1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) Movie Script
Of all the words my father wrote,
and there were many.
I remember these the most:
"Nothing that results from human progress,
is achieved with unanimous consent. "
"And those who are enlightened
before the others...
"... are condemned to pursue
that light in spite of others. "
"There was a time
when the New World didn't exist. "
"The sun set in the west on a notion,
where no man had dared to venture. "
"And beyond that,
infinity!"
Look!
Now, half of the hull has gone.
Good.
And now?
Now, I only see the mast.
Close your eyes.
And don't cheat!
I'm watching.
Open them when I tell you.
Once I asked my father
where he wanted to go.
He replied:
"I want to travel all over the seas. "
"I want to get behind the weather. "
Now.
It's gone.
What does it tell you?
It's round, like this.
Round!
Come on, lad!
Good morning, Father.
Diego!
Kiss your brother, Diego.
I have something for you.
You'll be heard
at the University of Salamanca.
God! That's in a week!
That's what it says.
How did you manage it?
With some difficulty.
I had to promise them,
you weren't a total fool.
Marco Polo said he found
Earthly Paradise off the coast of China.
Do you believe this?
I believe in Paradise and Hell.
And I do believe that both can be earthly.
Now,
let's go through this again.
Why do you wish to sail west?
To open a new route to Asia.
Asia is the richest Kingdom.
The land of spices and gold.
At the moment there are
only two ways of reaching it.
By sea, sailing around the
African continent...
...the journey takes a year...
...or by land. But the Turks
have closed this route to all Christians.
There is a third way...
...by sailing west
across the ocean sea.
The distance is unknown.
It's said to be infinite.
Superstition!
I believe the Indies are
no more than...
...750 leagues
west of the Canary Islands.
How can you be so certain?
The calculations of Toscanelli,
Marin de Tyr...
- ... Esdras...
- Esdras is a Jew!
So was Christ!
Two minutes
and already you're a dead man.
- For telling the truth?
- Yes!
They're burning people for less.
The men you're about to confront...
...have no emotions.
You must learn to control
your passion.
Passion is something
one cannot control.
You need the blessing
of this commission.
If they say no...
...you would have to give up,
my son.
I will not give up.
Is it ambition?
We've been told lies
for so long...
...they said that
this was flat as this table...
...that monsters guard
the edge of the world!
I will not be told what to be afraid of
and what not to be afraid of!
I want to find out for myself.
I just hope your passion
will be contagious, my son.
Look, father!
Fernando!
Do you repent your sins...
...in the name of the Father...
...the Son and the Holy Spirit?
Burnings in the square!
They agreed to see me
in a week in Salamanca.
If my project is accepted,
I could be gone for years.
I know!
I haven't given you much of a life.
That's true, I have a child
by a man who won't marry me!
Are you going to argue?
I'd love to argue with you
more often, but you're never here.
Unfortunately, Senor Colombus,
that is precisely where our opinions differ.
You're familiar with Aristotle?
Eratosthenes? Ptolemeus?
I am, Your Eminence.
Then you cannot ignore that according
to their calculations, the circumference...
...of the Earth is approximately
...which makes the ocean uncrossable.
But you may have found
new evidence...
...proving these great men
of knowledge are totally mistaken!
Your Excellencies are aware of
Marin de Tyr?
We are!
Then you are also aware that
his theories contradict Ptolemeus.
De Tyr believes the ocean to be
only 750 leagues.
DifferentiaToscanelli...
...and the French Cardinal D'Ailly,
both think that Marin De Tyr...
...is accurate in his calculations.
And therefore
that the ocean can be crossed.
Silence!
Gentlemen, are we here to examine
this man's proposal, or not?
Let's suppose for the moment
that Marin de Tyr is right.
Senor Colombus, in your opinion then,
how long would the voyage be?
Seven weeks.
- Six, during the summer months.
- Marin de Tyr is wrong!
He's been corrected many times, over
the centuries by the world's finest geographers.
Your voyage, Senor Colombus,
would take a year.
Suppose you cross this ocean
and suppose you reach Asia...
...what would Spain do there?
Trade, Your Excellency!
According to Marco Polo, the Kingdom
of China is one of the richest of the world.
Even the meanest buildings
are roofed with gold.
Is that all that interests you?
Gold?
No!
I'll bring these people
to the world of God...
...and make them subjects
of Castille and Aragon!
Instead of a Realm...
...Spain will become an Empire!
If God intended
our proximity to Asia...
...do you believe that he would have
waited for you to show it to the world?
He chose a carpenter's son
to reveal Himself to the world!
So you consider yourself
"The Chosen One"?
Asia can be found to the west...
...and I will prove it!
The Treasurer of Spain
honours us with his presence.
The State has its reasons to be interested
in this man's proposition, Your Eminence.
With all due respect,
the judgement is ours.
Why not?
And what if he were right?
I've always found
such independent minds dangerous.
If the man had wings,
no doubt, he'd return from the skies...
...tells the heavens are empty!
I'd deplore the loss of
such a potential opportunity for Spain, though.
Especially
over this point of geography.
It's not a point of geography.
It's a point of reality.
This man is a mercenary.
States often use mercenaries...
...if it is to the benefit,
the stability of Spain, no?
It should be as much your concern
as it is mine.
Am I to understand, that you would
use your influence to assist this heretic?
Well, you know, Your Eminence,
the fascinating thing about power...
...is that, what could be given
so effortlessly...
...so easily be taken away!
And therefore nothing could justify
the participation of Your Majesties...
...in a venture that relies upon
such feeble assumptions...
...and which any man of knowledge...
...would take to be impractical,
if not impossible.
They didn't listen.
They don't want to listen.
- You mustn't give way to despair, you must wait.
- Wait?
I've waited seven years already,
how much longer do you want me to wait?
If God intends you to go,
you will go!
- Damn God!
- Christopher!
Damn all of you! You all sit at your desks,
concocting theories based on what?
You never leave the protection
of your gardens. Go out...
...find out what the world is about
and then tell me something I can accept.
These don't mean anything,
they are full of assumptions!
Just lies!
All of it, lies!
All of it, lies!
Father?
You must not speak to a man
doing penance.
And what can you do?
Nothing.
That's the point, Fernando.
Fernando!
Senor Colombus?
I've been looking
all over Sevilla for you.
Never expected to find a sailor
in a monastery.
My name is Pinzon.
Martin Alonzo Pinzon.
I'm a ship owner from Palos.
Is he a spy?
What is it?
Are you a trappist?
Vow of silence?
Penance?
It's just my luck.
Listen,
I'll do the talking for both of us.
You just nod, agreed?
Just as I do with the wife.
I know that the commission
turned you down, right?
What do you expect?
You're just a foreigner.
And I want to help you.
You wonder why I believe in you?
I'm a seaman, too.
We don't like to be told
where to go or not to go.
I don't look like much
but I have friends...
...important friends!
A banker, for example.
He finances me.
He's name is Santangel.
Have you heard of him?
He can get you
in audience with the Queen.
You know why?
She owes him money.
That's for it is.
You, me, the Queen, the world and its
mysteries! Everybody owes somebody something.
What do you say?
- Where can I meet this man?
- Here, right there!
May I ask you a question,
Don Luis?
Yes!
Why do you want to help me?
Faith...
...hope...
...charity!
But greater than all these...
...is banking.
Wait, Senores!
The Moors built Granada
centuries ago.
Now, we've taken it back.
But it's a tragic victory for us.
We're losing a great culture.
But I suppose there's a price
to be paid for every victory.
