1492: Conquest of Paradise

Ridley Scott – 1992 – France

Considered bloated, murky and unsatisfying in its day, Ridley Scott’s 1492 works much better now, over 20 years later, in the context of Scott’s expansive series of historical epics like Gladiator (2000) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005).  There are elements that seem too conspicuously “80s,” of course – especially the tinted cinematography and the Vangelis soundtrack, and it is filled with extremely odd casting choices – (star Gerard Depardieu topping the list), but on the whole I feel it succeeds as a visionary film that brutally critiques the notion of colonialism.  Commissioned, presumably, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to the new world, the film is far from a rose-colored celebration.  15th century Europe is portrayed as a horror of disease and oppression, with the Inquisition in full swing.  Negotiating his way through a series of intrigues in the royal court of Spain’s Ferdinand and Isabella, an impossibly idealistic Christopher Columbus is somehow awarded permission to sail three ships across the sea into the unknown.  Whether Columbus is a lucky dreamer or a naïve pawn of his powerful patrons remains a bit unclear, but he embarks on a deadly series of mistakes, miscalculations and outright lies, only to achieve his goal and immediately succumb to a god complex as governor of the West Indies where he presides over the introduction of practises just as inhumane as the ones he left in Europe.  At 2-½ hours, the film is not overlong considering its scope and in fact seems rather concise compared to some other epics you could name.  Although Fernando Rey and Armand Assante seem at home in this world, Depardieu as Columbus and Sigourney Weaver as Isabella are just weirdly distracting.  The then little-known Michael Wincott makes a standout impression as a particularly sadistic Conquistador.