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byRoselyne BoschREVISEDSeptember 23, 1991 FADE IN:CREDITS AND MUSIC OVER:INT. AUDIENCE ROOM - GRANADA - DAYWe start on a mans elegant slipper. He is seated in asplendid chair. Moving up the stocking leg, we pass thegarter of Castile, coming to rest on a pair of delicatehands. His fore finge
by
Roselyne Bosch
REVISED
September 23, 1991
FADE IN:
CREDITS AND MUSIC OVER:
INT. AUDIENCE ROOM - GRANADA - DAY
We start on a man's elegant slipper. He is seated in a
splendid chair. Moving up the stocking leg, we pass the
garter of Castile, coming to rest on a pair of delicate
hands. His fore finger impatiently plays with a large
topaz ring. Over this, we hear distant footsteps, echoing
on marble floors.
CUT TO:
A Castilian face: aquilaine profile, olive complexion,
dark eyebrows and meticulously sculpted beard. This is
TREASURER SANCHEZ.
A door slams somewhere, the footsteps getting closer. We
can now here a subdued conversation.
TREASURER SANCHEZ stands up as:
The door opens at the far end of the large gilded room.
A WOMEN, magnificent in somber taffeta, enters. QUEEN
ISABEL OF SPAIN moves towards him.
He bows slightly as she sits at the end of the large
table. She is followed by a PRIEST, BROTHER BUYL, and
three dignitaries of Church and State.
All sit beside her. TREASURER SANCHEZ takes a document
and starts to read aloud.
On screen the words: GRANADA - SPAIN - 1500
SANCHEZ
Your Majesty would wish to know the
true facts concerning the island of
Hispanola, our first settlement in
the New World, and the activities
there of your servant, Christopher
Columbus, Admiral of the Ocean Sea,
Governor of that Island. You will
remember with what hopes and
promises he beguiled us -- the truth
is that he now presides over a state
of chaos, degradation and madness
beyond imagining.
SANCHEZ punctuates each word carefully.
SANCHEZ
From the beginning, Columbus proved
himself incapable of managing the
affairs of the island. He appointed
his brothers to important positions,
at once injuring the pride and
dignity of the nobles who had gone
with him. He promised to build a
city, the City of Isabel, named
after Your Majesty. What he
actually built was nothing but a
collection of huts, and that in the
wrong place, for all of it was
easily swept away by rain and mud.
Is that not so, Brother Buyl?
The PRIEST nods.
BROTHER BUYL
Yes, Your Honor.
SANCHEZ
He promised gold. Not finding the
easy quantities he promised,
Columbus commanded each Indian to
pay an annual tribute. Most being
unable to, they were barbarously
punished, against the express wish
of Your Christian Majesties...
ISABEL lowers her eyes.
SANCHEZ
Since provocation and injustice
never ceases, many of the Indians
have fled to the forests, or have
begun to slay the Christians.
ISABEL looks over at BROTHER BUYL.
ISABEL
Could it be so?
BROTHER BUYL
Yes, Your Majesty.
SANCHEZ
But there is worse. From the
beginning, he forced the nobles to
undergo physical labor, treating
them equally with the Indians, all
of them reduced to slavery. When
the nobleman Adrian de Moxica
protested against such treatment...
(he pauses)
... he was executed.
(pause)
Is that not true also, Brother
Buyl?
BROTHER BUYL
Yes, Your Honor. It is all true.
All of it. I saw it with my own
eyes.
SANCHEZ
He has lost control. His great
arrogance has led him into
depravity. He encourages our
soldiers to marry the native women.
He promised a paradise, but he has
made a hell full of all its horrors.
Silence.
ISABEL
Is that the man I knew, Treasurer
Sanchez?