Isn't there Senor Colombus?
Don Luis de Santangel...
...to see Don Gabriel Sanchez.
Luis!
Senor Columbus, Senor Pinzon.
Rise!
Come forward!
I should not even be listening to you
since my Council has said no.
Santangel tells me
you're a man of honour and sincerety.
Sanchez,
you're not completely mad.
No more than the woman who said
she would take Granada from the Moors.
They believe the ocean is
uncrossable, Senor Columbus.
What did they say about Granada,
before today?
That it was impregnable!
I cannot ignore the verdict
of my Council.
Surely you can do anything
you want.
How little you know!
Why should I believe in you,
Senor Colombus?
May I speak freely?
You show no inclination
to speak otherwise.
I know what I see.
I see someone who doesn't
accept the world as it is.
Who's not afraid.
- I see a woman who thinks what if...
- A woman?
Forgive me...
...but you're the only Queen I know.
Then that makes us equal,
you're the only navigator that I know.
How old are you,
Senor Colombus?
Thirty-nine, Your Majesty.
And you?
I'm forty.
You will be informed
of our decision.
Actually, I thought
you were younger than I.
The cost would be ruinous.
No more than the cost of
two state banquets.
Two banquets,
for new lands and spices...
...and gold!
What are you saying, Sanchez?
Only that if he's right,
we have everything to gain.
And if he's wrong...
...we've so little to lose.
Tell me what he says.
He demands to be made a Knight...
...with the right to wear
the Golden Spurs...
...and that he will receive
the title "Don Christopher Colombus"...
...which will be extended
to his descendants.
So, what else?
He'll be named
"Great Admiral of the Ocean Sea"...
...Viceroy of the West Indies...
...Governor of all islands
or lands discovered...
...or as will be discovered
by him...
The highest titles of nobility,
Your Excellency...
...to an immigrant
sheltered by monks!
Furthermore...
...he'll receive
one tenth of all wealth or monies...
...precious gems, pearls, metals,
spices and other lucrative sources...
...acquired under his jurisdiction.
You worry too much, Francisco!
This man will have
to lower his demands.
Believe me!
He will!
I won't!
So we have considered your proposal
very carefuly, Senor Columbus. It is excessive.
- The responsibility is equally excessive.
- If you consider of the contract...
- I have given you that!
- No!
- No?
- No!
No!
And I thought he was an idealist.
Idealism and ambition
are not incompatible.
I've fought too hard.
Now you expect me to take all the risks...
- ... while you take the profit?
- No!
- I'm not a servant...
- Senor Colombus...
...you are in no position
to bargain with me.
I'm not bargaining.
Then you are too ambitious.
And were you never ambitious?
Or, is ambition only a virtue among
nobles, a fault for the rest of us?
If you won't accept this proposal,
we can simply find someone who will.
If you can do that, Excellency...
...I'll become a monk!
Your Majesty!
He'll become a monk!
It would be a pity,
wouldn't it?
Call him back!
She said "yes".
If I ever come back,
I swear...
I'm not asking you
to swear to anything.
I don't want you
to wait for me.
That's something
you can't decide for me.
Forgive me Father, I have sinned.
I am listening, my son.
Father...
I have betrayed my family...
...I betrayed my men...
...and I betrayed you.
I lied!
The journey will be longer
than I said.
How long?
I'm not sure.
How could anyone know.
It could be twice the distance.
You must tell them.
- You must tell your men.
- If I tell them, they wouldn't follow me.
You know I'm right, father.
You must trust me.
You must speak to them.
If you don't, I will!
You are bounded by an oath.
May God forgive you.
I believed in you.
Give me absolution.
Give me absolution, Father!
I absolve you of your sins!
Enter!
Mendez!
Sit down!
Some wine?
What is it, Mendez?
Speak!
They wonder how you know our position
since we've no sight of land days ago.
And what do you think, Mendez?
I know you're navigating
by the stars like the Moors do...
...but I don't know how?
Take this quadrant, Mendez.
Find the North Star.
Steady yourself!
Keep the plumbline vertical.
And don't move!
A mistake of one degree
and we'll be off 600 leagues.
What do you read?
-28.
- That's it!
And we'll follow it until we reach land.
How do you know that
we'll find land on the 28th parallel?
I don't!
Mark!
- Mark 26, Sir!
- Mark!
Mark 27, Sir!
Mark!
Mark 28!
Mark!
Mark 29!
-629.
-629!
I heard.
Captain, I don't understand.
I think I do.
We should've seen land.
We've been at sea nine weeks, Alonzo.
Can't be that far.
Can't be that near.
Also I don't like the smell
of this sea around here.
Smells like a whore!
'Course it does.
That's why sailors take to the sea.
And why does that one
take to the sea?
Nobody knows!
Never says a word.
Captain Pinzon requests
permission to board.
You misled me.
You lied to me.
We are way past 750 leagues.
- Six days ago, yes.
- You must be mad!
Keep your voice down, Pinzon!
- We're in the verge of a mutiny, Colombus!
- You think I don't know that?
We're lost!
- The land is there, I know it.
- No, you don't know anything!
Listen Colombus, these are my ships, right?
So I'm telling you we are turning back.
And then what? Half of the water
has gone, the rest is nearly putrid!
I shouldn't have listened to you.
You bloody...
Listen!
Pinzon, Pinzon!
All we can do...
...is go forward.
The land is there...
The land is close!
You tell them that.
You say that to them!
God doesn't want us to cross
this ocean. This voyage is cursed.
We set sail for greed.
God has abandoned us.
The voyage is cursed.
There are signs.
Juanito has the voice of an angel.
What comes out of his mouth is blessed,
Alonzo, what comes out of yours is cursed.
Listen to me!
Every man is afraid
who does something for the first time.
But those who overcome their fears
will rightly earn their rewards.
I don't know if it's God will
that we should cross this ocean.
But I am certain it is you
who puts fear into our hearts.
We cannot be lost as long as
we keep faith in God and in ourselves.
In time...
...they will talk about the courage of the
first men who crossed this ocean, and returned.
And then you will be able
to say to them...
...I was on the Pinta...
...I was on the Nina...
...and the Santa Maria.
This jacket to the first man
who sights land.
And 10,000 maravedis
a year for life!
I wanna man aloft
day and night!
Alonzo...
...don't let this wind escape us!
Lucky bastard!
Mendez!
Mendez!
Land!
25 fathoms!
24 fathoms!
23!
22!
21!
20!
19!
18!
17!
16!
15!
14!
13!
There!
Land ho!
Drop anchor!
Don Christopher!
Excellencia!
By the...
...by the Grace of God!
In the name of their
Gracious Majesties of Castilla and Aragon!
By all the powers vested in me...
...I claim this island
and name it...
...San Salvador!
Don Christopher!
- Muskets!
- No!
October 21st, 1492.
I think we have returned to Eden.
Surely this is how the world was
in the beginning of time.
If the natives are
to be converted to our ways...
...then it will be by persuasion
and not by force.
I believe no man will ever see
this land again as we do, for the first time.
We come in peace
and with honour.
They are not savages,
neither will we be.
Treat them as you would
your own wives and children.
Respect their beliefs.
Pillage will be punished by the whip.
Rape, by the sword.
You!
Utapan!
Utapan?
Colombus!
- Co... Columb...
- Colombus!
Co... lombus!
Where did you find this?
Cuba!
Thanks!
I've got a river of gold to piss.
Here!
- Is it gold?
- No, no!
No good, no.
Utapan!
