In the Shadow of the Conquistador – a synopsis
Shane Joseph

  After a silence of twenty years, Jimmy receives an unexpected letter from his old friend and nemesis, George, inviting him on the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu. Arriving in Lima, Jimmy finds a greying George as brusque, unpredictable and horny as ever. They start their odyssey and relive the periods when their lives had intersected since childhood.

  They are haunted by the enigmatic Denise, whom both had pursued each in his own way. George had married Denise but Jimmy had given her a child who died in utero during a fight between the two men, when Denise tried to break them up and received a punch in the stomach. Denise alternated living with George and Jimmy, finally leaving both to live on her own, only to succumb to cancer. This rendezvous in Peru was her lovers’ first meeting since her death.

  On the Inca Trail, George and Jimmy meet two fellow trekkers, Ali and Bea, and are struck by the two sides of Denise that these women represent: the beauty of Ali and the introspection of Bea. They decide to team up, and even share tents. George and Ali are physically attracted to each other while Jimmy is drawn to Bea’s compassion. Bea is in Peru to adopt an orphaned Quechua boy; Ali, rebounding from her third divorce, has promised to co-sign the adoption papers.

  The foursome encounters many bends in the road along the trail: an unending rainstorm, altitude sickness, a fight with a village thug, an assault in a local disco, and Ali reneging on her promise to Bea at the last minute. They finally arrive in the sacred city where George and Jimmy confront their personal demons: George realizes that he is the ultimate modern-day conquistador - adventurous, acquisitive and sterile; Jimmy is the governor who seeks method in madness, to the point of squashing his and other’s feelings. Both men are incapable of love. The women they have pursued are the colonies – subverted and left bereft after conquest.

  After the final unexpected revelation by George, Jimmy decides to change history and lays himself down in service to Bea, while a fallen conquistador nods approvingly at them on the steps of Machu Pichu.