Magellan

The movie begins in 1511, as Magellan lands on the Malaysian territory of Malacca. The shots of swampy territory teeming with reeds evoke the last episode of Rossellini’s great “Paisan.” Here as there, the story is partially one of man against nature. Among Magellan and his men, there is little talk of ideology, few noble pronouncements about bringing Christianity or “civilization” to “heathens.” They concentrate on the task at hand. There is only conquest, and the slaughter that brings it about. You can almost smell the death, the stinking smoke of an extinguished firepit. The cry “Viva Portugal” rings hollow. After that, Magellan is free to pontificate that “Once Islam has perished, Christianity will be eternal.” The action surrounding him, however, strongly suggests that he’s delusional. And his own practice of Christianity is dubious. Sure, when he discovers a couple of his ship’s men engaged in buggery, he summarily has one of them beheaded in front of the crew, as one does. But when he worries that the ship’s priest might betray one of his confessions, he arranges to strand the man of God on a deserted island.