin & Italian) are so bad that at the beginning of the movie he has a hard time explaining to his own son that an orange is round.(I understand the dubbed versions are much better - all you have to do is learn another language).Sigourney Weaver played Queen Isabel and, in my opinion, is the only person worth watching in the movie.
Christopher Columbus is portrayed sympathetically, to make the movie commercial, yet boring so as to punish him for the exploitation of the New World.
Yet even making Columbus a little more cruel or self-serving would have made the movie more interesting.Why did they put so much boring stuff in, and why did the spend so much time showing the boring bits in slow motion.
Christopher Columbus (Gérard Depardieu) as an idealist, visionary, and ultimately a tragic figure, that's the idea behind director Ridley Scott's version.
Gerard Depardieu (My Father the Hero, The Man in the Iron Mask), plays Christopher Columbus, who discovers North America, and tries to set it up for his country.
It left me with the impression of a perfectly balanced blend of unusual camera angles, pleasant timing of scenes, powerful musical score, remarkable acting, all combining to produce an interesting perspective of the pioneering adventure that changed the face of the world.Historical accuracy and political consequences of Colombus' voyage are the preserve of history books.
Christopher Columbus - THE DISCOVERY (1992) Warner Brothers opened in theaters same time as this film "1492".
The thing that one notices most in this movie, is the cinematography.Its simply excellent.Like I remember the part when the Nina, Pinta.and Santa Maria sail through sea, and the first sight of land.But what mesmerises is the Soundtrack.Its just too good to be true.In my opinion Vangelis has done a better job here than in Chariots of Fire and BladeRunner.
In order to work with this movie, you have to get around one thing that, for some reason, bothered me all the way through: with Gerard Depardieu playing the lead role, we are forced to come to terms with Christopher Columbus being an Italian mariner in the service of Spain who nevertheless speaks English with a French accent!?
Having said that, though, I still found the movie enjoyable enough, although a tad long perhaps, and there is a certain sympathy the viewer feels for Columbus at the end as the credit for discovering a new continent was given to Amerigo Vespucci.In the end, I wouldn't recommend this as a solid lesson in history (for goodness sake, don't base your homework assignments on it!), but as an interesting enough take on the story of the man who has - Vespucci forgive me - gone down in history as the discoverer of America.I'd give this a 6/10..
Director Ridley Scott brings Columbus to life in this impressive film which, when released in 1992, coincided with the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of new lands surrounding two unknown continents.
The subject of Conquest Of Paradise, of course is Christopher Columbus, played wonderfully by French actor Gerard Depardieu (Green Card, Cyrano De Bergerac).
The first one would be Scott's directing, and his reputation for incorporating vivid & gorgeous images into all his films, the second one would be its historical accuracy, the third one would be its score, composed by Vangelis, who can create gorgeous paintings like Scott can, but only to the music he makes.
Brilliantly told account of Columbus's voyages to the New World with a perfectly cast Depardieu as the famous mariner who gives a complex and deep performance, despite struggling slightly with his accent.
The effect is enhanced by a brilliant music score by "Chariots of Fire" composer Vangelis, the end title theme being one of the best film themes in movie history.
"1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)" tells the story of Christopher Columbus on the quincentennial of his first voyage to the New World.
Film Review: "1492 - Conquest of Paradise" (1992)Receiving probably the highest independently-raised production budget of a decade in the early 1990s, Director Ridley Scott, at age 54, accumulates all the powers of live-action film-making, together with cinematographer Adrian Biddle (1952-2005) and down to a sword's tip production design by Norris Spencer to deliver a standing for all-time 150-Minute-Cut on the dramatized work-life-story of Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) based on an thrilling as original script by screenwriter Rose Bosch, who has been inspired by Marco Polo's experience reports from a 14th-century-journey to China; this "Columbus" interpretation dares to sail the Atlantic ocean westbound to hit an island of the Caribbean with fully-financed prospects from the Spanish Queen Isabel, match-making portrayal by actress Sigourney Weaver and certain in-country aristocrats for "The New World", inhabited by cooperative then-slaughtering Natives in add-on action favors of an immensely-emotional "tour-de-france" traveling with actor Gérard Depardieu in the leading role, who must confront two nemesis characters at once - spiritually as physically - given faces by collision-coursing, suspense-striving supporting cast Armand Assante and Michael Wincot as suspensions-bringing character of Moxica in the 2nd half of "1492 - Conquest of Paradise", when this European co-produced adventure film also-produced by director Ridley Scott and network-forcing producer Alan Goldman makes its struggle-felt toward a monumental motion picture achievement identifiable as entertaining to follow in a just-exceeded 25th anniversary presentation.© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend
I just love this movie because of the great,mesmerizing acting of Michael Wincott, his character is far better worked out than the one of Gérard Depardieu - his Columbus is just a hopeless seeker of something that eventually does not come off in the end at all...and in the end you cannot do otherwise but pity him - but mostly for his naivety ( that men can create paradise on earth, of course they cannot ).
