"Afilm by SALVADOR CARRASCO" "THE OTHER CONQUEST" "Produced by ALVARO DOMlNGO" "Written, Directed and Edited by SALVADOR CARRASCO" "In 1519 the Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortés and his small army rode into the Aztec capital of Mexico where they were welcomed by the Emperor Moctezuma." "Within two years the Aztec civilization was an orphan state and the survivors were trying to adapt to a new world without families, homes, temples... or gods." "Great Temple, May 1520" "Mother!" "La Coruna, Spain 1548" "Ever since he returned from Mexico" "Friar Diego hasn't spoken a word." "It's been a week since he last ate." "What do you mean?" "I've administered his last rites." "I think he wants to die." "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit..." "I convert you into a Christian." "Friar Diego!" "Peace, at last... the final journey." "The final journey!" "The final journey?" "To where, Friar Diego?" "To where all mortals go." "All this happened to us." "We saw it." "It touched us." "This was our fate." "By putting it down on paper our essence shall live on." "Mexico (New Spain) 1526" "Sun God, why have you abandoned us?" "Topiltzin, my dear grandson, what are you thinking?" "I'd like to offer my codex to our sacred Mother." "We've lost our only mother!" "Don't start with that again!" "They've destroyed the ceremonial center." "We must use a holy place they can't find." "Are you out of your mind?" "The barbarians won't let us be with our gods." "Do you know what would happen if they found us?" "Nobody's forcing you to come with us." "And leave you alone to be protected by this little codex-maker?" "I'm not going to lose you." "You do well, Topiltzin." "This codex is the word of our people." "It's worthy of our Mother Goddess." "Friar Diego!" "Give me your hand." "I don't like what you said to our soldiers about these acts of purification, Cristobal." "Excuse me?" "Much of what you told them at sunrise could be taken as blasphemy." "Or as an absolute truth, Friar Diego." "On this side of the ocean, anything a captain says or doesn't say to his soldiers is an absolute truth." "Especially if they're inexperienced and have just arrived from Spain, like yourself." "Try to see with your eyes, not with your faith." "Captain, we're supposed to be in this together!" "Only because I have to be." "Cortés has imposed you on me like a shadow." "Besides, what I told my men is true:." "The only result of the Crusades has been that Muslim ideas entered the Christian world." "And if you insist on converting the Indians the same old story will be repeated here in New Spain." "Andthatis?" "A conversion that is never complete, Friar Diego." "Mother Goddess, guard this codex, our mirror of life and death." "Why doesn't the friar carry the cross?" "Save them by killing?" "Don't you worry." "The Indians will take care of that with their damned rituals." "Is this what you wanted us to destroy, Captain Cristobal?" "We serve the Virgin." "My God!" "Hurry, that's the sound of an act of savagery!" "My child, take and eat of the great mushroom so that you do not feel this day or the next." "Down with savagery!" "Part of me wants you to become one with our Mother Goddess... but another part wants you to stay here with me." "Do not suffer." "This is what my heart desires." "Follow me!" "Don't forget me." "You really do come from another world." "Grandmother!" "What are you doing in God's name?" "You're behaving just like them." "Preach by example!" "I absolve you of all your sins in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." "Forgive me, Mother Goddess." "Yes, take a good look at her." "That lovely woman is Mary, the Mother of God." "Yours is nothing but... a handful of stones." " What has he done to you?" " Silence, Friar Diego." "The older one knows where the gold is!" "ln memory of our grandmother, don't tell him where we hid the codex!" "Break the base!" "Better to live." "Nothing but fetishes here!" "Not a speck of gold!" "If only our soldiers had as much faith as the Indians have in their idols." "You should have let me die." "Now our history is nothing but smoke." "I'll make sure that you live, not die for us." "You shall become the voice of eternal fire." "Shut up, you dog!" "I can smell your foul breath!" "Look out!" "What's gotten into that Indian?" "Stop!" "No more violence, I beg you." "The Queen of Heaven knows what she's doing." "Stupid friar, you'll never convert them." "Brother!" "We meet again!" "Topiltzin!" "How did you manage to escape from the barbarians?" "Tell me." "I wanted to talk to you about that." "I didn't escape." "I work for them now at the new market." "I want you to join us." "Tell them you've changed." "You can still be with our Gods in secret." "So this is what you've come for?" "Go back to them!" "What about your promise to protect our grandmother?" "We must adapt to survive." "I don't adapt." "I know who I am!" "Don't be unfair!" "My words mirror the beliefs of the Emperor Moctezuma." "I didn't understand, but now it's clear." "We have no other option." "Brother, please forgive me for what I shall have to do to save you." "Save yourself." "You don't know what you're doing." "They're here." "A fair price for your brother's soul." "Why have you betrayed