Director Report Card: Ridley Scott (1992)

8. 1492: Conquest of Paradise

In the year 2021, Christopher Columbus is a controversial historical figure, to say the least. Due to a growing awareness of history, his supposed status as the man who discovered the Americas is widely debunked. Most pressingly, Columbus' role as a imperialist who enslaved native peoples is more commonly understood. The sanitized, kid-friendly “Columbus sailed the ocean blue” version of history has given way to the brutality of imperialism. The statues and holiday made to honor him have fallen out of favor for exactly this reason. Thirty years ago, however, people were still happy to celebrate Christopher Columbus as an icon of history. 1992 was the 500th anniversary of his voyage. A number of events commemorated this special date, including “1492: Conquest of Paradise,” a big budget motion picture directed by Ridley Scott. 

Christopher Columbus is living in a monastery when we meet him, his obsession with sailing westward to Asia getting him in trouble with the local monks. A connection with a shipowner and a banker gets Columbus an audience with Queen Isabella I. She agrees to fund his voyage, on the agreement he brings back gold. After a nine month voyage, with the crew nearly ready to revolt, Columbus makes landfall... Not in Asia but in the New World. The local tribes are friendly but only provide a small amount of gold for Columbus' return journey to Spain. This is enough for the queen to fund a second voyage. Upon returning to the New World, Columbus finds his colony in disarray and the crewmen he left behind dead. Yet more troubles face the explorers as he continues to colonize the island he has named San Salvador.

When reading “1492's” subtitle, the word you should emphasize is “conquest.” This interest in one culture subjugating another is established early on, when Columbus sees the Spaniards tearing down a star and moon from a Moorish mosque they recently captured. In an earlier scene, we see people being burned at the stake for the crime of witchcraft. While his first journey to the New World is fairly peaceful, the second one is full of bloodshed and conflict. There's bloody battles, dismemberment, and an extended sequence where mutineers are executed via garrote. “1492: Conquest of Paradise” is a surprisingly violent and brutal film at times. (Which makes it all the more confusing to read that the initial U.S. release of the movie was edited down to a PG-13.)

As presented in “1492,” Christopher Columbus is a man obsessed with his dreams of exploration. He's introduced in the film, arguing with a theologian about his desire to sail across the globe. His passions run so hotly that he even gets into a fist fight with monks at one point. Columbus, as depicted here, will go to any length to make his dream a reality. He has to convince a nearly mutinous crew that this journey is possible and has to, similarly, convince the royal court to fund a second journey. This is the path “1492” takes to humanize the historical figure, as a man completely consumed by his vision of making history. One of the film's best moments is its last one, when an older Columbus reflects back on the first time he caught a glimpse of the New World.

The exact motivation behind why Chris is so obsessed with discovery is harder to parse out. “1492” itself seems split on what kind of man Columbus was. At times, it attempts to depict him as a free-thinker. He demands that the nobility do the equal amount of work as the Indians. He's also suitably horrified when a native is punished by having his hand chopped off. He does not characterize the local tribe as savages. At the same time, Columbus says things in voice-over about how the natives are naturally aware of their inferiority to the white men. How it's his destiny to bring God and civilization to these uncultured people. The film definitely adds some irony to the latter statements, as the tribe's chief is very skeptical of Columbus and his men. The movie can't seem to decide if Columbus was a progressive cool dude or a deluded imperialist. 

If the idea of selling Columbus as an ahead-of-his-time egalitarian seems unlikely, it's not the strangest choice the movie makes. At times, “1492” becomes an action movie. There's an extended sequence where Columbus has to fight off attacking rival tribesmen or quell an attempted rebellion among his own men. Seeing a dignified historical figure swing a sword around and defend himself from attackers is surprising, to say the least. I'm not an expert in Columbus, so I don't know how much of this stuff has a basis in reality versus how much was invented to make the movie more action-packed. (At the very least, Wikipedia informs me the mutiny definitely happened.)

