''The Other Conquest'' (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''La Otra Conquista'') is a 1999 Mexican historical drama film written and directed by

Salvador Carrasco Salvador Carrasco (born 16 June 1967) is a Mexican film director and professor, best known for his 1999 feature film '' The Other Conquest''. He is a professor and head of the film program at Santa Monica College. Career Carrasco wrote and direct ...

, produced by Alvaro Domingo, and executive produced by

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

. The film is set during the aftermath of the 1520s

Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...

, viewed primarily from the perspective of the Aztecs. The plot begins after the Massacre in the Great Temple in

Tenochtitlan , ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...

, and follows a lone Aztec scribe named Topiltzin , who is captured by Hernan Cortés and placed in the care of a

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

. Samuel Zyman's score was recorded by the

Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields The Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) is an English chamber orchestra, based in London. John Churchill, then Master of Music at the London church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Neville Marriner founded the orchestra as "The Academy of ...

, conducted by David Snell and performed by Plácido Domingo. Released by

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

in 1999, the film received positive reviews and was a Mexican box office success. The film was rereleased for the United States in 2008.

Plot

Topilzin, a scribe and the illegitimate son of Montezuma, finds himself at odds with the new Spanish rule. Refusing the new Christian religion and assaulting a friar, Topilzin is handed over to the army by his brother and brought to Hernán Cortés and his lover, Tecuichpo. Topilzin's life is spared and he is flogged in public, receiving a spiritual revelation. Topilzin abandons his life as a scribe to become a monk, joining an order led by friar Diego.

Cast

* Damián Delgado as Topiltzin / Tomás *José Carlos Rodríguez as Fray Diego de La Coruña *

Elpidia Carrillo Elpidia Carrillo (born August 16, 1961) is a Mexican actress and director. Her career includes roles in both Latin American and US film and television. She is best known in the United States for her supporting role in the iconic action film ''Pre ...

as Tecuichpo / Doña Isabel *Iñaki Aierra as Hernando Cortés *Honorato Magaloni as Capitán Cristóbal Quijano *Guillermo Ríos as Alanpoyatzin - brother * Diana Bracho as Doña Juana *

Carlos Torres Torrija Carlos Torrestorija is a Mexican actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and telev ...

as Soldier Héctor (credited as Carlos Torrestorija)

Reception

Box office

Distributed by

, the film was released in Mexico in 1999 by

, "enjoying the biggest opening weekend of any Mexican film in history on its home turf".

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives a score of 85% based on 13 reviews. The film's song-cycle ''Solamente Sola'' was descibred as "couched in effusive and seductive folk styles... a hauntingly evocative cycle on poems by Salvador Carrasco".

References

External links

*
''The Other Conquest'' official website
(archive) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Other Conquest, The 1999 films 2000 drama films 2000 films Mexican independent films 2000s Spanish-language films Nahuatl-language films Films about conquistadors Films set in the Aztec Triple Alliance Films set in the 1520s Indigenous cinema in Latin America Cultural depictions of Hernán Cortés 1990s Mexican films