Antonio to play Cortés + Esquivel opines on Spain
6:55 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| Entertainment| history| literature| mexico
6 Apr 2006
Spanish hearthrob Antonio Banderas is slated to portray conquistador Hernán Cortés in new bio-pic chronicling the conqueror’s expedition into Mexico, which he then christened “La nueva España”:
The independently financed film tells the story of the expedition that sailed west from Cuba in 1519 in hopes of expanding the Spanish Empire. Cortes and his band of soldiers came upon what is now Mexico and swiftly brought about the destruction of the Aztec empire led by Moctezuma.A September production start is anticipated on location in Spain, Mexico and South America.
It will be directed by Andrucha Waddington, whose credits include “Eu Tu Eles” and “Casa de Areia.” Nicholas Kazan (”Reversal of Fortune”) wrote the screenplay.
In related news, award-winning Mexican author Laura Esquivel talked to Spanish press on the release of her new book about La Malinche, and revealed her feelings about the Spanish influence on Mexican culture, which I bet will be none too popular with some in Mexico:
“The time has come for a better understanding of our mixture of races and to weigh all that the Spaniards brought” to the Mexico whose history began in 1519, she said in an interview with EFE at the presentation of her latest novel, “Malinche” (Suma de Letras, 2006).
“Official” Mexican culture makes something of a cult of the pre-Columbian native world while demonizing the Spanish conquerors, who engaged in widespread massacre, enslavement, rape and robbery. For example, Aztec resister Moctezuma is a popular hero, while Hernán Cortés is universally a complete villian.
Read the whole article, it’s fascinating. The author of a book about La Malinche is totally gonna get called a Malinchista.
Via / Reuters and El Universal
- Tags: conquista, conquistador, cortes, laura esquivel, literature, malinche, mexico, Spain
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3 Responses to Antonio to play Cortés + Esquivel opines on Spain
Maegan la Mala
April 7th, 2006 at 7:38 am
Bueno I don’t know that she should be called una malinchista , I guess that depends on how the story is framed. I think recently by latina womanists/feminists there has been an attempt to try and look back at la malinche in a new way….I just hope the new book isn’t as loopy as the one she wrote where you had to listen to a cd when you got to certain sections.
Jennifer Woodard Maderazo
April 7th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
I meant how malinchista is used to México to refer to people who either love Spain (or recognize that the Spanish influence is what is responsible for some of the more salient aspects of Mexican culture as we now know it — catholicism, for instance) “sell-outs”. Any defense of Spain and its influence is likely to meet with cries of “malinchismo!” It’s curious that so Mexican a writer as Esquivel would feel comfortable enough to say these things in public.
The funny thing to me is that, after living in Spain and talking to people there, is that while Mexico carries this weight — la conquista and its constant presence in the psyche, in art, everywhere — so heavily more than 500 years later, Spaniards are stunned when you tell them this. They can’t believe that this still could have any influence on how they are viewed as a people, or much less that this piece of history could have such a profound influence on a culture such a long time after the fact.
Maegan la Mala
April 7th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
I guess so. It will be interesting to see some of the Mexican and other Latin American reviews, although of course among many, Spanish blood is to be praised and indigenous blood to be hidden. I can’t wait to read the book regardless.
I think in general it’s hard for conquistador nations to recognize how deep their historical impact is. I mean the conquista was over 500 years ago and it shaped and continues to shape and then in the U.S. you have thos who still can’t grasp that slavery still is relevant.