Utapan!
Alonzo! Alonzo!
Help him!
Help him!
Do something!
Pray for him!
Pray for him!
With Alonzo's death, I realise
how vulnerable we are in these islands.
How much we have to learn!
On every island...
...the natives welcome us
with great generosity and trust.
Because of our appearance
we have been mistaken for gods...
...and are treated accordingly.
Despite the compliance of the Indians
we have not found gold in quantity...
...except for the few artefacts
they gave us as a sign of their submission.
You will speak first.
Tell him, we thank him
for his hospitality.
He knows.
Tell him, some of my men
are staying here to build a fort.
I want them to be well treated.
Tell him...
...we'll come back.
Many of us.
He said, how many?
As many as the leaves
on that tree.
And many more will follow.
Why?
To bring the word of God.
He said he has a God.
And also to bring medicine.
- He said, he...
- He has medicine!
Tell him...
...we admire his people.
He knows
you like his women and gold.
Pinzon is ill...
...eaten up by a fever
that refuses to leave his body.
We must return to Spain.
to stay behind to build a fort.
I name it, La Navidad!
After 7 months,
I haven't seen any sign of civilisation...
...that compares
with Marco Polo's descriptions.
No cities, no bridges,
no temples roofed with gold.
The mainland still escapes me...
...but I know it's there.
My ships are not filled with
the spices and gold that I was hoping for...
...but this land intoxicates
my senses and my soul.
And all I can think of
is to return to this untamed land.
This unexplored Eden.
This is a chance
for a new beginning.
It won't be easy
to get rid of your prophet now.
On the contrary...
...it seems to me
the man is preparing his own cross.
Let the palate enjoy
the flavour of the tobacco.
Try!
You say
this is an Indian vice?
I don't see the pleasure
that would make this is sin.
The Indians
have no such word, Moxica.
Have they such thoughts?
They come and go
as naked as God created them.
God?
Which God?
Nature is their God.
It's as if God and Nature
were one.
They see him in a leaf,
in a stone...
...in a shell.
The islands...
...are covered with trees.
Forgive me, Don Cristobal!
What about gold?
It's not the purest metal
I've ever seen.
Is there more?
We are more than gratified,
Christobal.
Excellent!
- You defende yourself well.
- For a commoner?
So...
...your second expedition, hm?
...and 1.500 men?
Thanks to you.
Don Christopher Colombus!
Don Francisco de Bobadilla!
He can be extremely valuable to you.
This man is
very well acquainted with our laws.
I heard that you soon be
appointing Governors for the Islands...
...and I thought
you might consider my application.
Forgive me, Don Francisco.
Those positions are
already taken.
May I ask by whom?
By two very competent men.
I trust they're men of quality.
Francisco is qualified
for high administration.
Well...
...we do lack notaries.
You should contact
my administration.
- Francisco is a judge.
- Good!
We also need judges...
...except,
there are no crimes of people!
I see I was mistaken.
Colombus has no need
for my services, Sanchez.
You have a special talent
for making enemies.
Why do I have
so many already?
Don't you think to rise so high
in so short a time is a dangerous occupation?
Beatrix!
I can arrange for the Queen to take
Fernando and Diego into her service.
It's a great honour,
Beatrix.
We couldn't hope for
anything better.
Anything better?
Better than to stay with his mother?
It's not what I meant.
- Then, what do you mean?
- I'll be gone...
...for several years.
I have enemies at the courts,
powerful enemies!
The boys bear my name
and now my titles.
This way they'll be untouchable.
And you'll be free to see them
whenever you please.
You don't realize
what you're asking.
I do!
I wish I could have
offered you another life.
I am sorry!
Don't say you're sorry,
because you're not!
You lead a life
you chose for yourself...
...and I chose you!
You might have given us
a choice, for Christ's sake!
I'm a map maker!
And now you're
Lieutenant-General of the West Indies...
...congratulations, Bartolome!
He's just out of seminary
he's hardly used the sword.
I've never touched the sword!
You have plenty of time to learn.
What are you complaining about?
You both have a chance to live
the way we can only dream of.
I never shared those dreams!
Do you refuse to help me?
To help your brother?
Are you going to desert me?
You bastard!
You always had your own way.
- I have always been here to support you.
- I know.
- I went to Portugal to help you...
- Yes, I know!
- I'm the eldest!
- How could we ever forget?
Haven't you said it enough?
Come on,
let me show you something.
Excellency!
It's about my son!
See?
Now, you tell me,
who can I trust?
We're brothers.
A bloodline.
I need you.
Both of you!
Admiral!
The horses have arrived.
Here is the magnificent pair!
- Send them Back!
- What?
They look like mules!
I hope you have better luck
with personal!
Who did we take on today?
And Doctor Chanca,
the Royal surgeon.
Then we can count on royal health!
Fire!
Fire again!
Where are they?
Drummers, sound the advance!
Almirante!
Juanito!
Is this your New World,
Almirante?
These animals wish to learn savagery,
we shall teach them!
Three heads for every life taken.
No mercy before God!
Vamonos!
No Moxica, no!
There will be no revenge.
These were our cousins...
...our friends, our countrymen.
But you say no revenge?
We will wash this in blood
and now!
If you want to keep your head
on your shoulders, you'll do as I say.
I lost friends, too.
You want war?
Fine.
We are 1000.
They outnumber us by 10.
Who will you kill?
Which tribe?
- We don't need to know.
- Moxica!
Try to remember
who you are talking to.
We came here to stay,
not to start a crusade.
So, we will swallow our anger.
And in the name of those
who died...
...we will accomplish
what we came for.
They're here.
There!
Guarionex!
Ricardo!
Arquebuses!
Preparen!
Ask him!
What happened to my men?
Warriors come from the sea.
Caribes.
Guarionex says...
...all fled to the hills.
When they came back...
...all the Spaniards had gone.
God's mercy on them all.
The monkey's lying.
Colomb, you talk too much.
Here they are.
We should kill them.
No!
You'll do it my way.
Tell him
we will not harm his people.
Even though we have
the power to do it.
I'm prepared to believe him.
We will work with his people
and we want peace.
Ask if he understands.
He understands.
Will he help?
He says, you know the answer!
Moxica...
I need your horses.
My horse does no work.
We all have to work, Moxica.
Not my horse!
Forgive me, Moxica.
But it was your horse
I was talking about.
Thank you, Moxica.
Now!
Heave! Heave!
My dear sons...
...in unbearable heat, we are building
the first city of the New World.
I brought the plans
of a Florentine architect...
...Leonardo, da Vinci.
God willing,
we will establish his ideal city.
We are trying to adapt
to the Indian diet.
Meat is only a memory for us.
But in less than a week, the mill
will be ready to produce our first flour.
Soon, we'll be eating
our own bread.
Never again
will I underestimate its taste...
...or the simple comfort of home.
You are always in my thoughts.
Forever, your Father.
You want her?
Then you can have her.
To the New World,
my friend.
To the Governor...
...of the mosquitos!
She's a good cook.
What kind of meat is this?
Iguana!
What's wrong with it?
It's an Indian dish.
Well, I'm not an Indian.
You know Christopher,
I think Giacomo is right.
We can't live on corn and pepper.
The Indians can't take the heavy
plantation work, we need black slaves.
Besides, everything rots in the
ground before it can be harvested.
Have you noticed?
The horses and pigs multiply.
I can't keep them from mounting
each other. May be it's the heat.
Well, I must confess that the heat
has a similar effect on me.
You're both right.
