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?
lt's not the purest metal l've seen.
ls there more?
We are more than gratified, Cristobal.
Excellente.
You fence well. /For a commoner?
So...
Your second expedition, hm?
17 ships...
and 1500 men?
Thanks to you.
This is Don Francisco de Bobadilla.
He can be valuable to you.
He's very well acquainted with our laws.
l heard you'd be appointing Governors. Will you consider my application?
Forgive me, Don Francisco.
The positions are taken.
May l ask by whom?
By two very competent men.
l trust their 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 as such.
l see l was mistaken.
He has no need
for my services.
Sanchez.
You have a special talent for making enemies.
Why do l have so many already?
Don't you think to rise so high in so short a time is dangerous occupation?
Beatrix...
l can arrange for the Queen to take the boys into her service.
lt's a great honour, Beatrix.
We couldn't hope for anything better.
Anything better? Better than being with their mother?
lt's not what l meant.
What do you mean? /l'll be gone...
for several years.
l have powerful enemies at the court.
The boys bear my name and bear my titles.
This way they'll be untouchable.
And you'll be free to see them whenever you please.
You don't know what you're asking.
l do.
l wish l could give you another life.
l am sorry.
Don't say that, because you're not.
You lead the life you chose for yourself...
and l chose you.
You might have given us a choice. l'm a map maker!
And now you're Lieutenant-General of the West lndies, Bartolome!
He's just out of seminary and can't use a sword.
Never touched a sword!
You have time to learn.
What are you complaining about?
You can live the way we dream of.
l don't share your 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.
l have always supported you. /l know.
l went to Portugal... /l know!
l'm the eldest! /How could we forget?
You've said it enough.
Let me show you something.
Excellency...
lt's about my son...
See...
Now, you tell me, who can l trust?
We're brothers. A bloodline.
l need you. Both of you.
Admiral!
The horses are here. This pair's magnificent!
Send them Back! /What?
They're like mules!
l hope you did better with men!
Who did we take on today?
30 blacksmiths. 28 halberdiers. 20 carpenters.
100 farmers.
20 miners.
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.
ls this your New World, Almirante?
We will teach these animals savagery.
Three heads for every life taken. No mercy before God!
Vamonos!
No Moxica!
We'll be no revenge.
These were our cousins,
our friends, our countrymen.
But you say no revenge?
We will wash this in blood and now!
lf you want to keep your head do as l say.
l lost friends, too.
39 brave men who trusted me.
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.
The monkey's lying.
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.
l'm prepared to believe him.
We will work with them and we want peace.
Ask if he understands.
He understands.
Will he help?
He says you know
the answer.
Moxica... l 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
that l was talking about.
Thank you, Moxica.
Now...
Heave!
My dear sons...
ln unbearable heat, we are building the first city of the New World.
l brought the plans of a Florentine architect,
Leonardo... da Vinci.
God willing, we will build his ideal city.
We are adapting to the lndian diet.
Meat is only a memory for us.
But in a week, the mill will be ready to produce of flour.
Soon, we'll be eating bread.
Never again l'll never underestimate it again.
Nor the simple comforts of home.
You are always in my thoughts.
As ever, your Father.
You want her?
Then you can have her.
To the New World, my friend.
To the Governor...
of the mosquitoes.
She's a good cook.
What meat is it?
lguana.
What's wrong? lt's lndian dish.
l'm not an lndian.
You know Christopher, l think Giacomo is right.
We can't live on corn and pepper.
For the plantation, we need black slaves.
Everything rots before it can be harvested.
Have you noticed? The horses and pigs multiply.
They keep mounting each other... Must be the heat.
l must confess that the heat has a similar effect on me.
You're both right.
But the fort must be finished before the rains.
We must rely on our strengths.
What do you mean?
Every able man must work.
All of us. lncluding nobility.
They're exempt, Christopher.
Well... Now they won't be.
Next.
Name?
/Colpa.
What's he saying?
He's found none.
Why? Ask him why!
Stop him! Bring him back!
Hasn't found any.
He's lying.
Tell him...
to put his hand on the table. Like this.
Tell them...
l know they are hiding the gold from us.
And tell them...
this is how we treat thieves and liars.
Don Adrian, you cannot do this thing.
l can't?
l can.
Your act of brutality has 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...
don't work.
You'll be put in detention, deprived of privileges,
until you are sent to Spain for judgement.
Have anything to say?
For four years now...
we've been here.
We stayed here four years
because we believed your promises.
But we find neither gold
nor your earthly paradise.
You and your brothers...
have failed.
Senor... Colombo!
Don Giacomo, come at once! /What's happening?
ln the mine! Get Don Christopher!
Cut him down!
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?
Goohooni. Goohooni.
