Ridley Scott produced and directed 1492: Conquest of Paradise, a flawed, uninvolving historical epic, starring Gérard Depardieu, Armand Assante, and Sigourney Weaver.
Grade: C
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Theatrical release poster
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As written by Roselyne Bosch, the story tries to offer a compelling version of the travels to the New World by the Genovese-Castilian explorer Christopher Columbus and the effect of his discovery on the indigenous peoples there.
The film was released in time to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage.
1492 debuted less than 2 months after another film, Christopher Columbus: The Discovery directed by John Glen, leading to confusion between the films.
The film received mixed to negative reviews due to its historical inaccuracies.
Synopsis
Aware that the world is round, Columbus lobbies for a trip westward to Asia, but he lacks crew and ship. Thus, the Catholic theologians at the University of Salamanca disapprove of his plan.
Columbus is approached by Martín Pinzón, shipowner from Palos, who introduces him to the banker Santángel, to whom Queen Isabella I owes money. The queen grants him the journey in exchange for his promise to bring back gold.
Columbus deceives his crewmen, telling them the voyage will only last 7 weeks. Three ships depart, and after 9 weeks, there is no sign of land. The crew becomes restless and edges toward mutiny, despite his inspiring speech.
Columbus notices mosquitoes on the deck, indicating that land is not far off. Suddenly, out of the mist they see the lush vegetation and sandy beaches of Guanahani.
The Europeans befriend the local natives, who show their gold, and teach them Spanish. Columbus leaves behind a group to begin the colonization of the Americas. Back in Spain, he receives high honor from the queen.
On the second expedition, Columbus takes 17 ships and over 1,000 men to the island; however, all the crewmen left there have been killed.
When the tribe is confronted by Columbus, they tell him that another tribe came and killed them. Columbus believes them, but his commanding officer Moxica is not convinced. They begin to build the city of La Isabela.
Columbus begins to worry about a potential war, with the natives outnumbering them. He finds his house set ablaze by Moxica and followers.
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.
Columbus is accused of nepotism, offering positions to his friends, thus injuring the pride of Moxica; he is replaced by de Bobadilla.
Columbus returns to Castile to be imprisoned, but is bailed out by his sons. The queen is reluctantly convinced to allow him to make another voyage, without his brothers.
As an old man, Columbus is forgotten in Spain. The discovery of the New World is credited to Amerigo Vespucci.
In the end, Columbus’s son Ferdinand asks his father to tell him his story so he can transcribe it.
Historically inaccurate and dramatically inert, Scott’s retelling of Christopher Columbus’ exploits was a wannabe epic, lacking that genre’s visual grandeur or scope, not to mention insight.
French actor Depardieu, probably miscast, deserves credit for working hard to lend gravity to a senseless role.
Scott blamed the movie’s failure on Americans not understanding European accents: “They don’t hear shit unless it’s from Texas or America.” He noted: “It’s one of my favorite films. They didn’t know how to release it in America. But in Europe, it clocked $57 million.”
In the US, it was released by Paramount on October 9, 1992 in 1,008 theaters. The version was edited to 150 minutes, with some violence removed in order to get PG-13 rating.
The film was a flop in America, debuting at number 7 with $3,002,680, worse than the opening of Christopher Columbus: The Discovery. It did lightly better overseas, but in the end failed to recoup its production and marketing budget.
Cast
Gérard Depardieu as Christopher Columbus
Armand Assante as Gabriel Sánchez, archrival in Castile
Sigourney Weaver as Queen Isabella I
Loren Dean as Older Ferdinand Columbus
Ángela Molina as Beatriz Enríquez de Arana
Fernando Rey as Antonio de Marchena
Michael Wincott as Adrián de Moxica, archenemy in the Indies
Tchéky Karyo as Martín Alonso Pinzón
Kevin Dunn as Captain Méndez
Frank Langella as Luis de Santángel
Mark Margolis as Francisco de Bobadilla
Kario Salem as de Arojaz
Billy L. Sullivan as Younger Ferdinand Columbus
John Heffernan as Brother Buyl
Arnold Vosloo as Hernando de Guevara
Steven Waddington as Bartholomew Columbus, brother
Fernando Guillén Cuervo as Giacomo Columbus, brother
José Luis Ferrer as Alonso de Bolaños
Bercelio Moya as Utapán
Juan Diego Botto as Diego Columbus
Credits:
Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Roselyne Bosch
Produced by Alain Goldman, Scott
Cinematography Adrian Biddle
Edited by William M. Anderson, Françoise Bonnot, Les Healey
Armen Minasian, Deborah Zeitman
Music by Vangelis
Release dates: October 8, 1992 (Spain)
Running time: 156 minutes
Budget $47 million
Box office $59 million