But the fort must be completed
before the rains begin.
We must rely on our strengths.
What exactly do you mean?
Every able man must work!
All of us!
Including the nobility.
They're exempt, Christopher!
Well, now they won't be!
Next!
Name?
- Name?
- Colpa.
What's he saying?
He has not found any.
Why? Ask him why!
Stop him!
Bring him back!
He says he hasn't found any.
He's lying.
Tell him...
...to put his hand on the table.
Like this.
Tell them...
...I know they are hiding
the gold from us.
Tell them...
...this is how we treat
thieves and liars.
Don Adrian,
you cannot do this thing!
I can't?
I can!
In one act of brutality
you have created chaos.
All the tribes are now
joining forces against us.
All of that because of your
criminal savagery.
Savagery,
is what monkeys understand.
You should have done the same
a long time ago, Don Cristobal.
Your ways,
they don't work!
You'll be held in detention,
deprived of your privileges...
...until you are sent back to Spain,
where you'll be judged.
Have anything to say?
For four years now...
...we are here.
We stayed here four years...
...because we believed
your promises.
But we find neither gold,
nor your earthly paradise!
You and your brothers...
...you have failed...
...Senor, Colombo!
- Don Giacomo, you will come at once!
- What's happening?
In the mine!
Get Don Christopher!
Cut him down!
Cut the ropes!
Cut the ropes!
Moxica's right!
Your ways don't work!
We have to find them.
Did you hear me?
You have to find them!
You see what they did?
You did the same
to your God.
You know them?
Charge!
Stop!
Fire!
Moxica!
You know, what will be said
about this in Spain...
...don't you?
You are nothing!
Your bastards
will never inherit your titles, no!
We...
...we are everything!
We are immortal!
Bastard!
Don Christopher...
...I wish to return to Spain.
I have no desire to remain
in this Godless place.
They are criminals.
They have a debt
towards the people of Spain.
Moxica paid,
they will have to pay too!
I do not understand you,
Don Christopher.
You treat Christians equally
with heathen savages.
And what do you offer
in return?
A New World, Buyl!
No one wants one,
only you!
Not only me!
Look at these people.
They could go back to Spain
to see their families.
But they stay.
They want something new.
A new world!
I'll be leaving
on the next ship.
You may leave if you please,
but...
...your departure won't help me
make this place more Godly.
Perhaps hope only exists
in the journey, Giacomo.
At the beginning,
everything's possible.
Every expectation,
every dream.
No one ever expected this
to be easy, Christopher!
This is not
how I imagined it to be.
Marchena was right, Bartolome.
Paradise and Hell
both can be earthly.
We carry them with us
wherever we go.
Utopan!
Speak to me!
You never learned
how to speak my language.
Your Majesty, here are the true
facts concerning the island of Hispaniola.
The activity of your servant
Christopher Columbus...
...Admiral of the ocean sea
and Governer of that island...
...the truth he now presides
over a state of chaos...
...of degradation and madness.
From the beginning
Colombus proved himself...
...completely incapable of
managing the affairs of these islands.
He appointed his brothers
very important positions...
...and so doing, injuring the pride
and dignity of nobles.
He, then promised to build a city.
City of Isabel,
named after Your Majesty.
A group of huts
all in the wrong place...
...swept away
by the rains and mud.
He, then promised gold, evidently
not finding the easy quantities he promised.
He has since commanded
each Indian to pay a tax...
...a monthly tribute of gold.
Most being unable to, we find,
have been punished or massacred.
Columbus forced nobility
to hard labour...
...he treated them equally
with Indians.
He reduced them into his slaves.
When the noble man Adrian de Moxica
protested against this treatment...
...he was executed.
- Is this true, Brother Buyl?
- Yes, Your Excellency.
These are all true, all of it.
I saw it with my own eyes.
Well...
...he promised a Paradise.
He failed!
He must be replaced,
immediately!
And who would you think of
for such a task?
I am thinking of a man.
A man devoted to Your Majesties.
A man extremely motivated.
Excellency, I'm sorry!
Don Francisco de Bobadilla.
Yes, I remember.
My letters of appointment.
I am the new Viceroy
of the Indies.
Congratulations!
Then I am free to search
for the mainland?
The mainland was discovered
weeks ago, by another Italian.
Amerigo Vespucci, Excellency.
How far?
I'm not a seaman, but I heard
it's no more than a week at sea.
I hope you are not
too disappointed.
How could I be?
The mainland has been found
exactly as I said it would.
I'm afraid this isn't
the worst news.
Diego?
Father!
Fernando!
Oh, my God!
A man!
How did this happen?
Diego, Diego!
Don't worry...
...we're going
to get you out of here.
- Santangel's going to see the Queen.
- Good!
Good, good!
I'll go back as soon as
they'll free me.
This time with me.
In your present state
it is madness, Father.
Nobody is forcing you
to come with us.
Diego!
Oh, Diego!
Rise, please.
Now...
...I do look older than you.
I have looked for a reason why
I should allow you to go back.
And though I tried,
I could not find one.
Help me find one.
All my life I have dreamed
of reaching the continent.
I thought my dreams,
grandiose!
But reality was beyond
my expectations, far beyond.
And now...
...I want to explore that land...
...before I die!
I allow you
to undertake another voyage.
Thank you!
But without your brothers!
Nor you to return to Santo Domingo
or any of the other colonies.
The New World
is a disaster.
And the old one, an achievement?
I know, I shouldn't tolerate
his impertinence.
Then why?
Because he's not afraid of me.
Sanchez!
You're a dreamer.
Look out there.
What do you see?
I see towers...
...I see palaces,
I see steeples...
...I see civilisation!
And I see spires that reach...
...to the sky!
All of them created
by people like me.
No matter how long you live,
Sanchez...
...there's something
that will never change between us.
I did it...
...you didn't!
You're so beautiful!
I can't believe no other man
has never taken you away from me.
They tried,
but I didn't let them.
They took everything.
Not everything.
Do you think I care?
I'm a free man again.
Riches don't make a man rich,
they only make him busier.
Oh, God!
How much I've missed you!
By the Grace of God
and Your Beneficient Majesty!
A new continent
has now been found...
...and claimed
in the name of the Spanish Crown...
...in the year 1492.
As Your Majesty is well aware,
the University of Salamanca...
...has always defended the theory...
...of the existence
of unknown territories to the west.
The surest route to the new continent
has now been firmly established.
West by south-west for 750 leagues
to Santo Domingo.
From there...
...west-north-west leading
San Juan to the north...
...reaching the island of Hispaniola
on the northen Cape of San Raphael.
Then onto the mainland
at Cape Gracias A Dios.
Spain, by Your Majesty's grace...
...has now confirmed for all humanity,
the existence of a New World.
To the unknown lands!
This continent was first discovered
by a mariner commissioned by Your Majesty.
His name...
...Amerigo Vespucci!
Sanchez!
What a tragedy.
What a waste of a life.
A waste?
Well, if your name or mine
is ever remembered...
...it will only be because of his!
It's Diego,
he's is at court with Santangel.
He says they hope to get your
priveleges restored, maybe the house.
But how is he?
Diego is thinking of starting
a pearl trade in Santo Domingo.
He says he received many letters
for you, mostly from your men.
He sent some of them.
- This one's from Mendez.
- Mendez?
What does he say?
He asks to come and visit you.
He left his address.
He never had one.
Except aboard my ships.
I want you to tell me
everything you remember, Father.
I wouldn't know
where to start, Fernando.
Tell me the first thing
that comes to your mind.