The noble Moxica role was just cut out for this wonderful actor and in spite of the fact that this character is given such little space it is enough to look at him and see - that the character is alive and absolutely seductive.He knows very well that men who came to conquer paradise are not good ( and neither is he, quite the opposite )but he lets us know that once a paradise is conquered - it cannot be a paradise anymore, no matter how noble was the idea to create a paradise out of a jungle in the beginning...and from history it is known that these conquered regions were often closer to hell than to a paradise and noble visions and ideas so many times turned into genocide...
None could have mastered the role of Christopher Columbus better than the great French actor Gerard Depardieu, the rest of the cast is also doing a great job, Mrs. Weaver as usual stunning in her performances, Armand Assante as the arrogant Spanish Noble, and likewise Michael Wincott in a role typical of him, as the brutal Nobleman Moxica.On a side note it's funny how everyone seems to bring the entire movie down because of Depardieu's French accent, being a Dane it's only a bliss that the we're not hearing the typical American accents, besides who are we to judge, if the acting is superb, which is the case, then small things like that is only worth mentioning if you're really searching for errors.(Perhaps they should try to remember that this is actually a Ridley Scott movie along with French and Spanish producers).On another matter, the sound and the visuals are stunning.
The themes continue to send shivers down my back of pure amazement when I hear the tracks.So all in all, 10/10 by a Dane who mourns the low amount of publicity this great movie deserves.- Perhaps Ridley Scott should reconsider a rerelease, the audience is more in the "Epic film" mood these days....
1st watched 2/16/2000 - (Dir-Ridley Scott): Despite it's weaknesses(French man playing a man from Spain in Depardieu, stereotypical unlikeable enemy in Columbus' 2nd journey & a slow beginning) this movie & it's star carry you through.
The film talks about the great voyages of Columbus and as a good movie Historic he manages to convey the mood of the time, but its history It is not very engaging and its characters are nothing developed.
Finally I can say that this is a good film, its technical aspects They are clean, but its story and its characters are not very developed, but I recommend it for those who like to see the great accounts of history books on the screen..
We found the weak points of the story the language because Columbus has a strange accent as he spoke English and the filming of some parts of the movie could also be better.
However, the pace is often painfully slow and the level of violence is at times way over the top.Since there are few feature length movies out there on the topic, this becomes an almost must-see film if you're interested in Columbus, his discoveries and explorations.I do remember that in 1985 an American TV network did a 6 hour mini-series on Columbus which played much better although it focused more on the man than the mission.
Whichever way, Depardieu was the wrong man and seriously flawed the film; his strong accent mumbling important lines into incomphrehensibility.Aside of that, Ridley Scott's follow up to the very different Thelma & Louise is a sweeping and majestic nautical tale, Christopher Columbus' historically monumental voyage of discovery of the America's.
Ridley Scott "hit it big" with Gladiator (one of my favorite films, and a perfection meld of story, cast and crew), but this film about Columbus and his search for a "New World" was the precursor.
It is an inspiring movie, and I know most of us say that the actor who plays Christopher Columbus' accent is terrible, but shouldn't we pay more attention to the REAL events, like when Columbus first set foot in the Americas?
This film shows us largely what Columbus had to do to accomplish his discovery of the New World.
The scene where Columbus comes in contact with a new kind of people, the Indians, is simply well filmed and photographed.
A plus side of the movies is found sometimes by the way the landscape is filmed, both in Spain as in the New World.
Cast: Gerard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver / Director: Ridley ScottThe movie 1492-Conquest of Paradise is a historical documentation.
Gerard Depardieu personifies Christopher Columbus and Sigourney Weaver Queen Isabella.
Ridley Scott's Christopher Columbus epic charts the life of the explorer from a few years before his legendary voyage to discover The America's.