[GUNSHOT]
[MEN SINGING]
Emiliano?
It's almost morning.
- They never get tired. EUFEMIO: Emiliano!
Emiliano, my little brother!
Josefa. Josefa, my sister.
Oh!
JOSEFA: Emiliano, come back to bed.
My darling friend, we are getting old.
We are getting very, very old.
I know what's the matter with you.
- What? - You, my friend, you have heavy blood.
- You are unhappy the fighting is over. - Half-victors.
Always celebrating, nothing really won.
I love you, but I don't like you. I never liked you, my darling friend.
- There will be a lot more bloodshed. - All right!
But not tonight! Here. Enjoy yourself. Be human!
Emiliano?
Huh?
You're restless.
Are you unhappy?
No. Go to sleep.
- Can't you sleep? - Pretty soon now.
What are you thinking?
Nothing.
- You are too. - No, no, no.
What are you worried about?
We'll find a good piece of land someplace, and we'll settle down.
- Now go to sleep. - I don't want to sleep.
Emiliano, the fighting is over.
Madero is in the capital, and tomorrow I'll go see him.
- Can I go with you? - No.
- You think we'll have children? - Yes.
We'll name them all Francisco, after Madero because he brought peace.
Emiliano, is it something about me?
No.
You mustn't think that.
Then I want you to tell me.
I'll see Madero and the men around him.
You're not telling me.
Men from schools.
- Lawyers, educated men. - You're not telling me.
My horse and my rifle won't help me there.
I can't read.
Teach me.
Of course.
Teach me now.
Get a book.
[MEN HOLLERING]
ZAPATA: Hey, be quiet down there!
Can't you let a man sleep on his wedding night?
- Shh! - Shh!
"Mañanitas." "Mañanitas."
[SINGING SPANISH LULLABY]
Begin.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
In.
"In."
- The. - "The."
JOSEFA: Beginning.
MADERO: Well, there he goes.
Old Diaz was rottener than we knew.
Huerta pushed from the North with Pancho Villa, you, the South...
...why, Diaz crumbled. - Pardon me, sir.
When will the village lands be given back? People ask.
Don't worry. We build slowly and carefully.
Give me this. I'll sign this now.
The country people want to know.
They will get their land, but under the law. It's delicate. It must be studied.
What's to study?
Land must be given back under the law so there's no injustice.
And speaking of lands... Close the door, please.
Let me show you this.
Thank you.
You see here, where these two streams meet?
The land is very rich here. Rich and level and well-watered.
And I'm told it has a good house on it.
You know what this is, general?
- No. - This is your ranch.
My ranch?
It's an old custom to reward victorious generals...
...and no one deserves it more than you.
[CLATTERING]
I did not fight for a ranch.
I don't think you know what I meant.
I know what you meant.
[SAWING]
The land that I fought for was not for myself.
- But... - What about the land I did fight for?
General, that'll be taken care of. Believe me. In good time.
Now is a good time.
- General, sit down. - I am not tired.
This is a constitutional government. There's a way to do things.
This noise, confusion, I can't think. Get out! Out! Get out!
Give me these. I'll sign now.
MAN: They're still waiting, sir. - Let them wait. I'll come.
I'll be back. Don't let anybody in! Get the workmen out.
They make too much noise.
This mouse in a black suit talks like Diaz.
No, he's right. This is peace. It takes time. We work by law.
Laws. Laws don't govern, men do.
The same men who governed before are here in that room. They have his ear.
- They've got to be cleaned out. - And land given back.
- And if Madero doesn't do it... - Yes?
Then he's an enemy too.
You're his emissary, officer, friend.
I'm a friend to no one and to nothing except logic.
Peace is very difficult.
Mano, what do you think?
- It's a nice piece of land. - Shh.
What's the harm? You've never taken anything.
The result? We have nothing.
[DOOR CLOSES]
Now it's finally quiet.
General Zapata, don't you trust me?
You must trust me.
I promise, my first preoccupation is the land...
...but in a way that's permanent. Before you do anything by law...
...you must have law. We cannot have an armed and angry nation.
It is time to stack our arms. That is the first step.
That is my first request. Stack your arms and disband your army.
- And who will enforce the laws? - The regular army, the police.
They're the ones we just fought and beat!
Give me your watch.
- What? - Give me your watch.
Give it to me!
It's a beautiful watch.
Expensive.
- Now take my rifle. - No.
Now you can have your watch back, but without this, never!
You draw a strong moral.
You ask us to disarm.
How can we get our land or keep it if we disarm?
It's not that simple. There's a matter of time...
Time is one thing to a lawmaker, but to a farmer...
