Back in 1992, on the 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the New World, there were at least two major feature films about it. One of them 1492: Conquest of Paradise, has this music video for the spectacular Vangelis theme music.
There is, however, a stunning and thought-provoking teaser trailer that emphasizes how dramatic this exploration was with this comparison to the first steps on the Moon.
This version, however, was obviously videotaped off someone's TV set, and looks terrible. I would love to find a decent copy on YouTube that I can show to my class--just because it really does a nice job of helping to draw the parallel that is the reason that the Europeans called the Americas "The New World." I'm teaching a generation raised on the Street (Sesame Street), so some eye candy tends to help the process along.
There's a very interesting replica of the Nina floating around you might like to see if you get a chance. Right now it's up in Hudson, Wisconsin for the rest of the month, but it travels all over the place. Check it out here: http://www.thenina.com/.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, after walking the thing, those guys had some guts, sailing across an ocean full of tropical storms and hurricanes in something that tiny with essentially no amenities or protection from the elements. It really was a time of wooden ships and iron men!
Life was short and hard, people had expectations of a life hereafter. They were willing to die for glory, gold, and God.
ReplyDeleteThroughout most of my adulthood, it has been the opposite. Life was long, easy, and people lived life now because they expected nothing afterwards. And the way many people live their lives shows that they aren't willing to die for anything or anyone.
There's also some incredibly beautiful Vangelis music used in the Cosmos television series hosted by Carl Sagan.
ReplyDeleteAnd add my name to those that are happy to see you posting about whatever you want to post about.