I remember...
and there were many.
I remember these the most:
"Nothing that results from human progress,
is achieved with unanimous consent. "
"And those who are enlightened
before the others...
"... are condemned to pursue
that light in spite of others. "
"There was a time
when the New World didn't exist. "
"The sun set in the west on a notion,
where no man had dared to venture. "
"And beyond that,
infinity!"
Look!
Now, half of the hull has gone.
Good.
And now?
Now, I only see the mast.
Close your eyes.
And don't cheat!
I'm watching.
Open them when I tell you.
Once I asked my father
where he wanted to go.
He replied:
"I want to travel all over the seas. "
"I want to get behind the weather. "
Now.
It's gone.
What does it tell you?
It's round, like this.
Round!
Come on, lad!
Good morning, Father.
Diego!
Kiss your brother, Diego.
I have something for you.
You'll be heard
at the University of Salamanca.
God! That's in a week!
That's what it says.
How did you manage it?
With some difficulty.
I had to promise them,
you weren't a total fool.
Marco Polo said he found
Earthly Paradise off the coast of China.
Do you believe this?
I believe in Paradise and Hell.
And I do believe that both can be earthly.
Now,
let's go through this again.
Why do you wish to sail west?
To open a new route to Asia.
Asia is the richest Kingdom.
The land of spices and gold.
At the moment there are
only two ways of reaching it.
By sea, sailing around the
African continent...
...the journey takes a year...
...or by land. But the Turks
have closed this route to all Christians.
There is a third way...
...by sailing west
across the ocean sea.
The distance is unknown.
It's said to be infinite.
Superstition!
I believe the Indies are
no more than...
...750 leagues
west of the Canary Islands.
How can you be so certain?
The calculations of Toscanelli,
Marin de Tyr...
- ... Esdras...
- Esdras is a Jew!
So was Christ!
Two minutes
and already you're a dead man.
- For telling the truth?
- Yes!
They're burning people for less.
The men you're about to confront...
...have no emotions.
You must learn to control
your passion.
Passion is something
one cannot control.
You need the blessing
of this commission.
If they say no...
...you would have to give up,
my son.
I will not give up.
Is it ambition?
We've been told lies
for so long...
...they said that
this was flat as this table...
...that monsters guard
the edge of the world!
I will not be told what to be afraid of
and what not to be afraid of!
I want to find out for myself.
I just hope your passion
will be contagious, my son.
Look, father!
Fernando!
Do you repent your sins...
...in the name of the Father...
...the Son and the Holy Spirit?
Burnings in the square!
They agreed to see me
in a week in Salamanca.
If my project is accepted,
I could be gone for years.
I know!
I haven't given you much of a life.
That's true, I have a child
by a man who won't marry me!
Are you going to argue?
I'd love to argue with you
more often, but you're never here.
Unfortunately, Senor Colombus,
that is precisely where our opinions differ.
You're familiar with Aristotle?
Eratosthenes? Ptolemeus?
I am, Your Eminence.
Then you cannot ignore that according
to their calculations, the circumference...
...of the Earth is approximately
...which makes the ocean uncrossable.
But you may have found
new evidence...
...proving these great men
of knowledge are totally mistaken!
Your Excellencies are aware of
Marin de Tyr?
We are!
Then you are also aware that
his theories contradict Ptolemeus.
De Tyr believes the ocean to be
only 750 leagues.
DifferentiaToscanelli...
...and the French Cardinal D'Ailly,
both think that Marin De Tyr...
...is accurate in his calculations.
And therefore
that the ocean can be crossed.
Silence!
Gentlemen, are we here to examine
this man's proposal, or not?
Let's suppose for the moment
that Marin de Tyr is right.
Senor Colombus, in your opinion then,
how long would the voyage be?
Seven weeks.
- Six, during the summer months.
- Marin de Tyr is wrong!
He's been corrected many times, over
the centuries by the world's finest geographers.
Your voyage, Senor Colombus,
would take a year.
Suppose you cross this ocean
and suppose you reach Asia...
...what would Spain do there?
Trade, Your Excellency!
According to Marco Polo, the Kingdom
of China is one of the richest of the world.
Even the meanest buildings
are roofed with gold.
Is that all that interests you?
Gold?
No!
I'll bring these people
to the world of God...
...and make them subjects
of Castille and Aragon!
Instead of a Realm...
...Spain will become an Empire!
If God intended
our proximity to Asia...
...do you believe that he would have
waited for you to show it to the world?
He chose a carpenter's son
to reveal Himself to the world!
So you consider yourself
"The Chosen One"?
Asia can be found to the west...
...and I will prove it!
The Treasurer of Spain
honours us with his presence.
The State has its reasons to be interested
in this man's proposition, Your Eminence.
With all due respect,
the judgement is ours.
Why not?
And what if he were right?
I've always found
such independent minds dangerous.
If the man had wings,
no doubt, he'd return from the skies...
...tells the heavens are empty!
I'd deplore the loss of
such a potential opportunity for Spain, though.
Especially
over this point of geography.
It's not a point of geography.
It's a point of reality.
This man is a mercenary.
States often use mercenaries...
...if it is to the benefit,
the stability of Spain, no?
It should be as much your concern
as it is mine.
Am I to understand, that you would
use your influence to assist this heretic?
Well, you know, Your Eminence,
the fascinating thing about power...
...is that, what could be given
so effortlessly...
...so easily be taken away!
And therefore nothing could justify
the participation of Your Majesties...
...in a venture that relies upon
such feeble assumptions...
...and which any man of knowledge...
...would take to be impractical,
if not impossible.
They didn't listen.
They don't want to listen.
- You mustn't give way to despair, you must wait.
- Wait?
I've waited seven years already,
how much longer do you want me to wait?
If God intends you to go,
you will go!
- Damn God!
- Christopher!
Damn all of you! You all sit at your desks,
concocting theories based on what?
You never leave the protection
of your gardens. Go out...
...find out what the world is about
and then tell me something I can accept.
These don't mean anything,
they are full of assumptions!
Just lies!
All of it, lies!
All of it, lies!
Father?
You must not speak to a man
doing penance.
And what can you do?
Nothing.
That's the point, Fernando.
Fernando!
Senor Colombus?
I've been looking
all over Sevilla for you.
Never expected to find a sailor
in a monastery.
My name is Pinzon.
Martin Alonzo Pinzon.
I'm a ship owner from Palos.
Is he a spy?
What is it?
Are you a trappist?
Vow of silence?
Penance?
It's just my luck.
Listen,
I'll do the talking for both of us.
You just nod, agreed?
Just as I do with the wife.
I know that the commission
turned you down, right?
What do you expect?
You're just a foreigner.
And I want to help you.
You wonder why I believe in you?
I'm a seaman, too.
We don't like to be told
where to go or not to go.
I don't look like much
but I have friends...
...important friends!
A banker, for example.
He finances me.
He's name is Santangel.
Have you heard of him?
He can get you
in audience with the Queen.
You know why?
She owes him money.
That's for it is.
You, me, the Queen, the world and its
mysteries! Everybody owes somebody something.
What do you say?
- Where can I meet this man?
- Here, right there!
May I ask you a question,
Don Luis?
Yes!
Why do you want to help me?
Faith...
...hope...
...charity!
But greater than all these...
...is banking.
Wait, Senores!
The Moors built Granada
centuries ago.
Now, we've taken it back.
But it's a tragic victory for us.
We're losing a great culture.
But I suppose there's a price
to be paid for every victory.
