The adventures of “Elcano and Magellan: First Voyage around the World”

Directed by Angel Alfonso; Written by Jose Antonio Vitoria and Garbiñe Losana

I’ve learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
We got angry when people talks about something different from what we know and what we
learned. Maybe it is because we are given different interpretation on things. The movie Elcano
and Magellan: First Voyage around the World has misinterpreted and gathered many negative
reviews and comments. It retells the story of the circumnavigation led by Ferdinand Magellan
and Juan Sebastian Elcano. The adventures in the sea and the islands they docked were showing
amazing countries. It shows the struggles of the sea farers during those times where maps and
compasses are still being discovered. Fighting against nature-sea, is quite scary because you
wouldn’t know how it will end. One wrong move during the storm will drown and bury you in
depths of the sea together with your ship. We all know that a movie without antagonists is
boring. They need villains to make the plot continue successfully. The historical inaccuracies
riled the Filipinos especially the historians. An online petition for banning the release of the
movie has the Malacañang Palace’s Movie and Television Review and Classification board re-
evaluate the film. The savages they called in this movie were soon colonized for more than three
hundred years.

The movie’s start was quite interesting as it introduced the characters. The one that caught my
attention was Ines. Not knowing if she is making up whatever fortune she told everyone but the
fortune-telling she made for Admiral Magellan will make you watch the entire movie to prove if
she is correct or a fake fortune-teller. Magellan is already known as a daredevil and the best
navigator as he had travelled many places before. The excited mood of the recruited sea farers
were ruined when Alvaro Da Costa forbade them to continue their expedition using the
Portuguese Route while using the ships from Spain but Admiral Magellan told him that he is not
using that route but he will discover new one in the east. Suddenly, troublemaker Juan Sebastian
Elcano’s entrance on the scene is quite funny. He brought a very dizzy Royal Notary Pigafeta.
Elcano’s boat was being confiscated and he is expected in jail but he enlisted in Admiral
Magellan’s team to escape jail-time following Ines’s idea. They depart from Seville to start their
hopeful journey towards the Spice Island. As they continue to travel on the sea, Elcano has been
causing trouble that irritates his captain. Navigating blindly, finding new routes and suffering
sixty days of rain and storm brought them to the land of Brazil. The captains have been
questioning Admiral Magellan’s decisions. Soon, they continue sailing south and sail through
huge chunks of ice. The crew and ship was frozen but they can only endure the harsh winter. The
captains made a mutiny in search for the map but failed when they discovered there’s really no
map. It was all in Admiral Magellan’s intuition all along! A narrow channel was accidentally
discovered when the Santiago ship was dragged to the rocky coast. They went in and were met
with a narrow channel that made the crew bump into each other’s ships. One ship returned, they
lacked faith in Magellan and returned empty handed. After crossing the scary narrow channel,
they discovered way called the sea of the south or South Sea. The canal opened a way to a wide
and never ending sea they called as The Pacific. Food and drink was so scarce that even a mouse
in the ship became a delicacy but miraculously food fell from the sky. Not really fell from the
sky literally but flying fish made their appearance. Then, land was on-sight. The people on the
island were mesmerized by the huge ships and the fat man started to talk but no one can
understand him. Magellan then concludes that it is not the Moluccas Island yet. Samar entered
and translated their language easily which made the foreigners shocked. She explained that she
was originally from Moluccas Island which is far from where they are now. Rajah Humabon told
them that they should pay the tariff. Elcano even fooled the natives by saying that they are gods
just not to pay tariff. As gods, they need to pay double is what Rajah Humabon wanted. A tunic
present is all it took for the Rajah to let them off! It is funny how the Royal Notary Pigafeta
labelled them as savages. The Rajah complained to them how the King of the neighboring Island
never pays him tariffs. They asked Magellan if he could help the rajah defeat Magellan into
battle. He agreed of course but in return, he needs a guide to the Moluccas Island after. Yago
slipped unnoticed and went to Magellan’s tribe to talk. He brought jewelleries as offering so that
they will listen to him but they just whisk it away uninterested. It only took a heart-printed
underwear to convince the tribe. The Spaniards came and was met with silence. The battle
started and the Spaniards were ambushed by spears and arrows. They were loaded with firearms
to the native’s disadvantage. The natives were wearing thin cloths just to cover their private parts
making them vulnerable but the Spaniards were wearing full armors. The other soldiers retreated
and returned to the ship. Yago took this opportunity to befall Magellan and leave him behind. He
did this to finish the task given to him by Alvaro Da Costa before the expedition started. Without
Admiral Magellan they don’t have the map to continue the expedition. Samar volunteered to take
them to the Moluccas Island. Two ships left and off they go! Samar became Elcano’s lover. She
offered for him to stay but refused. He still needs to bring his men back to Spain but he promised
to come back for her. After getting what they need in Spice Island, Elcano’s men have to go back
without Magellan and Samar. The journey back is as hard as before. They faced storms, thirst
and hunger. Cape Verde came into view. It was the enemy’s land but they are in dire need of
food so they still find a way in. Deceiving the Portuguese had them gather some food but Yago
ruined it again so they had to flee. Alvaro Da Costa started to bomb them right away but with
Elcano’s lead they successfully escaped. Elcano’s ship is outnumbered. One hit on the spot of the
Portuguese ship’s powder keg and the fight is over. The enemy ship sank instantly. Out of two
hundred and forty men they were left with more or less eighteen personnel. They travelled for
fourteen thousand and four hundred leagues for three years. They returned with the spices in
Victory Ship with the new captain. Juan Sebastian Elcano really sailed a ship like never before!
Ines’s words were true. Elcano had a successful trip and he also became a captain. They
celebrated for the success.