...there's a time to plant and a time to harvest.
And you cannot plant in harvest time.
General Zapata, do you trust me?
Just the way my people trust me.
I trust you and they trust me as long as we keep promises.
And not a moment longer.
MADERO: Where are you going? ZAPATA: I'm going home.
MADERO: What will you do there?
I will wait, but not for long.
Kill that Zapata now. Save time, lives, perhaps your own.
- Were you listening, General...? - I advise you to shoot Zapata now!
General, I do not shoot my own people.
- You'll learn. - He is a fine man.
- What does that mean? - He is an honest man.
What's that got to do with it? A man can be honest and wrong.
- I trust him. - To do what?
I think it is essential to take my troops to Morelos...
...and help him decide to disarm.
[KNOCKING]
Yes.
PABLO: Oh, excuse me.
MADERO: No, no. Wait, wait! HUERTA: Come in. Come in.
- L... - You can speak freely.
Yes. Excuse me. Come in, come in.
I want to speak to Zapata again. Ask him to come back.
He won't come back. He's stubborn, but if you could come to Morelos...
...he's different there. You know, his whole life has been fighting. He...
He can hardly read.
He needs you. He may not know it yet, but he needs you to help him.
He can learn. He wants to.
If you'll excuse me for saying it, you need him too.
I will come.
- Thank you. - I will come.
With your permission. Excuse the interruption, please.
Troops are not necessary.
I will do it without troops. These are fine people.
You know, General Huerta, there is such a thing as an honest man.
Oh, the odor of goodness. Get me a drink.
We're never going to get anywhere as long as Zapata's alive.
- He believes in what he's fighting for. - So does Madero, sir.
I know, but he's a mouse. He can be handled.
Zapata's a tiger. You have to kill a tiger.
[CROWD CHEERING]
They don't mind giving up their arms, now that I've explained it.
Explained it very well, didn't he, Emiliano?
They have accepted it. Have you?
I've been fighting for so long, I don't understand peace.
Peace is the hard problem.
Many men have been honest in war. But peace...
I often wonder how a man can stay honest under the pressure of peace.
What ever happened to that little boy who got your horse?
He's dead. And they were never able to find the horse.
- This woman has three rifles. - Husband and two sons, killed.
Señora.
Please. Take this.
No, it is too valuable.
As valuable as your sons?
[BOY SCREAMS]
- Emiliano! Emiliano! - What is it?
- Ask him. - What is it?
Huerta's forces are coming through the pass!
- Pretend you don't know it. - No, they're not.
No, they can't.
- How many? - Three regiments with artillery.
- Who posted scout? - I did.
- You? - I don't trust him. I'm right.
Look at him!
ZAPATA: Bugle.
I want to shake hands with our liberator so I can tell my children.
Troops are coming? Huerta has disobeyed my orders?
What did you say, sir?
Thank you very much, thank you.
I have to go and stop them.
Huerta would not dare! Would not dare!
We must trust Madero, only he can bring us peace.
- Emiliano, please listen to me! - No!
Now get the snipers out and flank the road.
Might be better to finish him off.
Emiliano, I give you my word. I will stop the troops.
I hope so. But if you don't, I will.
- Sorry, Mr. President. - Huerta must have misunderstood.
He's got good qualities too.
- Pablo. - Yes. I know, I know.
I'll talk to Emiliano. I'll bring you two together again.
You look across the river. I'll look upstream.
Hey, the hat.
EUFEMIO: Hey!
Here! Here!
[GUNSHOTS]
[KNOCKING]
GUARD: All right. - Did you see him?
- Did you see Huerta? - Yes.
- Why am I a prisoner here? - You are no longer a prisoner.
But they won't let me leave. I have been here for days.
He's been guarding you for your safety.
- You have enemies. - What enemies?
- Zapata, Pancho Villa. - I don't understand.
But don't worry, Huerta loves you. He will protect you.
You must agree, here you've been safe.
Why doesn't he give me safe conduct to the port?
- When is he going to let me see him? - Tonight.
- He asked me to take you to him now. - Good. Good, good.
I don't want to keep him waiting. We mustn't keep him waiting.
Come on.
I'll be with you in a minute.
It's going to be all right.
It stopped.
Where are they? What's keeping them?
- We'll be late for the reception. SOLDIER: There they come.
CAPTAIN: Will you step out, my president?
Is Huerta here?
Where is he?
Where, where is...? What is...?
What you do is wrong. Wrong, I say.
[SIREN WAILS]
No, you can't do this. I tell you, because, because...
No!
[GUNSHOT]
Come on, come on, I'm late.
You were seen talking to an officer of Huerta's army.
