哥伦布传1992

Alex Gendler: History vs. Christopher Columbus

Many people in the United States and Latin America have grown up celebrating the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's voyage, but was he an intrepid explorer who brought two worlds together or a ruthless exploiter who brought colonialism and slavery? And did he even discover America at all? It's time to put Columbus on the stand in History vs. Christopher Columbus. "Order, order in the court. Wait, am I even supposed to be at work today?" <i>Cough</i> "Yes, your Honor. From 1792, Columbus Day was celebrated in many parts of the United States on October 12th, the actual anniversary date. But although it was declared an official holiday in 1934, individual states aren't required to observe it. Only 23 states close public services, and more states are moving away from it completely." <i>Cough</i> "What a pity. In the 70s, we even moved it to the second Monday in October so people could get a nice three-day weekend, but I guess you folks just hate celebrations." "Uh, what are we celebrating again?" "Come on, Your Honor, we all learned it in school. Christopher Columbus convinced the King of Spain to send him on a mission to find a better trade route to India, not by going East over land but sailing West around the globe. Everyone said it was crazy because they still thought the world was flat, but he knew better. And when in 1492 he sailed the ocean blue, he found something better than India: a whole new continent." "What rubbish. First of all, educated people knew the world was round since Aristotle. Secondly, Columbus didn't discover anything. There were already people living here for millennia. And he wasn't even the first European to visit. The Norse had settled Newfoundland almost 500 years before." "You don't say, so how come we're not all wearing those cow helmets?" "Actually, they didn't really wear those either." <i>Cough</i> "Who cares what some Vikings did way back when? Those settlements didn't last, but Columbus's did. And the news he brought back to Europe spread far and wide, inspiring all the explorers and settlers who came after. Without him, none of us would be here today." "And because of him, millions of Native Americans aren't here today. Do you know what Columbus did in the colonies he founded? He took the very first natives he met prisoner and wrote in his journal about how easily he could conquer and enslave all of them." "Oh, come on. Everyone was fighting each other back then. Didn't the natives even tell Columbus about other tribes raiding and taking captives?" "Yes, but tribal warfare was sporadic and limited. It certainly didn't wipe out 90% of the population." "Hmm. Why is celebrating this Columbus so important to you, anyway?" "Your Honor, Columbus's voyage was an inspiration to struggling people all across Europe, symbolizing freedom and new beginnings. And his discovery gave our grandparents and great-grandparents the chance to come here and build better lives for their children. Don't we deserve a hero to remind everyone that our country was build on the struggles of immigrants?" "And what about the struggles of Native Americans who were nearly wiped out and forced into reservations and whose descendants still suffer from poverty and discrimination? How can you make a hero out of a man who caused so much suffering?" "That's history. You can't judge a guy in the 15th century by modern standards. People back then even thought spreading Christianity and civilization across the world was a moral duty." "Actually, he was pretty bad, even by old standards. While governing Hispaniola, he tortured and mutilated natives who didn't bring him enough gold and sold girls as young as nine into sexual slavery, and he was brutal even to the other colonists he ruled, to the point that he was removed from power and thrown in jail. When the missionary, Bartolomé de las Casas, visited the island, he wrote, 'From 1494 to 1508, over 3,000,000 people had perished from war, slavery and the mines. Who in future generations will believe this?'" "Well, I'm not sure I believe those numbers." "Say, aren't there other ways the holiday is celebrated?" "In some Latin American countries, they celebrate the same date under different names, such as Día de la Raza. In these places, it's more a celebration of the native and mixed cultures that survived through the colonial period. Some places in the U.S. have also renamed the holiday, as Native American Day or Indigenous People's Day and changed the celebrations accordingly." "So, why not just change the name if it's such a problem?" "Because it's tradition. Ordinary people need their heroes and their founding myths. Can't we just keep celebrating the way we've been doing for a century, without having to delve into all this serious research? It's not like anyone is actually celebrating genocide." "Traditions change, and the way we choose to keep them alive says a lot about our values." "Well, it looks like giving tired judges a day off isn't one of those values, anyway." Traditions and holidays are important to all cultures, but a hero in one era may become a villain in the next as our historical knowledge expands and our values evolve. And deciding what these traditions should mean today is a major part of putting history on trial.