Having children watch animated movies of our history will help them understand the past of our
country. There are many recommended sources but I think we have to reconsider this one. I like
how the plot and scenes of the adventure was created creatively. The movie really showed and
interesting perspective of Ferdinand Magellan and Elcano’s adventure and struggles in the sea.
The cape of storms was such a bumpy ride that keeps the audience on edge. The narrow channel,
South Sea and Pacific Sea brought the Spaniards to our country. The movie shows us the no
matter how hard the obstacles are as long as we have set our goals straight then nothing can stop
us. Juan Sebastian Elcano made the movie lively by his outrageous personality. He wasn’t
trusted by everyone at first seeing how unstable he navigates his own boat but he kept on proving
how good and passionate he is of he is doing. He is quick-witted and spontaneous which helped
him escaped the troubles he started. Admiral Magellan played a special role in choosing the
mariners and the navigation of the whole expedition. He is such a wise man. His patience knows
no boundaries even if he is held captive by his own crew. Alvaro da Costa’s villainous character
made me irritated to him which proved that his role is fulfilled well in the movie. He kept on
popping up everywhere but the villain role is not strong enough. As a Filipino, I don’t like how
the movie portrayed Lapu-Lapu as an evil character. The natives look naive and trusting. Lapu-
Lapu’s tribe was also called cannibals by Yago. It is quite insulting. I dislike the scenes where
they fooled Rajah Humabon by not fulfilling their end of the deal. It is quite hard to take in when
they made us look like villains when it is already showed how they fooled us. The route they
discovered made Spain discover our country and brought invaders to our rich lands. To them is it
pride and success, to us it is the start of our suffering. If children from Spain were going to watch
this then they will be very proud of their ancestors and historical backgrounds but what if
Filipino children watch this? It seems different from what is written in our history. I think
parental guidance and a clear explanation from schools will help them see differently. If only
Magellan didn’t discover that narrow channel. Will things be different if they didn’t pass our
sea?

The computer-animated film Elcano and Magellan: First Voyage around the World served its
purpose. Since it is a Spanish movie then it’s a given that they use the Spanish perspective when
they wrote the whole plot. To the Spanish, Ferdinand Magellan is a pride but to us Filipinos he is
a bringer of doom. The inaccuracies that made it controversial to the Filipinos started from the
poster itself. First, though we are not certain if Lapu-Lapu is the
one who killed Ferdinand Magellan or one of his troops, he is
surely one of our heroes. The movie illustrated Lapu-Lapu as a
villain. Led by Lapu-Lapu, the natives fought against the
Spaniards on the Battle of Mactan. The fought them not to invade
our shore. The notorious scowl on his face in the poster will tell
you so. During the ambush the movie showed that the natives used spears and arrows but in
reality they used spears and bolos. Second, the female character Samar is not mentioned in our
own history books. It is either she is real or just a character made to make the movie interesting.
It also looked like her name was randomly picked because it sounds good but it doesn’t relate to
our history. She also guided the Spanish expedition herself
and helped them on their navigation. Third, Rajah Humabon
or Rey de Cebu in the film welcomed the foreign on his
territory. In history, Rajah Humabon did let the foreigners
in his land but not out of hospitality and generosity. His
reason was to form an alliance against Lapu-Lapu. Fourth,
the Filipinos or what they called the “natives” showed a welcoming and happy aura when they
landed. In truth, the ships and Magellan’s arrival triggered fear. Who wouldn’t be alarmed when
you see huge ships and people with foreign clothing appear in front of you right? Fifth, knowing
how conservative Filipinos are, why are they scantily dressed in this movie? I can say that the
fashion of the natives was not well researched. The spy, Yago, asked Magellan’s tribe “oh, you
guys are naked! Do you want some clothes?”. A pair of underwear and
he has Magellan listen to him. Lastly, Magellan’s purpose in the movie is
to reach the Spice Island without using the Portuguese route. In history,
the purpose of Magellan’s voyage is to prove that Earth is not flat by
circumnavigating the world from west to east.

Scale of 1 to 10 rating, 1 as lowest and 10 as the highest

7.5