Magellan

Magellan

In the early 16th century, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan bids his wife, Beatriz, farewell and sets sail for the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, taking a western route around the bottom of South America, rather than east around the coast of South Africa – a journey that had never been completed before. After an arduous, years-long voyage, plagued by hunger, storms, exhaustion and mutinies, the crew finally reaches the Philippines. There, Magellan becomes obsessed with conquest and converting the indigenous population to Christianity, but he’s unprepared for the violent defiance that follows.

Led by a powerfully restrained performance by Gael García Bernal as Magellan, this resplendent historical drama by Filipino auteur Lav Diaz interrogates the mythmaking around European colonial explorer narratives. Magellan’s wife, Beatriz, and his Malaysian slave, Enrique, provide counterpoint perspectives that enrich the story with emotional heft. Haunting and poetic, yet uncompromising in its commitment to depicting colonialism’s destructive impact, Magellan is a grand, sweeping portrayal of a decade in the famed explorer’s life, his hubris and tragic downfall.

Rating

MA15+

Duration

163 min

Cast

Gael García Bernal

Director

Lav Diaz

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