1492: Conquest of Paradise Page #3

INT. BEATRIX'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT

COLUMBUS joins BEATRIX in the kitchen, where a MAID is

cooking. He explains Fernando's subdued manner.

COLUMBUS:

Executions. In the square.

BEATRIX nods. He goes to the stone butt and pours water

on his hands.

COLUMBUS:

They've agreed to see me in a week.

BEATRIX puts the candle on the table. Her face lights up

with a smile. He walks to her, and kisses her.

COLUMBUS:

I could be gone for years.

BEATRIX:

I know.

COLUMBUS:

I haven't given you much of a life.

BEATRIX:

(amused)

Well... that's true. I have a child

by a man who won't marry me! Who's

always leaving...

COLUMBUS:

Are we going to argue?

BEATRIX:

I'd love to argue with you

sometimes. But you're never here!

They laugh and kiss.

COLUMBUS:

Perhaps I was never meant to live

with a woman...

BEATRIX:

(still kissing him)

I find that hard to believe.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. BEATRIX'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT

They are eating around the table, and FERNANDO is

unusually silent and thoughtful. COLUMBUS pours a little

wine into FERNANDO'S water, to distract him. FERNANDO

looks up at him, surprised. COLUMBUS smiles, then looks

over at BEATRIX.

COLUMBUS:

Fernando, don't you think we are

lucky to live with such a beautiful

woman?

He winks at FERNANDO. BEATRIX smiles.

INT. BEATRIX'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT

The room is dark. As COLUMBUS approached the bed with a

candle, it illuminates the naked body of BEATRIX. BEATRIX

looks up at him intently. A drop of wax falls on her

skin. She flinches, murmurs...

They make love.

EXT. SALAMANCA UNIVERSITY - DAY

A medieval "campus". Students-novices are playing

"pelote", with basket-gloves and a hard ball. They run

with their robes tucked around their waist, revealing

white legs. Others are studying, reading, hurrying to

their class.

We find COLUMBUS watching the game from the steps above

the court. Others are waiting with him. A MONK comes

from a door, and looks around the group.

MONK:

(hesitant)

Christopher Columbus?

INT. AUDIENCE ROOM - UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA - DAY

An El Greco painting. A tableau of twenty MEN sitting on

dark, sculpted seats. Candles throw a gloomy light on

their faces. Some are Churchmen, others are dressed in

bourgeois outfits.

Only one of them is richly dressed in the grand Spanish

fashion -- he is SANCHEZ, Treasurer of the House of

Aragon. A MONK (Don AROJAZ) holds a stick with an ivory

claw at the top. Languidly, he scratches his back -- his

off-hand manner only makes him more impressive than his

peers.

AROJAZ:

You say Asia can be found by sailing

west?

COLUMBUS:

Yes, your Eminence. The voyage

should not take more than six or

seven weeks.

AROJAZ:

Unfortunately, Don Colon, that is

precisely where our opinions

differ...

(pause)

Are you familiar with the work of

Aristotle? Erathostene? Ptolemeus?

COLUMBUS:

I am, Your Eminence

AROJAZ:

Then you cannot ignore that

according to their calculations, the

circumference of the Earth is

approximately...

(he leans forward)

22,000 leagues or more. Which makes

the ocean... uncrossable.

He leans back, satisfied, and pauses for effect.

AROJAZ:

But you may have found new evidence

proving that these men of knowledge

are totally mistaken!

A ripple of mirthless laughter.

COLUMBUS:

Your Excellencies are aware of the

statements of Marin de Tyr?

HERNANDO DE TALAVERA

We are.

COLUMBUS:

Then you are also aware that his

theories contradict Ptolemeus... De

Tyr believes the Ocean to be only

750 leagues...

A murmur of protest spreads among the members of the

Commission. But Columbus is determined to press his

theories.

COLUMBUS:

The Florentine Toscanelli and the

French Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly both

think that Marin de Tyr is accurate

in his calculations. And therefore,

that the ocean can be crossed.

Indignant and amused murmurs. DIEGO DE DEZA raises his

voice to quiet the assembly.

DIEGO DE DEZA:

Gentlemen, let us suppose Marin de

Tyr is right...

(the laughter

subsides)

Are we here to examine this proposal

or not?

Silence.

DIEGO DE DEZA:

(to Columbus)

In your opinion, how long would the

voyage be?

COLUMBUS:

Seven weeks. Six, during the summer

months.

The murmur increases.

AROJAZ:

Marin de Tyr is wrong -- and has

been corrected many times over the

centuries by the finest geographers.

Your voyage, Don Colon, would take a

year!

A MAN of simple bearing, that COLUMBUS identifies as

being a seaman, interrupts.

VICUNA:

How would the crew survive without

being able to land for fresh water?

Water is undrinkable after six

weeks! You'd never be able to turn

back!

COLUMBUS:

We wouldn't have to turn back! We

would find land at this point!

AROJAZ:

Senor Colon, an experienced captain

such as yourself will understand our

concern with the crew. I am not

willing to have on my conscience the

loss of men who would have relied

upon our judgment.

COLUMBUS:

Excellency, you are right.

Instantly, the protests stop.

COLUMBUS:

I am a seaman, not a scholar... But

as a simple man craving for

knowledge, I have read all the work

of these renowned geographers and

discovered that none of them could

agree on the exact width of this

ocean...

He pauses, and starts walking in front of the experts, as

a lawyer before a grand jury.

COLUMBUS:

Therefore, as a modest man, I

wonder:
who is right?

The experts listen. CLOSE ON SANCHEZ'S FACE, impressed by

the boldness.

COLUMBUS:

Who is right? This question remains

unanswered.

He walks and stops before TALAVERA, and catches the look

of SANCHEZ, sitting just behind him.

COLUMBUS:

Your Eminence, there is only one way

to settle the matter. And that is

to make the journey.

(to the assembly,

with passion)

I am ready to risk my life to prove

it possible.

AROJAZ:

Your life, and that of others!

COLUMBUS:

If they agree to follow me, yes.

SANCHEZ (O.S.)

Suppose you cross this ocean.

Suppose you reach Asia. What would

Spain do there?

Conscious of a friendlier voice, COLUMBUS sees the

Treasurer SANCHEZ, an imposing man in his fifties.

COLUMBUS:

Trade, Your Excellency. According

to Marco Polo, the Kingdom of China

is one of the richest of the world.

Even the meanest buildings are

roofed with gold.

AROJAZ:

(interrupting)

Is that all that interests you?

Gold?

COLUMBUS:

No. The Portuguese have already

discovered black-skinned people. I,

too, will find other populations --

and bring them to the word of God.

THE MONK smiles thinly.

AROJAZ:

Christopher -- Christo Ferens -- the

Bearer of the Cross!

MONK:

(ironic)

And Colon -- the one who populates!

Another small rill of laughter.

AROJAZ:

If God intended our proximity to

Asia, do you believe he would have

waited for you to show it to the

world?

COLUMBUS:

Did He not choose a carpenter's son

to reveal Himself to the world?

A hum of interest. CLOSE ON SANCHEZ -- watching COLUMBUS

intently, a hint of an admiring smile on his lips.

AROJAZ:

So you consider yourself the chosen

one?

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