Eréndira, ikikunari

A Juan Mora Catlett film on the conquest of Mexico

Short Synopsis

This is the story of Erendira, a young Indian woman who stands out in the conquest of Mexico. According to legend, she stole a horse from the Europeans, rode it in the war against them and was never slain.

 

Synopsis

Through the drawings of a codex, read by an old Indian, we find out that during the conquest of Mexico in the XVI century, fright filled the hearth of Tangaxoan, Michoacan’s young lord. Through oracles he had heard of the imminent arrival of the foreign conquerors, preceded by their fame as invincible gods, who brought destruction and death.

Erendira, a young Indian woman, ignorant of the situation, prepares herself for her wedding to Nanuma, a brave warrior.

When the invaders arrive, Lord Tangaxoan hides. When the foreigners attempt to seize his treasure, only the royal concubines defend it, beating them with clubs. The Indian warriors abstain from intervening. Erendira breaks off with Nanuma when she witnesses his cowardice towards the intruders.
Lord Tangaxoan is discovered and in order to save his dominion he celebrates an alliance with the Europeans.

Timas, one of the great warriors, and Erendira’s uncle, refuses to accept his Lord’s capitulation and in order to fight the invaders takes shelter in a ruined fortress, with other rebellious warriors including Nanuma, who’s secretly spying for Tangaxoan.

Faced with the example of the women’s fierceness and the great warriors’ cowardice, Erendira joins the resistance, in spite of Nanuma’s displeasure and rousing the admiration of the formers younger brother, T'sihue.
Tangaxoan, wishing to demonstrate his good will towards his new allies, orders that an Indian army, supervised by three European horsemen, slaughter Timas and the rebels.

The army puts the fortress under siege and Erendira, disguised as a boy to elude Timas’ and Nanuma’s opposition, joins the battle. T’sihue discovers her and is very impressed by her bravery.

In the first clash the enemy army is defeated. In the following confusion Erendira seizes a horse. When Nanuma discovers her, the beast is taken away from her to be sacrificed. Nevertheless she manages to learn to ride it and demonstrates her new ability, to the amazement of Timas and the rebel nobles.

In spite of Nanuma’s indignation over Erendira’s "unwomanly behavior", Timas forgives her and allows her to keep the horse, forbidding her to ever enter the battle again. Nanuma, who’s very angry and fears discovery, decides to change sides and joins Tangaxoan’s army.

When the fortress is attacked anew Timas is slain. As the rebels are on the verge of defeat, Erendira appears suddenly riding the horse. Flustering the enemy, who believe her to be a goddess, as they are not used seeing a woman on horseback. She also succeeds, with her incredible presence, in preventing the massacre of women, children and elders by the enemy army.

After the enemies’ departure, Erendira returns to the battlefield in order to perform the funeral rites of Timas’ corpse. Nanuma follows her and shoots her treacherously with an arrow. T’sihue, who followed both, enraged kills his brother and then turns to help Erendira, but to his great surprise she has vanished. The old Indian narrator tells us that Erendira disappeared into the woods and was never heard of again.

At the end we discover that the old Indian who told us this story, is no one else than T’sihue, Erendira’s admirer who killed Nanuma.
Thus a legend is born.