Isn't there Senor Colombus?
Don Luis de Santangel...
...to see Don Gabriel Sanchez.
Luis!
Senor Columbus, Senor Pinzon.
Rise!
Come forward!
I should not even be listening to you
since my Council has said no.
Santangel tells me
you're a man of honour and sincerety.
Sanchez,
you're not completely mad.
No more than the woman who said
she would take Granada from the Moors.
They believe the ocean is
uncrossable, Senor Columbus.
What did they say about Granada,
before today?
That it was impregnable!
I cannot ignore the verdict
of my Council.
Surely you can do anything
you want.
How little you know!
Why should I believe in you,
Senor Colombus?
May I speak freely?
You show no inclination
to speak otherwise.
I know what I see.
I see someone who doesn't
accept the world as it is.
Who's not afraid.
- I see a woman who thinks what if...
- A woman?
Forgive me...
...but you're the only Queen I know.
Then that makes us equal,
you're the only navigator that I know.
How old are you,
Senor Colombus?
Thirty-nine, Your Majesty.
And you?
I'm forty.
You will be informed
of our decision.
Actually, I thought
you were younger than I.
The cost would be ruinous.
No more than the cost of
two state banquets.
Two banquets,
for new lands and spices...
...and gold!
What are you saying, Sanchez?
Only that if he's right,
we have everything to gain.
And if he's wrong...
...we've so little to lose.
Tell me what he says.
He demands to be made a Knight...
...with the right to wear
the Golden Spurs...
...and that he will receive
the title "Don Christopher Colombus"...
...which will be extended
to his descendants.
So, what else?
He'll be named
"Great Admiral of the Ocean Sea"...
...Viceroy of the West Indies...
...Governor of all islands
or lands discovered...
...or as will be discovered
by him...
The highest titles of nobility,
Your Excellency...
...to an immigrant
sheltered by monks!
Furthermore...
...he'll receive
one tenth of all wealth or monies...
...precious gems, pearls, metals,
spices and other lucrative sources...
...acquired under his jurisdiction.
You worry too much, Francisco!
This man will have
to lower his demands.
Believe me!
He will!
I won't!
So we have considered your proposal
very carefuly, Senor Columbus. It is excessive.
- The responsibility is equally excessive.
- If you consider of the contract...
- I have given you that!
- No!
- No?
- No!
No!
And I thought he was an idealist.
Idealism and ambition
are not incompatible.
I've fought too hard.
Now you expect me to take all the risks...
- ... while you take the profit?
- No!
- I'm not a servant...
- Senor Colombus...
...you are in no position
to bargain with me.
I'm not bargaining.
Then you are too ambitious.
And were you never ambitious?
Or, is ambition only a virtue among
nobles, a fault for the rest of us?
If you won't accept this proposal,
we can simply find someone who will.
If you can do that, Excellency...
...I'll become a monk!
Your Majesty!
He'll become a monk!
It would be a pity,
wouldn't it?
Call him back!
She said "yes".
If I ever come back,
I swear...
I'm not asking you
to swear to anything.
I don't want you
to wait for me.
That's something
you can't decide for me.
Forgive me Father, I have sinned.
I am listening, my son.
Father...
I have betrayed my family...
...I betrayed my men...
...and I betrayed you.
I lied!
The journey will be longer
than I said.
How long?
I'm not sure.
How could anyone know.
It could be twice the distance.
You must tell them.
- You must tell your men.
- If I tell them, they wouldn't follow me.
You know I'm right, father.
You must trust me.
You must speak to them.
If you don't, I will!
You are bounded by an oath.
May God forgive you.
I believed in you.
Give me absolution.
Give me absolution, Father!
I absolve you of your sins!
Enter!
Mendez!
Sit down!
Some wine?
What is it, Mendez?
Speak!
They wonder how you know our position
since we've no sight of land days ago.
And what do you think, Mendez?
I know you're navigating
by the stars like the Moors do...
...but I don't know how?
Take this quadrant, Mendez.
Find the North Star.
Steady yourself!
Keep the plumbline vertical.
And don't move!
A mistake of one degree
and we'll be off 600 leagues.
What do you read?
-28.
- That's it!
And we'll follow it until we reach land.
How do you know that
we'll find land on the 28th parallel?
I don't!
Mark!
- Mark 26, Sir!
- Mark!
Mark 27, Sir!
Mark!
Mark 28!
Mark!
Mark 29!
-629.
-629!
I heard.
Captain, I don't understand.
I think I do.
We should've seen land.
We've been at sea nine weeks, Alonzo.
Can't be that far.
Can't be that near.
Also I don't like the smell
of this sea around here.
Smells like a whore!
'Course it does.
That's why sailors take to the sea.
And why does that one
take to the sea?
Nobody knows!
Never says a word.
Captain Pinzon requests
permission to board.
You misled me.
You lied to me.
We are way past 750 leagues.
- Six days ago, yes.
- You must be mad!
Keep your voice down, Pinzon!
- We're in the verge of a mutiny, Colombus!
- You think I don't know that?
We're lost!
- The land is there, I know it.
- No, you don't know anything!
Listen Colombus, these are my ships, right?
So I'm telling you we are turning back.
And then what? Half of the water
has gone, the rest is nearly putrid!
I shouldn't have listened to you.
You bloody...
Listen!
Pinzon, Pinzon!
All we can do...
...is go forward.
The land is there...
The land is close!
You tell them that.
You say that to them!
God doesn't want us to cross
this ocean. This voyage is cursed.
We set sail for greed.
God has abandoned us.
The voyage is cursed.
There are signs.
Juanito has the voice of an angel.
What comes out of his mouth is blessed,
Alonzo, what comes out of yours is cursed.
Listen to me!
Every man is afraid
who does something for the first time.
But those who overcome their fears
will rightly earn their rewards.
I don't know if it's God will
that we should cross this ocean.
But I am certain it is you
who puts fear into our hearts.
We cannot be lost as long as
we keep faith in God and in ourselves.
In time...
...they will talk about the courage of the
first men who crossed this ocean, and returned.
And then you will be able
to say to them...
...I was on the Pinta...
...I was on the Nina...
...and the Santa Maria.
This jacket to the first man
who sights land.
And 10,000 maravedis
a year for life!
I wanna man aloft
day and night!
Alonzo...
...don't let this wind escape us!
Lucky bastard!
Mendez!
Mendez!
Land!
25 fathoms!
24 fathoms!
23!
22!
21!
20!
19!
18!
17!
16!
15!
14!
13!
There!
Land ho!
Drop anchor!
Don Christopher!
Excellencia!
By the...
...by the Grace of God!
In the name of their
Gracious Majesties of Castilla and Aragon!
By all the powers vested in me...
...I claim this island
and name it...
...San Salvador!
Don Christopher!
- Muskets!
- No!
October 21st, 1492.
I think we have returned to Eden.
Surely this is how the world was
in the beginning of time.
If the natives are
to be converted to our ways...
...then it will be by persuasion
and not by force.
I believe no man will ever see
this land again as we do, for the first time.
We come in peace
and with honour.
They are not savages,
neither will we be.
Treat them as you would
your own wives and children.
Respect their beliefs.
Pillage will be punished by the whip.
Rape, by the sword.
You!
Utapan!
Utapan?
Colombus!
- Co... Columb...
- Colombus!
Co... lombus!
Where did you find this?
Cuba!
Thanks!
I've got a river of gold to piss.
Here!
- Is it gold?
- No, no!
No good, no.
Utapan!
Utapan!