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...
l wish to return to Spain.
l have no desire to remain...
in this Godless place.
They are criminals.
They have a debt towards Spain. Moxica paid. They will pay, too.
l don't 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 them.
They could go back to their families.
But they stay.
They want something new. A new world.
l'll be leave...
on the next ship.
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 beginning everything's possible.
Every expectation, every dream.
No one expected this to be easy.
This isn't how l imagined it to be, Christopher.
Marchena was right, Bartolome.
Paradise and Hell both can be earthly.
We carry them wherever we go.
Utopan!
Speak to me!
You never learned to speak my language.
Your Majesty, here are the true facts concerning the island of Hispaniola.
The activity of your servant Columbus, Admiral of the Oceans and Governor of the
the truth he now presides over a state of chaos,
of degradation and of madness.
From beginning He had shown he was incapable of managing the islands
he appointed his brothers very important positions,
injuring the pride and dignity of nobles.
He promised to build a city.
lsabel, after Your Majesty.
A group of mud huts in the wrong place,
swept away by the rains and mud.
He promised gold,
not finding the amounts he promised.
He has since commanded the lndians 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,
treating them equally with lndians.
He reduced them into his slaves.
When Adrian de Moxica protested against this,
he was executed.
ls this true, Brother Buyl?
Yes, Your Excellency.
These all true. All of it. l saw it.
With my own eyes.
Well...
He promised a Paradise.
He failed.
He must be replaced.
lmmediately.
And who would you think of for such a task?
l am thinking of a man.
A man devoted to Your Majesties.
A man extremely motivated.
Excellency, l'm sorry.
Don Francisco de Bobadilla.
Yes... l remember.
My letters of appointment.
l am the new Viceroy of the lndies.
Congratulations.
Then l can search for the mainland?
The mainland was discovered weeks ago.
By another ltalian.
Amerigo Vespucci, Excellency.
How far?
l'm no seaman, but l heard it's no more than a week at sea.
l hope not too disappointed.
How could l be?
The mainland has been found exactly as l said it would.
l'm afraid this isn't the worst news.
Diego?
Father.
Fernando.
Oh, my God!
A man?
How did this happen?
Diego.
Don't worry.
We're going to get you out.
Santangel's going to the Queen. /Good.
Good.
l'll go back when they free me.
This time with me.
ln your present state it is madness, Father.
You needn't come with us.
Diego.
Rise, please.
Now...
l do look older than you.
l have looked for a reason why l should allow you to go back.
And though l tried l could not find one.
Help me find one.
All my life l have dreamed of reaching the continent.
l thought my dreams... grandiose.
But reality was beyond my expectations.
Far beyond.
And now...
l want to explore that land.
Before l die.
l allow you...
to undertake another voyage.
Thank you.
But without your brothers.
You can't go to Santo Domingo
or the other colonies.
The New World...
is a disaster.
And the old one... an achievement?
l know...
l 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?
l see towers.
l see palaces, l see steeples.
l see civilisation.
And l see spires that reach...
to the sky!
All created by people like me.
No matter how long you live,
one thing will never change between us.
l did it.
You didn't.
You're so beautiful.
l can't believe another man
has never taken you from me.
They tried... but l didn't let them.
They took everything.
Not everything.
You think l care?
l'm a free man again.
Riches don't make a man rich, they only make him busier.
God! How much l'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 aware,
the University of Salamanca
has always defended the theory
of the existence of unknown territories to the west.
The surest route to the continent is now firmly established.
West by south-west for 750 leagues to Santo Domingo.
From there...
west-north-west from San Juan to the north,
reaching the island of Hispaniola on the Cape of San Raphael.
Then onto the mainland at Cape Gracias A Dios.
Spain, by Your Majesty's grace,
has confirmed for all humanity,
the existence of a New World.
Terra lncognita.
lt was discovered by a mariner commissioned by Your Majesty.
His name...
Amerigo Vespucci.
Sanchez...
What a tragedy. What a waste of a life.
A waste?
lf your name or mine is ever remembered...
it will only be because of his.
Diego is at court with Santangel hoping to get your privileges restored.
But how is he?
He wants to start a pearl trade in Santo Domingo.
He has received many letters from your men.
He sent some of them.
This one's from Mendez. /Mendez?
What does he say?
He asks to visit you. He left his address.
He never had one. Except aboard my ships.
l want you to tell me everything you remember, Father.
l wouldn't know where to start.
Tell me the first thing that comes to mind.
l remember...
ln 1502, Columbus made a final trip to the New World with Fernando.
They reached Panama where the lndians told them of the Pacific Ocean.
His son's biography gave Columbus his rightful place in history.
ln 1992, one of his descendants is Honorary Admiral of the Spanish Navy.
There is more imagination in life than in dreams...