me?" "Captain!" "Why don't we just kill him here?" "Cortés wants him alive." "You are in the presence of Don Hernando Cortés," "Governor and Captain General of New Spain by the Grace of His Majesty, the mighty, illustrious, invincible and Catholic Emperor Charles V," "King of Spain." "Don't say anything, don't do anything." "Don't judge me for being here." "What a concise language!" "This Indian female is deceiving you!" "Are you guilty as accused?" "Word for word, Tecuichpo." "Does your heart repent of anything?" "Answer!" "Are you the bastard who tried to kill our venerable" "Friar Diego in a temple we had just consecrated to Mary the Mother of God?" "Do you doubt my word, my lord?" "Think what you will of us..." "Wait." "...but our missionaries have come to this godforsaken land only to save your souls." "Their missionaries want our souls but they don't know where to look for them." "Doesn't this head understand that I can burn you alive for your insolent crime?" "Is it really the same for you people whether you live or die?" "Doesn't he know who I am?" "The Indian translated it word for word." "Or is he silent because of who I am?" "My lord, forgive my intrusion, but do you know who this young man is?" "No, I don't know." "No one has told me." "Captain, for your own good," "I hope you have not kept anything from me." "No, my lord, he doesn't know either." "He doesn't deserve to know." "Have him leave." "I'd like to speak to you in private." "Bring in the scribe, so I may dictate this Indian's death sentence." "Guard, watch him!" "His name is Topiltzin, one of the natural sons of my father, the Emperor Moctezuma." "Ason ofMoctezuma?" "And I only know of this now?" "Impossible." "In the other time," "Topiltzin made codices for our Mother Goddess." "Spare me your heresies, Tecuichpo." "Topiltzin and I are Moctezuma's only children here in the capital." "No need to remind you that I'm the legitimate heiress to my father's fortune, but since I'm a woman, people have reservations." "Don Hernando, it would serve you to keep my half-brother close by." "And his dimmed reason?" "Was he born like that?" "No, it's recent." "As I said, he used to make unique codices." "He's like this because of your evil Captain Pedro de Alvarado, and the massacre you carried out at the Great Temple." "Andthisone?" "Who is she?" "Tecuichpo, the daughter of Moctezuma." "What happened to his mistress Malinche?" "Did Cortés hang her next to Prince Cuauhtemoc in Honduras?" "No, he got fed up with her and gave her to Captain Jaramillo." "He gave away the mother of his first born?" "First born?" "A half-breed?" "Your treachery made him like this!" "Come in, you gossips!" "You, write this down." "Tonight, a small group of Indians will be gathered in the Palace Square and the ritual descent of the icon of the Virgin Mary will be performed." "It is my royal will that this natural son of the Emperor Moctezuma then be... severely punished, made to renounce, and converted to Christianity." "But his crime deserves burning at the stake!" "Captain Cristóbal Quijano of Seville will carry out the whipping of the Indian named Tepilsin" "Topiltzin!" "Cuauhtlahtohuac Topiltzin!" "Should I listen to her?" "No." "Call him Tomás." "Cristóbal will give the Indian 33 lashes with the leather whip." "Then, after Dr. Ojeda has taken care of his wounds," "Tomás will be sent to the Monastery of Our Lady of Light, where he will be educated in the one true faith by Friar Diego of La Coruna... and taught the Castilian language by the noble woman who, from this day on" "and in the eyes of all, will be known by no other name than..." "Dona Isabel Moctezuma, to whom I here and now grant the Province of Tacuba." "Isabel Moctezuma, or Isabel Moctezuma-Cortés?" "The first." "Your mixture is disgusting to God!" "There's no reason to believe that." "If God were disgusted by mixtures-- heaven forbid" "He'd have to get rid of a good number of Spaniards." "Were I this gold necklace so that I could live between your breasts," "Dona Isabel." "Honor me by wearing it at the conversion of your brother Tomás, a great Christian occasion for me." "Thank you, Don Hernando." "Don't think that I've fallen for your story." "Why have you saved that proud Indian's life?" "I never lie to you, Don Hernando!" "His mother was my father's favorite mistress." "As you are mine!" "No, please, Don Hernando!" "Facing Topiltzin has not been easy for me." "His eyes remind me of my husband Prince Cuauhtemoc, whom you killed for no reason!" "What more do you want from me?" "I left Malinche for you." "I've given you the light of the true God and part of my kingdom!" "What else do you want from me?" "That I give up everything and become the scapegoat for your people's disgrace?" "Watch it!" "Bring her down!" "I... born in darkness... and until today known by the pagan name of..." "Topiltzin, I renounce!" "How can you not realize that you're not what you think you are!" "I am Don Hernando Cortés," "Governor and Captain General of New Spain by the work and grace of this hand and of my own words." "I have never needed anyone else!" "Give me your word then, for once, that my brother Topiltzin shall live." "If Tomás is in fact your half-brother, as I would like to believe," "I give you my word that you and Friar