Review of Captain from Castile

I give this film a lot of kudos for tackling the subject of Spanish conquistadors. Very few films, apart from AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD and a few more recent films about Columbus, have studios even bothered to talk about this very historically significant period. And it's also obvious that the writers/director/producers have really done a thorough job of investigating the era and reading the journals of these men to ensure accuracy. However, despite all this the film is a tad dull--and that's a lot considering I am a history teacher. It just seemed to me they could have included a little bit of humor or humanity to make the characters seem a little less flat. No, I do NOT want the Spaniards cracking jokes while pillaging and murdering, but something to give some color and depth to the picture would have helped elevate it to greatness.