We were ambushed. We know that now. What have you got to say for yourself?
He was my brother-in-law. They brought me a message from my wife.
- How did he know where to find you? - I sent word...
And we were ambushed.
- Shoot him. ZAPATA: Wait.
Look behind you.
Two hundred and forty-four fighting men.
We planned a surprise. Huerta was ready for us!
When they killed Madero, we had to begin again.
We lost many men, and there was a reason.
But this was useless.
Two hundred and forty-four good farmers...
...your relatives, with victory in their mouths, will never chew it.
Now you see why we have hard discipline.
You told your wife where we would be, and what?
Shoot him.
Thirty-two deserters. They want to come over to us.
It's easy to come over to us now that we're winning, isn't it?
Take care of them.
Go on.
Hexed.
I think I'll get some sleep.
Putting it off?
No.
PABLO: You're looking tired, Emiliano.
You met with the enemy. I have witnesses.
You don't need witnesses, just ask me.
It's true. I met with Madero before he was killed.
- You met him many times. - Many times...
Even after he signed orders to destroy us.
At the end, Madero wasn't himself.
He tried to hold Huerta in check, and Huerta killed him!
He was a good man, Emiliano.
Wanted to build houses, plant fields.
If we could begin to build even while we're burning...
If we could plant while we destroy...
[GUNSHOTS]
- You deserted our cause. - No!
Our cause was land, not a thought.
The corn-planted earth to feed the families.
Liberty, not a word...
...but a man sitting safely in front of his home in the evening.
Peace, not a dream!
Time for rest, kindness.
A question beats in my head:
Can a good thing come from a bad act?
Can peace come from so much killing?
Can kindness finally come from so much violence?
Can a man whose thoughts were born in anger and hatred...
...can such a man lead the peace?
Can he govern in peace? I don't know.
You must have thought about it, Emiliano. Do you know?
Do you know?
[GUNSHOTS]
Two hundred and forty-four of our men were killed this morning.
We planned to surprise the enemy. They surprised us.
PABLO: Emiliano.
We've been friends since we guarded the corn.
You know our rule against consorting with the enemy.
Yes, my general.
- And you ignored it. - Yes, my general!
- Shall I call the squad? - Emiliano, not strangers.
Do it yourself. Do it yourself.
Message from General Villa. Important.
General Zapata's busy.
[GUNSHOT]
General Zapata will see you now.
Why aren't you eating?
Tell me, why is he a general at all? What's he got from it?
More.
Look at you. Look at that dress.
Is this a general's house?
Pancho Villa knows what to do with his opportunities.
Look how he dresses. Don't argue with me.
- More meat? - More everything.
I know what I'm talking about.
It's a business opportunity, and he's not taking advantage of it.
He could take half the state, and everyone would respect him for it...
...and he won't touch it. I give up on him.
Never had any faith in him!
[HORSES GALLOPING]
ESPEJO: What's that? Do you hear horses?
JOSEFA: Are you hurt? - No.
Sentry.
- How'd you get through the lines? - There are no lines.
Huerta's defeated.
If he's in Mexico City, I'll see him there.
Congratulations, my son.
- Are you sick? - No.
I'm tired.
Something's wrong with you.
No, nothing's wrong.
We've won. I just need sleep.
Right this way, gentlemen.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[MARCHING BAND PLAYS]
- Zapata! - Look, look, Huerta.
PANCHO VILLA: Zapata.
Let's get this over with. Here, sit down.
ZAPATA: No. - Sit there.
ZAPATA: No. - Sit down. Sit down!
[MEN CHEERING]
I'll stand guard now. What are they doing?
GUARD: Pancho Villa's still talking, deciding the fate of Mexico.
Let them take their time. It's important.
- Forgive me, but it's past 3. - You're right, we should be asleep.
- We have a great deal to discuss. PANCHO VILLA: What?
- Political matters. - Ah...
I ate too much.
I haven't anything to discuss. I've made up my mind.
I'm going home.
I have a nice ranch now. I'm going to be president of that ranch.
In the morning, I'll hear roosters instead of bugles.
You know somebody took a shot at me this morning, someone I didn't know?
What do you propose?
I've been fighting too long, lost my appetite for it.
FERNANDO: You're going home? - I'm sick of it.
You beat one down and two more jump up.
- I used to think it would work. - What about Mexico?
I figured it out.
Only one man I can trust.
Can you read?
- Then you're the president. - No.
- Yes. - No.
Yes. Yes, you are. I just appointed you.
You sleep on it. You'll see I'm right.
There isn't anyone else.
Do I look like a president?
There's no one else.
Acting on the report that there have been gatherings of disgruntled officers...