Alonzo! Alonzo!
Help him!
Help him!
Do something!
Pray for him!
Pray for him!
With Alonzo's death, I realise
how vulnerable we are in these islands.
How much we have to learn!
On every island...
...the natives welcome us
with great generosity and trust.
Because of our appearance
we have been mistaken for gods...
...and are treated accordingly.
Despite the compliance of the Indians
we have not found gold in quantity...
...except for the few artefacts
they gave us as a sign of their submission.
You will speak first.
Tell him, we thank him
for his hospitality.
He knows.
Tell him, some of my men
are staying here to build a fort.
I want them to be well treated.
Tell him...
...we'll come back.
Many of us.
He said, how many?
As many as the leaves
on that tree.
And many more will follow.
Why?
To bring the word of God.
He said he has a God.
And also to bring medicine.
- He said, he...
- He has medicine!
Tell him...
...we admire his people.
He knows
you like his women and gold.
Pinzon is ill...
...eaten up by a fever
that refuses to leave his body.
We must return to Spain.
to stay behind to build a fort.
I name it, La Navidad!
After 7 months,
I haven't seen any sign of civilisation...
...that compares
with Marco Polo's descriptions.
No cities, no bridges,
no temples roofed with gold.
The mainland still escapes me...
...but I know it's there.
My ships are not filled with
the spices and gold that I was hoping for...
...but this land intoxicates
my senses and my soul.
And all I can think of
is to return to this untamed land.
This unexplored Eden.
This is a chance
for a new beginning.
It won't be easy
to get rid of your prophet now.
On the contrary...
...it seems to me
the man is preparing his own cross.
Let the palate enjoy
the flavour of the tobacco.
Try!
You say
this is an Indian vice?
I don't see the pleasure
that would make this is sin.
The Indians
have no such word, Moxica.
Have they such thoughts?
They come and go
as naked as God created them.
God?
Which God?
Nature is their God.
It's as if God and Nature
were one.
They see him in a leaf,
in a stone...
...in a shell.
The islands...
...are covered with trees.
Forgive me, Don Cristobal!
What about gold?
It's not the purest metal
I've ever seen.
Is there more?
We are more than gratified,
Christobal.
Excellent!
- You defende yourself well.
- For a commoner?
So...
...your second expedition, hm?
...and 1.500 men?
Thanks to you.
Don Christopher Colombus!
Don Francisco de Bobadilla!
He can be extremely valuable to you.
This man is
very well acquainted with our laws.
I heard that you soon be
appointing Governors for the Islands...
...and I thought
you might consider my application.
Forgive me, Don Francisco.
Those positions are
already taken.
May I ask by whom?
By two very competent men.
I trust they're men of quality.
Francisco is qualified
for high administration.
Well...
...we do lack notaries.
You should contact
my administration.
- Francisco is a judge.
- Good!
We also need judges...
...except,
there are no crimes of people!
I see I was mistaken.
Colombus has no need
for my services, Sanchez.
You have a special talent
for making enemies.
Why do I have
so many already?
Don't you think to rise so high
in so short a time is a dangerous occupation?
Beatrix!
I can arrange for the Queen to take
Fernando and Diego into her service.
It's a great honour,
Beatrix.
We couldn't hope for
anything better.
Anything better?
Better than to stay with his mother?
It's not what I meant.
- Then, what do you mean?
- I'll be gone...
...for several years.
I have enemies at the courts,
powerful enemies!
The boys bear my name
and now my titles.
This way they'll be untouchable.
And you'll be free to see them
whenever you please.
You don't realize
what you're asking.
I do!
I wish I could have
offered you another life.
I am sorry!
Don't say you're sorry,
because you're not!
You lead a life
you chose for yourself...
...and I chose you!
You might have given us
a choice, for Christ's sake!
I'm a map maker!
And now you're
Lieutenant-General of the West Indies...
...congratulations, Bartolome!
He's just out of seminary
he's hardly used the sword.
I've never touched the sword!
You have plenty of time to learn.
What are you complaining about?
You both have a chance to live
the way we can only dream of.
I never shared those dreams!
Do you refuse to help me?
To help your brother?
Are you going to desert me?
You bastard!
You always had your own way.
- I have always been here to support you.
- I know.
- I went to Portugal to help you...
- Yes, I know!
- I'm the eldest!
- How could we ever forget?
Haven't you said it enough?
Come on,
let me show you something.
Excellency!
It's about my son!
See?
Now, you tell me,
who can I trust?
We're brothers.
A bloodline.
I need you.
Both of you!
Admiral!
The horses have arrived.
Here is the magnificent pair!
- Send them Back!
- What?
They look like mules!
I hope you have better luck
with personal!
Who did we take on today?
And Doctor Chanca,
the Royal surgeon.
Then we can count on royal health!
Fire!
Fire again!
Where are they?
Drummers, sound the advance!
Almirante!
Juanito!
Is this your New World,
Almirante?
These animals wish to learn savagery,
we shall teach them!
Three heads for every life taken.
No mercy before God!
Vamonos!
No Moxica, no!
There will be no revenge.
These were our cousins...
...our friends, our countrymen.
But you say no revenge?
We will wash this in blood
and now!
If you want to keep your head
on your shoulders, you'll do as I say.
I lost friends, too.
You want war?
Fine.
We are 1000.
They outnumber us by 10.
Who will you kill?
Which tribe?
- We don't need to know.
- Moxica!
Try to remember
who you are talking to.
We came here to stay,
not to start a crusade.
So, we will swallow our anger.
And in the name of those
who died...
...we will accomplish
what we came for.
They're here.
There!
Guarionex!
Ricardo!
Arquebuses!
Preparen!
Ask him!
What happened to my men?
Warriors come from the sea.
Caribes.
Guarionex says...
...all fled to the hills.
When they came back...
...all the Spaniards had gone.
God's mercy on them all.
The monkey's lying.
Colomb, you talk too much.
Here they are.
We should kill them.
No!
You'll do it my way.
Tell him
we will not harm his people.
Even though we have
the power to do it.
I'm prepared to believe him.
We will work with his people
and we want peace.
Ask if he understands.
He understands.
Will he help?
He says, you know the answer!
Moxica...
I need your horses.
My horse does no work.
We all have to work, Moxica.
Not my horse!
Forgive me, Moxica.
But it was your horse
I was talking about.
Thank you, Moxica.
Now!
Heave! Heave!
My dear sons...
...in unbearable heat, we are building
the first city of the New World.
I brought the plans
of a Florentine architect...
...Leonardo, da Vinci.
God willing,
we will establish his ideal city.
We are trying to adapt
to the Indian diet.
Meat is only a memory for us.
But in less than a week, the mill
will be ready to produce our first flour.
Soon, we'll be eating
our own bread.
Never again
will I underestimate its taste...
...or the simple comfort of home.
You are always in my thoughts.
Forever, your Father.
You want her?
Then you can have her.
To the New World,
my friend.
To the Governor...
...of the mosquitos!
She's a good cook.
What kind of meat is this?
Iguana!
What's wrong with it?
It's an Indian dish.
Well, I'm not an Indian.
You know Christopher,
I think Giacomo is right.
We can't live on corn and pepper.
The Indians can't take the heavy
plantation work, we need black slaves.
Besides, everything rots in the
ground before it can be harvested.
Have you noticed?
The horses and pigs multiply.
I can't keep them from mounting
each other. May be it's the heat.
Well, I must confess that the heat
has a similar effect on me.
You're both right.
But the fort must be completed
before the rains begin.
