Hero or brutal tyrant? The controversy over 16th-Century explorer Magellan

Although solid facts about Magellan’s life are limited, the narrative that often prevails is about his heroism. Diaz’s Magellan, on the other hand, takes an unflinching look at what we know about his treatment of his crew members aboard the Armada de Maluco, which included executing one of them for alleged sodomy and, as his paranoia mounted, marooning the priest, Pedro Sanchez de Reina. Mutinies were recurring, and in November 1520 one of the fleet’s five ships, the San Antonio, and its entire crew deserted the mission.

Magellan may have felt compelled to deliver such severe punishments out of insecurity, because by fleeing his own nation, he had made himself a pariah in both Portugal and Spain. “Magellan had the handicap of not being Castilian, which reduced his authority over the Castilian nobility,” João Paulo Oliveira e Costa, history professor at the University of Lisbon, tells the BBC. “His Castilian captains aimed to get control of the expedition. Punishment had to be brutal to discourage new rebellions. If Magellan had not killed them, they would have killed Magellan.”

In Diaz’s biopic, the colonial violence Magellan and his men wrought is also brought to the fore. When they set ashore in Guam and a small boat was stolen, the sailors wreaked bloody revenge against the Indigenous community, setting fire to homes. Communities in Malacca and the Philippines were subject to similar brutality. Unlike other cinematic depictions of colonial violence, however, such as The Nightingale (2018) or Soldier Blue (1970), Diaz’s portrayal steers clear of explosive, potentially exploitative action. “The Magellan saga is an epic thing,” he explains. “But I didn’t want to do that the conventional way, [with] the spectacle… I was on the police beat when I was a young reporter and you see the aftermath, you don’t see the action. There’s a disrespect of humanity [portraying] that, for me.”

Despite Magellan’s flaws, Diaz wasn’t interested in demonising him. “I wanted to see a real character,” insists Diaz. “A real human being is ambitious [and] dreams, not just for himself or his family. He really believed in a Christian faith.” Along with being widely considered the first European to make contact with the Philippines, Magellan was also responsible for introducing Catholicism to the region. The Santo Niño (Holy Child), a statue of which Magellan gifted to local chieftain Rajah Humabon and supposedly brought about the miraculous recovery of sick children in that community, is “still the biggest icon in the country,” says Diaz. Today, 93% of the population in the Philippines is Christian.