La Otra Conquista

*La Otra Conquista*
by Sasha Stone
"

La Otra Conquista" tells the story of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, but more importantly, the high price the Aztec culture paid, both spirtituallyand materialistically, at the hands of the Spanish. Writer/director Salvador Corrasco thought it was time to tell the other side of the story, the ones most of us didn't learn about in high school.The film opens on the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in 1520 following the Spanish conquest. Topiltzin (Damian Delgado), an Aztec picture-writer, is captured by the Spaniards during a raid of a humansacrifice ceremony. Topiltzin, the illigitimate son of Emperor Moctezuma, is deemed a savage who is then brought to Hernando Cortez for execution. But because Cortes (and many Spanish leaders like him)has taken Emperor Moctezuma's daughter Tecuichpo (Elpidia Carrillo) as mistress, and has subsequently fallen in love with her, the emperor is convinced to let Topilztin live.
However, to live meansto change his name to Tomas, convert to Christianity, abandon his native language and speak Spanish, and survive a brutal punishment - thirty lashings with a whip and chain, and a torch set to thebottoms of his feet while a statue of the Virgin Mary looks on.
Tomas/Topiltzin is forced into the arms of the Virgin Mary at every turn. The strangely sad, judgmental, serene statue has so much screentime that she is as vivid and alive as the characters in the film. Her appearance is perhaps one of the most effective elements of "La Otra Conquista" when considering Mexico today. A culturecontinually associated with Catholicism has its roots elsewhere. Yet, because the film is ultimately in support of the belief in god (that faith is the universal part), it doesn't matter what face it'swearing, Mexico did not reject the film's ideas, quite the opposite in fact. The film became wildly popular in Mexico during its release in 1999, earning $2 million at the box office. Of course, that seems...