这是斯科特1992年拍摄的史诗片，描写了哥伦布发现美洲新大陆的故事。也是一个英国导演聘用法国明星扮演意大利人在美国拍摄的西班牙的故事。（组成这句话真不容易！）

首先感受的是耳朵。主题曲由希腊作曲家范吉利斯谱写。再现了影片史诗般的气魄。低沉的鼓声，男声的合唱，婉转的小提琴，恢弘的合成器，所有这些组成了摄人心魄的乐声，带我们回到了五百年前。仿佛是对新大陆的憧憬，也像是对艰难险阻的征服，更像是成功的洗礼和理想的追寻。给人无比震撼的感染力，催人奋进，催人泪下。严重建议大家都听听，语言很难描述。前些年的电视剧《士兵突击》和台湾电视片《一寸山河一寸血》都用了这个曲子的主旋律。

1492年的西班牙是它最辉煌的时期。西班牙军队收复了摩尔人霸占几百年的格林纳达。文艺复兴的曙光已经微微照亮了黑暗的中世纪。人们被禁锢近千年的头脑在慢慢的苏醒。教会要传播信仰，王室要对外扩张，商人要对外贸易。无数的欲望在刺激着人们去寻找新世界。伟大的哥伦布就在这块骚动不安的土地上应运而生。

哥伦布是个理想主义者，他对新世界充满了渴望，相信大洋彼岸有一块新大陆等待着他，对那块神秘的土地饱含激情。为了实现自己的理想，他巧妙的利用了各类人的需要，他对教会说要去传播上帝的旨意，对王室说西班牙可以因此成为世界帝国，对商人说，那里的屋顶都是金子做成的。对船员说，我们用七周就可以到达那里。终于获得各方面的首肯，女王还资助了他的这次航程。

和所有人不同的是，哥伦布唯一的追求的是发现和探索。他一生中最辉煌的时刻就是海上雾气散去，一片从未涉足过的土地在阳光的照耀下出现，棕榈树在婆娑摇曳，鸟儿在林间歌唱。这一刻实现了哥伦布所有的梦想。他含泪宣布：“以上帝的名义，以西班牙国王的名义，用我被赋予的权力，我宣布拥有这块土地并命名为圣萨尔瓦多。”

被历史记住的也是这一刻。

实际上，到了此时，哥伦布已经实现了理想，完成了使命。然而可悲的是，现实还要求他必需继续，去当总督，去和印第安人交往，去平息内部一个又一个不安和叛乱。对此他确实力不从心了。一个即将离去的教士对哥伦布说：“没有人需要新世界，只有你。”是的。人们从骨子里并不需要这个新世界，而只是为了实现各自的贪欲。这也是哥伦布的后半生面临种种失败的根本原因。当时没有人能够理解哥伦布的伟大。

在影片中，哥伦布和王室的代理人山特荷有一段对话。

山特荷：“你只是个梦想家。”

哥伦布：“看看那儿，你看到了什么？”

山特荷：“我看到了城堡、宫殿、尖塔，我看到了文明。”

哥伦布：“所有这些，都是我这样的人创造。无论你能活多长，你我之间有一件事永不会改变，我做到了，你没有。”

他说出了伟人和庸人之间的区别。时至今日，人们还记得西班牙女王吗？还记得山特荷吗？还记得高高在上的主教吗？他们早已随历史化作尘埃。不朽的是哥伦布和他伟大的发现。

美洲的发现，开始了殖民时代。殖民给宗主国带来了巨大的利益和财富，同时伴随着残忍的掠夺和杀戮。也在不经意间，给殖民地带去了文明和繁荣。不过这真是原住民所需要的吗？影片中描写了一个印第安原住民在经历了这些之后，毅然脱去了殖民者给他的衣服，拒绝了曾经让他称羡的“文明”，又拿起弓箭，回到他的同伴中去了。这里的喻义是明显的。直到今天人们还在争论着殖民主义的得与失。不过这和哥伦布没有一点关系，当时的哥伦布不可能预知后来发生的一切。也丝毫不能损害他的伟大。