We must rely on our strengths.
What exactly do you mean?
Every able man must work!
All of us!
Including the nobility.
They're exempt, Christopher!
Well, now they won't be!
Next!
Name?
- Name?
- Colpa.
What's he saying?
He has not found any.
Why? Ask him why!
Stop him!
Bring him back!
He says he hasn't found any.
He's lying.
Tell him...
...to put his hand on the table.
Like this.
Tell them...
...I know they are hiding
the gold from us.
Tell them...
...this is how we treat
thieves and liars.
Don Adrian,
you cannot do this thing!
I can't?
I can!
In one act of brutality
you have created chaos.
All the tribes are now
joining forces against us.
All of that because of your
criminal savagery.
Savagery,
is what monkeys understand.
You should have done the same
a long time ago, Don Cristobal.
Your ways,
they don't work!
You'll be held in detention,
deprived of your privileges...
...until you are sent back to Spain,
where you'll be judged.
Have anything to say?
For four years now...
...we are here.
We stayed here four years...
...because we believed
your promises.
But we find neither gold,
nor your earthly paradise!
You and your brothers...
...you have failed...
...Senor, Colombo!
- Don Giacomo, you will come at once!
- What's happening?
In the mine!
Get Don Christopher!
Cut him down!
Cut the ropes!
Cut the ropes!
Moxica's right!
Your ways don't work!
We have to find them.
Did you hear me?
You have to find them!
You see what they did?
You did the same
to your God.
You know them?
Charge!
Stop!
Fire!
Moxica!
You know, what will be said
about this in Spain...
...don't you?
You are nothing!
Your bastards
will never inherit your titles, no!
We...
...we are everything!
We are immortal!
Bastard!
Don Christopher...
...I wish to return to Spain.
I have no desire to remain
in this Godless place.
They are criminals.
They have a debt
towards the people of Spain.
Moxica paid,
they will have to pay too!
I do not understand you,
Don Christopher.
You treat Christians equally
with heathen savages.
And what do you offer
in return?
A New World, Buyl!
No one wants one,
only you!
Not only me!
Look at these people.
They could go back to Spain
to see their families.
But they stay.
They want something new.
A new world!
I'll be leaving
on the next ship.
You may leave if you please,
but...
...your departure won't help me
make this place more Godly.
Perhaps hope only exists
in the journey, Giacomo.
At the beginning,
everything's possible.
Every expectation,
every dream.
No one ever expected this
to be easy, Christopher!
This is not
how I imagined it to be.
Marchena was right, Bartolome.
Paradise and Hell
both can be earthly.
We carry them with us
wherever we go.
Utopan!
Speak to me!
You never learned
how to speak my language.
Your Majesty, here are the true
facts concerning the island of Hispaniola.
The activity of your servant
Christopher Columbus...
...Admiral of the ocean sea
and Governer of that island...
...the truth he now presides
over a state of chaos...
...of degradation and madness.
From the beginning
Colombus proved himself...
...completely incapable of
managing the affairs of these islands.
He appointed his brothers
very important positions...
...and so doing, injuring the pride
and dignity of nobles.
He, then promised to build a city.
City of Isabel,
named after Your Majesty.
A group of huts
all in the wrong place...
...swept away
by the rains and mud.
He, then promised gold, evidently
not finding the easy quantities he promised.
He has since commanded
each Indian to pay a tax...
...a monthly tribute of gold.
Most being unable to, we find,
have been punished or massacred.
Columbus forced nobility
to hard labour...
...he treated them equally
with Indians.
He reduced them into his slaves.
When the noble man Adrian de Moxica
protested against this treatment...
...he was executed.
- Is this true, Brother Buyl?
- Yes, Your Excellency.
These are all true, all of it.
I saw it with my own eyes.
Well...
...he promised a Paradise.
He failed!
He must be replaced,
immediately!
And who would you think of
for such a task?
I am thinking of a man.
A man devoted to Your Majesties.
A man extremely motivated.
Excellency, I'm sorry!
Don Francisco de Bobadilla.
Yes, I remember.
My letters of appointment.
I am the new Viceroy
of the Indies.
Congratulations!
Then I am free to search
for the mainland?
The mainland was discovered
weeks ago, by another Italian.
Amerigo Vespucci, Excellency.
How far?
I'm not a seaman, but I heard
it's no more than a week at sea.
I hope you are not
too disappointed.
How could I be?
The mainland has been found
exactly as I said it would.
I'm afraid this isn't
the worst news.
Diego?
Father!
Fernando!
Oh, my God!
A man!
How did this happen?
Diego, Diego!
Don't worry...
...we're going
to get you out of here.
- Santangel's going to see the Queen.
- Good!
Good, good!
I'll go back as soon as
they'll free me.
This time with me.
In your present state
it is madness, Father.
Nobody is forcing you
to come with us.
Diego!
Oh, Diego!
Rise, please.
Now...
...I do look older than you.
I have looked for a reason why
I should allow you to go back.
And though I tried,
I could not find one.
Help me find one.
All my life I have dreamed
of reaching the continent.
I thought my dreams,
grandiose!
But reality was beyond
my expectations, far beyond.
And now...
...I want to explore that land...
...before I die!
I allow you
to undertake another voyage.
Thank you!
But without your brothers!
Nor you to return to Santo Domingo
or any of the other colonies.
The New World
is a disaster.
And the old one, an achievement?
I know, I shouldn't tolerate
his impertinence.
Then why?
Because he's not afraid of me.
Sanchez!
You're a dreamer.
Look out there.
What do you see?
I see towers...
...I see palaces,
I see steeples...
...I see civilisation!
And I see spires that reach...
...to the sky!
All of them created
by people like me.
No matter how long you live,
Sanchez...
...there's something
that will never change between us.
I did it...
...you didn't!
You're so beautiful!
I can't believe no other man
has never taken you away from me.
They tried,
but I didn't let them.
They took everything.
Not everything.
Do you think I care?
I'm a free man again.
Riches don't make a man rich,
they only make him busier.
Oh, God!
How much I've missed you!
By the Grace of God
and Your Beneficient Majesty!
A new continent
has now been found...
...and claimed
in the name of the Spanish Crown...
...in the year 1492.
As Your Majesty is well aware,
the University of Salamanca...
...has always defended the theory...
...of the existence
of unknown territories to the west.
The surest route to the new continent
has now been firmly established.
West by south-west for 750 leagues
to Santo Domingo.
From there...
...west-north-west leading
San Juan to the north...
...reaching the island of Hispaniola
on the northen Cape of San Raphael.
Then onto the mainland
at Cape Gracias A Dios.
Spain, by Your Majesty's grace...
...has now confirmed for all humanity,
the existence of a New World.
To the unknown lands!
This continent was first discovered
by a mariner commissioned by Your Majesty.
His name...
...Amerigo Vespucci!
Sanchez!
What a tragedy.
What a waste of a life.
A waste?
Well, if your name or mine
is ever remembered...
...it will only be because of his!
It's Diego,
he's is at court with Santangel.
He says they hope to get your
priveleges restored, maybe the house.
But how is he?
Diego is thinking of starting
a pearl trade in Santo Domingo.
He says he received many letters
for you, mostly from your men.
He sent some of them.
- This one's from Mendez.
- Mendez?
What does he say?
He asks to come and visit you.
He left his address.
He never had one.
Except aboard my ships.
I want you to tell me
everything you remember, Father.
I wouldn't know
where to start, Fernando.
Tell me the first thing
that comes to your mind.
I remember...