1492: Conquest of
Paradise is a massive historical drama made in commemoration
of the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus
to the New World.
The story begins
with the efforts of Columbus to find a patron for his venture.
At a time when those condemned as religious heretics are
burned at the stake, he must argue his case before a religious
commission where any wrong word might be his death sentence.
After seven years of trying, he is turned down once again
because the commission is reluctant to give him any power.
Columbus will not relinquish his passionate dream and, after
the fall of Granada to Spain, and Spain's victory over the
Moors, he goes to Queen Isabella. He argues that his voyage
will bring her gold and the greater glory of both God and
Isabella. He also makes his personal demands such as wanting
to be knighted, to be declared governor of all the new land,
and to receive a percentage of the new wealth. Still savoring
her moment of triumph, Isabella at last grants him his wish.
Columbus sets sail
with his three ships and crew. He has lied about the length of
the voyage as he knows it will take longer. When his men grow
unhappy he passifies them by offering a reward to the first
man sighting land. They arrive and are greeted by friendly
natives. After several months of exploring the islands, he is
puzzled as nothing compares to Marco Polo's description, and
he cannot find the mainland he knows to be there. He decides
to return to Spain leaving 39 men behind to build a fort.
Columbus returns to
Spain in triumph. Up to this point Columbus has been portrayed
as an ambitious man with compassion, vision, and high ideals.
He espouses a policy of peaceful coexistence with the natives
of the new land saying "They are not savages, and neither
will we be." However, with the second expedition, which
brings many more ships and men, Columbus begins losing
control. The ambitions and greed of those with less lofty
ideals eventually turn the tropical paradise into a living
hell where violence and brutality abound.
A large variety of animals are seen primarily as background or
to enhance the atmosphere. These animals include dogs, camels,
mules, sheep, peacocks, snakes, and insects. Being a period
film, horses of course are present in many scenes, sometimes
with riders or merely as atmosphere. In one scene a
magnificent white charger is ridden and struts around a ring.
The Spaniards brought their horses to the new world and one
nobleman is shown astride a beautiful brown horse as the horse
rears and paws the ground while natives circle and pet him out
of curiosity. This horse is a pampered pet. However, when men
and oxen are called upon to move an enormous metal bell the
nobleman is ordered to use his horse to help hoist the bell
into a bell tower. With an approaching storm, horses are
growing restless and rearing. In the aftermath of the typhoon
the people are seen clearing away what it has left in its
wake. Among the debris are the carcasses of several dead
animals.
A variety of colorful, tropical birds are visible in numerous
scenes. A parrot flies A to B through jungle foliage and a
flock of birds fly out of the trees. In one scene a bird flies
through the air, Christopher shoots at it and misses. However,
when a native shoots at it with a bow and arrow, the bird is
shown with an arrow through its' body and goes down.
No representative of
American Humane was present during the making of 1492 as this
was a foreign production produced jointly by British, French
and Spanish interests. Scenes involving animals were filmed in
Spain and Costa Rica and local animal trainers were used.
American Humane obtained the names and phone numbers of the
trainers through the film's United States distributor,
Paramount Pictures. Because of the language barrier, we
enlisted the aid of an interpreter.
Trained horses were
used for any scenes that required special skills such as
rearing. For the scene after the typhoon, some fake animals
were used, but they also used a real dead cow. We attempted to
find out the circumstances and source for the dead animal, but
could get no further information. We could get no information
regarding the scene where the bird is shot with an arrow.