Diego will convert him to one of us." "And not only in language, but more importantly in ambition and spirit." "On my honor, Dona Isabel, I give you my word." "And He became man." "Captain Cristóbal!" "Andthus," "I ask our eminent scribe Ramón Quevedo to consider this conversion at an end, so that all of us," "Spaniards and Indians, can be worthy and responsible witnesses." "Who is this sodomite?" "Why is he, and not Friar Diego, pronouncing Topiltzin's renouncement?" "Perhaps because Friar Diego doesn't approve of how you pay homage to the Lord, Don Hernando." "This is my body, this is my blood." "Even though your skin is white... I will never abandon you." "You damned Judas!" "Brother!" "Bosco!" "Damn it, where is my interpreter?" "Bosco!" "Come now, I need you!" "Be it well known in this time of light and iron, that we've only acted here in defense of the Virgin Mary." "And so, our deeds are absolved by the grace of His Majesty" "Don Hernando Cortés in his struggle against the heretics who still crawl among you!" "Your blood is worth nothing!" "He says that your words are not worthy of the Great White Lady." "Nobody dare move until this sentence has been carried out!" "In memory of my father, stop him!" "You've forbidden public use of the chain!" "Can't you see he wants to kill him?" "There's nothing to be done." "He has the power now." "You have to know when to use authority, and when to use patience." "The Indians will take care of Cristóbal the first chance they get." "So you won't do anything?" "You gave me your word!" "I thought you were more of a man than this." "You're worse than Cristóbal." "He doesn't pretend to care about my people!" "I don't give a damn about your people!" "It is you I care for." "Deliver me, God, from the Apocalypse." "This is all your fault!" "If that scoundrel Cristóbal kills him, it will weigh on your conscience forever!" "I'm not responsible for what they do in the name of God!" "Why have you come to take away what is ours?" "Cristóbal!" "Monastery of Our Lady of Light 5 years later" ""...and if His Majesty won't give me this land," "I'll take it from him." "If laws must be broken in order to rule, they shall be broken."" "Here's the signature plate I stole from Cortés!" "We'll cause him real trouble with King Charles V.." "Sign it." "Sweet revenge." "I hope you know what you're doing." "Be careful." "Have the guards escort her back to Cortés' palace." "Switch to Spanish." "Good afternoon, Dona Isabel." "How is our pupil doing?" "Every week Tomás shows improvement, Your Excellency." "Please excuse me." "What a strange Spanish class you were having!" "It might be the acoustics, but from over there it sounded as if you two were barking." "Some things can only be said in Mexican, Your Excellency." "Oh yes, such as?" "Andthatis?" "To search in the deepest part of yourself, both with your heart and with your liver." "Just as the heart is the organ of love, the liver is the organ of knowledge." "Oh, and I believed we thought with our brains." "Though I must admit your metaphor is interesting." "Until next Friday." "And may God be with you." "Friar Chicken!" "Make sure Dona Isabel's carriage is ready!" "Yesterday, I found you praying devoutly in church." "You asked me all kinds of imprudent, though sincere questions about the birth of our Savior." "Full of hope, I allow myself to believe that you're on your way to a genuine, profound conversion," "like those who are not afraid to question their beliefs." "But today, I find you and Dona Isabel whispering in Mexican, and now you also try to lecture me on body parts." "This way." "You'll have to choose between one world and the other, my son." "Unfortunately for you and your people, the two have little in common." "And the way I see things, you really don't have much of an option." "We are made of one piece." "Tecuichpo... the survival of our blood depends on us." ""Considering that Tomás was only a pawn in Dona Isabel's scheme to dishonor you by forging your letters to the King of Spain," "I hereby appeal to your sincere devotion to the Virgin Mary so that you may keep Dona Isabel from returning to this monastery and refrain from punishing Tomás, for it has become my utmost mission in life to save this Indian's soul."" "Don't even think of it!" "She's never coming back." ""Oh, you miserable, ignorant sinner!" "How will you answer to God, who numbers each of your evil deeds?" "But even the greatest temptation can be useful, for thus is man humiliated and enlightened." "And we shall always suffer because the original state of innocence has been lost forever."" "Thanks be to God." "My love, have the wine poured." "I'll be right there." "As you wish, my lord." "Nevermore shall you risk my honor before the King of Spain, before yourself... or anyone else." "Just bury my honor along with our child... painful love of mine." "My lord, my unending sorrow, you can harm me no more." "This is my body... this is my blood." "Make my blood flow if you must, it shall not be in vain." "Why did you never let me reach you, Tecuichpo?" "The child I am carrying is not yours, Don Hernando." "This is my body, this is my blood." "What are these?" "Oh, to bring down his fever." "How long has he been like this?" " I wouldn't know." " Ever since... that