哥伦布由法国著名影星杰拉尔·德帕迪约扮演。我们无从知道他与哥伦布像不像，更无从知道哥伦布是否长着他那样的大鼻子。不过杰拉尔确实做到了神似。为了再现五百年前的真实场景，除了布景服装的真实之外，他的动作尽量贴近生活，不去刻意显露优雅的姿态。在踏上新大陆的那一刻，他一身疲惫，衣衫褴褛，踉踉跄跄的步伐，饱含泪光的面庞，颤抖的双唇，真是令人感动极了。

传记片表现人物的一生很难，要么是失于松散，要么是失于片面。发现新大陆这样伟大的事业，在两小时的电影中很难包容那么庞大的信息。对于五百年前发生的事情，更不可能处处如实道来。导演和编剧的功力体现在对事件的选择。并加以精心描述，去体现整个影片的精神。如果不苛求的话，这部片子拍的还是很不错的。

本人评分：7.5。

All of them built by people like me. No matter how long you live,Sanchez, there is something that will never change between us.

I did it

You didn't

Columbus逐渐后退，走出镜头

Sanchez : [Columbus stops Sanchez after he leaves an audience with the Queen. Sanchez looks at him, disgusted] You're a dreamer.

Columbus : [shooting a glance out of a window] Tell me, what do you see?

Sanchez : [pausing to look] I see rooftops, I see palaces, I see towers, I see spires that reach... to the sky! I see civilisation!

Columbus : All of them built by people like me.

[Sanchez doesn't respond - shocked]

Columbus : No matter how long you live, Sanchez, there is something that will never change between us. I did it. You didn't.

随后哥伦布逐步淡出画面，成了远处一团模糊的光线，画面中只留下 Sanchez近处侧脸，但我们知道那可见的清晰的画面人物永远比不上那团光线——那团哥伦布留下的历史幕布下的余辉，无论画面中的侧脸存活多久，虚处的哥伦布比实在的Sanchez们更加恒久。Coz No matter how long you live, Sanchezs, there is something that will never change between us. I did it. You didn't.

——Frederick 2021.12.13

和许多人一样，vangelis的那曲荡气回肠的《conquest of paradise》促成了我观看此片。看完才发现影片本身质量也很不错，颇有雷德利斯科特的风格。vangelis的配乐也堪称经典，以完美的声音魅力烘托出影片气势磅礴的氛围。

影片将我们带回了1942年哥伦布发现新大陆的那个年代。整个片子的基调是对以哥伦布为代表的冒险家，乃至全人类顽强不屈，不畏强权，勇于探索未知的全部肯定。在那个黑暗的中世纪，宗教裁判所掌握着整个西方世界。他们实行恐怖愚民统治，借着上帝的名义排除异己，从中渔利，他们焚烧异教徒，夺取初夜权，惩罚所有敢于梦想的人。在那个时代，“人类”只是匍匐在“上帝”脚下，没有丝毫尊严的蝼蚁，任人宰杀还依然屈服顺从。而在这样的人群之中，如同哥伦布一般独特而别样的存在就如同夜空里的繁星，是那么令人着迷。他高声呼喊着“上帝只是一个谎言”，在宗教与世俗统治势力之间的裂缝中，用尽自己的全部生命，为全人类挣扎出了尊严和自信，因而才有了后面轰轰烈烈的“大航海时代”和“文艺复兴”，才让人类真正将所谓的“上帝“推翻并踏上一万只脚，成为了自己命运的主人。

由于是一部群像剧，本片在气势上以宏大为主，也不可避免地因缺乏细节描写遭到一些人的诟病。特别是现在这个见花落泪的时代里，有不少人竟然以一部电影“让没让他/她哭”为标准来评判其优劣，未免显得狭隘猥琐。在这里向所有热爱历史，热爱人类的影迷推荐此片，定不会让你们失望。