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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
MARCHENA
Diego is a bright boy -- a pleasure
to teach -- but so serious...
Brothers should be raised together,
Colon. Even brothers from different
mothers...
COLUMBUS
Father, I am doing what I think is
the best for him. And he has the
teacher I would have chosen for
myself.
MARCHENA laughs at the compliment.
MARCHENA
Just be careful you don't lose him.
They have crossed the cloister. MARCHENA pushes open a
door.
INT. A HUGE LIBRARY - LA RABIDA - DAY
Hundreds of books lined up on the shelves, displaying the
miracle of printing, a recent German discovery. Several
MONKS, perched on high stools behind lecterns, are busily
"ILLUMINATING" some of these massive volumes, delicately
painting around the letters in bright colors and gold
leaf.
Rays of light fall diagonally through high openings,
projecting geometric patterns on the tiled floor. As
MARCHENA and COLUMBUS move forward their conversation is
punctuated by light and shadow.
MARCHENA
(fumbles in a pocket
under his robe)
I have something for you.
Almost casually, he hands COLUMBUS a letter.
MARCHENA
You will be heard at the University
of Salamanca...
COLUMBUS stops dead in his tracks. Almost frantically he
tears open the letter, hardly able to believe his eyes.
COLUMBUS
God... That's in a week!
MARCHENA
That's what it says.
COLUMBUS
How did you manage it?
MARCHENA
(smiling)
With some difficulty. I had to
promise them you were not a total
fool.
MARCHENA pushes open a second door, hidden behind a wooden
panel.
INT. STUDY - LA RABIDA - DAY
MARCHENA is not a tidy man. Books are piled up on the
floor, the desk, on every shelf, along with maps,
instruments of astronomy... the visible evidence of an
inquiring mind.
With practiced familiarity, as if they had done this a
hundred times -- which indeed they have -- MARCHENA sits
behind his desk, and COLUMBUS opposite him. MARCHENA
lights a candle and considers the mess. Then
methodically, he slowly sweeps it from in front of him
with his sleeve, exposing a large map underneath.
When he looks up again, there is a new severity in his
expression. He turns over an hourglass.
MARCHENA
Why do you wish to sail west?
COLUMBUS
To open a new route to Asia. At the
moment there are only two ways of
reaching it...
He leans forward, and points to the map spread out on the
desk.
COLUMBUS
By sea, sailing around the African
Continent -- the journey takes a
year...
His finger traces the journey, from west to east.
COLUMBUS
Or by land...
We are CLOSE now on the map, as we watch his finger
tracing a line between Europe and the Far East.
COLUMBUS (O.S.)
... But the Turks have closed this
route to all Christians. Trading
with the Orient has become arduous,
if not dangerous.
(he pauses)
There is a third way...
We notice that the outline of the European continent is
familiar. But we also notice that, in that great expanse
of ocean, the whole American continent is missing.
COLUMBUS
By sailing West across the Ocean
Sea.
CLOSE ON MARCHENA'S FACE, touched by the mystery.
MARCHENA
How can you be so certain? The
Ocean is said to be infinite.
COLUMBUS
Ignorance! I believe the Indies are
no more than 750 leagues west of the
Canary Islands.
MARCHENA
How can you be so certain?
COLUMBUS
The calculations of Toscanelli Marin