story with Cortés' "lady"?" "Even you know about it already." "And you come here just once a month from out of town!" "Poor Indian." "What a rival in love he chose..." "His Majesty, Don Hernando." "No one understands why" "Cortés hasn't had him burned at the stake." "He owes that to Friar Diego." "Holy Mother!" "Into your hands I give up my body!" "But my spirit, never." "Hold him!" "You are the chosen one." "What in God's name is this?" "It's a token of gratitude from Cortés to Friar Diego." "To the sacristy." "So you've fallen back into one of your trances." "Maybe this will bring you out of it." "Neither Dona Isabel nor you had any right to even touch Cortés' private correspondence!" "Tampering with official documents is a very serious offense!" "Is that what you came here to learn?" "To falsify the truth!" "To falsify the truth is better than to destroy it!" "Have you forgotten what you did in the Temple of the Mother Goddess?" "You turned my people into ashes." "Our truth went up in smoke." "What truth?" "Sacrificing innocent virgins to satisfy your bloodthirsty idols?" "You and I, deep inside, share the same belief, Friar Diego, even though we come from different worlds." "We live in all times and in all places." "From the beginning, we have been meeting in different ways." "That is why you and I don't mind being locked up here... together." "Our encounter is inevitable... and eternal." "May God bless you, Tomás." "And may He save you from Dona Isabel's fate... who preferred to take her own life rather than be tortured for her crimes." "What did you say?" "Open the door!" "Open up!" "Open!" "Don't be a coward!" "Open!" "What is it?" "The crazy lndian..." "Topiltzin!" "Tomás, you mean." "He's escaped." "Behold the man!" "At least we've found him in humble prayer." "Thank God." "Make sure no one enters." "Why do you disappear like that?" "If the guards found you here, they'd surely beat you up." "That lovely woman is just as true as yours." "What matters now is that this is the new word." "We too are the children of the one God, to whom heaven and earth belong!" "Find him a simple... very specific task... to keep him busy and responsible towards others." "He who doesn't work loses his human qualities." "And by no means is he to enter the sacristy." "So you really enjoy pain?" "You damned eunuch!" "He's escaped again thanks to you!" "You are forbidden to come to the sacristy!" "What do you want here?" "It must be the devil who gives you this strength!" "This time I won't forgive you!" "Let me go in!" "Can't you see you're putting our destiny at risk?" "Shut up!" "Shut up at once!" "Stop it, you bastard!" "Enough!" "Don't beat him anymore!" "He's got enough problems already." "If I could, I would send you!" "But believe me, only I can do it!" "You would die if you even touched her!" "How can you be so blind to the truth?" "Sister!" "Mother Goddess!" "into your hands I give up my body!" "But the strength of my will, never!" "My child... ask him how on earth he found these caves." "How did you find these caves?" "My own God... has sent me to find a cure for Topiltzin, son of-- l know who Topiltzin is." "There's nothing to be done." "Topiltzin is now a spirit without the limits of a body." "I don't deserve it after what I did to you in the bath... but I need another serving." "You've had enough to eat." "I have to recover my strength and I need food for that." "I haven't slept in days." "I'm told I have sinful visions." "Spare me the explanations." "Have some more then, what do I care?" "More hosts!" "If you only knew how much strength I need to accomplish my mission." "Yes, I already heard that you're going to save the world." "Just do me a favor" "leave me alone." "Aknown evil is betterthan feeding human flesh to one of your bug-eyed gods." "You converts eat yours." "Hasn't Friar Diego explained to you the sacred mystery of transubstantiation?" "Yes, in great detail." "Have you seen how lovely the icon of the Virgin Mary is?" "Which one?" "There are so many images of the Virgin Mary." "No, no, one of them... the one in the sacristy." "She's the one we can see... but can never understand." "Where are you going now?" "Me?" "Nowhere." " Where to?" " Back to the sacristy." "On the contrary..." "I'm staying." "But perhaps... we'll never meet again." "I thank you from my heart for all your kindness..." "Mother." "It's all right." "Am I nothere?" "Are you not safe in my arms?" "Don't say anything to Friar Diego." "Rolando!" "Summon your guards, and keep close watch outside Tomás' cell." "He's not to go out under any circumstances." "And ifhedoes... he'd better not." "How about just tying him down?" "Do as I say." "First, I want to know if he's planning on doing what I think." "Mother!" "Topiltzin..." "Now you have left us." "Wake up." "May our venerable Mother keep you forever with dignity." "Go and call Don Hernando Cortés and tell the conqueror... that you bear a message from heaven." "Tell him that I," "Friar Diego of La Coruna," "bid him come to the Monastery of Our Lady of Light." "That before he leaves for Spain to reconquer the King... he must witness the miracle" "of how two different races" "can be as one through tolerance and love." "Your ways are truly a mystery." "God of all." "THE OTHER CONQUEST"