la otra conquista

Director

  • Salvador Carrasco –> writer and director

Main Cast

  • Topiltzin/Tomás –> Damían Delgado
  • Fray Diego de la Coruña –> José Carlos Rodríguez
  • Elpidia Carrillo –> Tecuichpo/Doña Isabel
  • Hernando Cortés –> Iñaki Aierra
  • Capitán Cristóbal Quijano –> Honorato Magaloni
  • Alanpoyatzin (Topiltzin’s brother) –> Guillermo Ríos
  • Nanahuatzin (Topiltzin’s grandmother) –> Josefina Echánove

Paper instructions

If you chose to write on this film, these instructions should help you craft your analysis of La Otra Conquista. The film, which stars Damián Delgado as Topiltzin/Tomás, tells the story of an Aztec scribe turned religious novice by the conquest of Mexico. Opening in May 1520, it follows Topiltzin’s journey from devotee of the Mother Goddess to burgeoning monk in the service of the Virgin Mary, and his subsequent crisis of faith. The story operates as a metaphor for the complexities of the conquest, and even more so for its aftermath.

Your assignment is to write a critical review of La Otra Conquista that evaluates the historical merits of the film. In order to do this, you will need to draw on the assigned readings from class. You must use the two readings assigned from class. (No outside readings, though. Let’s keep it focused on the resources we’ve used in class.) Each paper should include a short overview of the plot, the important characters, and a discussion of the historical themes that they embody. Then, with reference to the readings, evaluate the historic merits of the film. Analyze the readings in the context of the film, and the film in the context of the readings.

It is up to you which historical themes you decide to emphasize from the theme, but you must be able to connect them to specifics in either the primary or secondary readings at your disposal.

Please note that this paper is to be entirely your own work. You may not use internet resources or other outside readings. Stick to the readings that have been assigned in class. Whenever you use ideas from those readings, whether explicitly or not, you must cite them in footnotes. Citations should conform to Turabian style. A guide to Turabian style citations is available here. We will be keeping up with reviews of the film available online. The one exception to outside-class resources available for writing this paper is the film’s page on the Internet Movie Database, which you may only use to keep track of and correctly spell the names of the characters.