It's probably for the best that “1492” includes some swashbuckling in the second half of its 158 minute runtime. The intrigue among the royal court or the interpersonal drama within the crew are a bit dull. Watching Columbus' main rival in the Castilian court plot his undoing is not the most exciting thing in the world. The scenes devoted to Columbus' personal life, whether that be his relationship with his sons or a handful of moments with his mistress, are not all that compelling either. All of these subplots largely fade away as the movie's focus turns towards the expedition. We are thankfully spared any attempt to turn Christopher Columbus into a romantic leading man.

Once again, Ridley Scott ensures that you never forget who directed this movie. The earlier scenes are set within the cramped quarters of the monastery, the  sweltering interior of the ships, or the darkened inner chambers of the royal court. Naturally, these scenes provide Scott with lots of opportunity to have rays of light shining through walls and windows. Once the film arrives in the New World, you better get ready for some majestic, rolling clouds of mist. There's plenty of shots of distinctive white fog blowing through the jungle. There's no doubt that it's all very nice looking. Even at this point in his career, Ridley Scott knew how to make a historical epic look great. 

Which isn't to say some unusual choices weren't made during “1492: Conquest of Paradise's” production. During the raid by the other tribe, jaguar roars are played whenever the attackers leap into frame. That's distracting, to say the least. Columbus' colony is finally declared a failure when a hurricane levels the settlement. This sequence is a bit on the melodramatic side, as doors are blown off their hinges and a lightning bolt burns a large cross to the ground. Think you can pick up on the subtle visual symbolism in that moment? Moments like this represent the movie at its most overcooked. 

When Ridley Scott signed on to direct “1492: Conquest of Paradise,” he supposedly insists that Gerard Deparideu play the world famous explorer. The choice to cast a Frenchman as an Italian, leading a crew of Spaniards, is a little distracting. Deparideu makes no attempt to disguise his native accent and is, at times, even a little difficult to understand. Despite these issues, Deparideu's performance works more often than not. He's certainly talented at playing up Columbus' unbridled passion for his dream. Watching Deparideu sweat and shout about how much he wants to explore the world is entertaining, if nothing else.

Deparideu leads a cast full of notable names as well. Some of these feel like high-profile cameos, like Sigourney Weaver playing the Queen of Spain or Frank Langella as the banker Luis de Santangel. Both make the most of their limited screen time, with Langella getting some of the movie's best lines. Armand Assante, wearing some distinctive facial hair and a series of nice hats, plays the nobleman who hopes to undermine Columbus' journey. These are the dullest parts of the movie but Assante at least has fun hamming it up. Michael Wincott brings his gravelly-voiced charm to Moxica, the insurrectionist who acts the antagonist in the second half. The character is written as cartoonishly evil, which is a speed that Wincott excels at. I also couldn't help but notice a young Arnold Voosloo as his right-hand man. 

For a certain breed of film nerds, “1492: Conquest of Paradise” is probably most notable for Scott reuniting with his “Blade Runner” composer, Vangelis. The soundtrack here doesn't resemble the score for the beloved sci-fi film much. In fact, Vangelis' work here heavily resembles his most famous creation: The “Chariots of Fire” score. The electronic music features similar sounding melodies, pretty synthesizer piano notes bringing a proper amount of grandness and grace to images of the boats landing upon the beach. Vangelis' mostly distinguishes this score from his previous work by adding more tribal sounds, including drumming and some vocalization. It might be slightly derivative but it's not bad either. 

Ultimately, the most memorable thing about “1492: Conquest of Paradise” is the circumstance of its release. The film was released a few months after “Christopher Columbus: The Discovery,” the Salkinds' notorious flop about the same historical events. The earlier film's failure seemed to seal this movie's fate as well, as “1492” was also met with a critical and box office shrug. (There was also a German cartoon featuring musical numbers and talking bugs.) Perhaps the movie's greatest legacy is the full-scale recreations of Columbus' boats, which survive to this day as tourist attractions. Though remembered as a fiasco, “1492: Conquest of Paradise” is more uneven than anything else. An uncertain approach to its historical protagonist and too much royal intrigue holds back an otherwise intriguingly brutal film. [Grade: C+]