...Chavez, on your orders, moved in with a troop of cavalry after nightfall.
The names of the deceased officers, my president.
- General, I am not president. - General.
- All killed? - All.
- Telegraph congratulations to Chavez. - Yes, sir.
FERNANDO: Next.
SECRETARY: A delegation from the state of Morelos with a petition.
I know these men.
Carlito, how are you? Pepe, you got skinny.
Well, what can I do for you?
Huh?
What is it?
Lazaro?
What's wrong?
Well...
We have a complaint against your brother.
My brother?
Your brother moved into the hacienda de Ayala.
- And? PEPE: He took land you distributed.
MAN: He's living there. PEPE: He put us out.
MAN: He killed a man who wouldn't go.
- Carlito, is this true? MEN: It's true.
Well...
All right.
- When I get time, I'll look into it. HERNANDEZ: These men haven't got time.
ZAPATA: Huh?
- These men haven't got time. - Well, I just...
One minute.
They plowed the land, and got it half-sowed, and they haven't got time.
- Your brother... - My brother is a general!
And he became one, fighting and killing many of your enemies.
And don't you forget it.
I'm one of you, and you can trust me.
Since you are, you know the land can't wait.
The furrows are open, the seed's not planted, and stomachs can't wait.
What's your name?
Hernandez.
- What is it? - Hernandez.
- H-E-R-N-A... - I have it.
- Where are you going? - I'm going home.
So you're throwing it away.
Leave tonight, your enemies will be here tomorrow, in this room.
They'll hunt you down till you get your rest in the sun.
- Leave now, you won't live long. - I won't anyway.
In the name of all we fought for, don't go!
In the name of all we fought for, I'm going.
- I won't go with you. - I don't expect you to.
Now I know you. No fields, no home.
No wife, no woman. No friends, no love.
You'll only destroy, that is your love.
And I will tell you what you will do. You will go to Obregón or Carranza.
And you will never change.
Come on.
Brother, be careful what you say to me.
Did you take the land away from these people?
I took what I wanted.
- Mano... - I took their wives too.
What kind of animal are you?
I'm a man, not a freak like my brother!
Get out!
I fought as long and as hard as you. Every day you fought, I fought!
I'm a general. Look. Look! Here's my pay, a little dust.
I can't even buy a bottle of tequila.
We beat Diaz. He's living in a palace in Paris.
We beat Huerta. He's rich in the United States.
I have to beg pennies from people who never fired a gun!
I'm a general! I'm gonna act like one!
And don't you or anybody else try to stop me.
Chula!
So?
This land is yours. But you must protect it.
It won't be yours long if you don't protect it.
If necessary, with your lives, and your children with their lives.
Don't discount your enemies. They will be back.
And if your house is burned, build it again.
If your corn is destroyed, replant. If your children die, bear more.
If they drive you out of the valley, live on the mountain, but live.
You always look for leaders, strong men without faults.
There aren't any. There are only men like yourselves.
They change. They desert. They die.
There are no leaders but yourselves.
A strong people is the only lasting strength.
[GUNSHOT]
Emiliano!
ZAPATA: Mano!
MAN: What he said was true. He fought every day we fought.
ZAPATA: He was a general. MAN: We will bury him as a general.
No.
He didn't die in battle. I'll take him home with me.
PRESIDENT: Pancho Villa's in the North. There's no trouble with him.
But Zapata, what about Zapata?
Sir, how could you fight an enemy you can't see?
You're looking for an army to fight. There is no army.
Every man, woman and child in Morelos is Zapata's army.
There's only one thing to do. Wipe them out. All of them.
Excuse me, sir, we can't find anybody to wipe out.
We go there, the corn is growing, a fire in the hearth, and no one.
We burn the house, we destroy the corn.
We go back, there are new shelter, the corn is growing again.
They're like a different race. They're not afraid of anything.
This is not a man we're discussing. It's an idea, and it's spreading.
FERNANDO: It's a man!
Cut off the head of the snake and the body will die.
Ideas are harder to kill than snakes. How do you kill an idea?
Kill Zapata, your problem's solved.
[WHISTLING]
MAN 1: Let us through. Let us through!
MAN 2: Let us through. MAN 1: Let me by!
- Well? HERNANDEZ: We saw the supplies.
The guns are new, never fired. Machine guns too.
Shh.
- Ammunition? - A mountain of it.
- Have you seen it? - Yes.
That would give us a year. And in a year, we'd be ready for anything.
- Why does he want to join us? HERNANDEZ: Was stripped of his rank.
RIDER: He wants revenge.
ZAPATA: And now he's a colonel with a first-class regiment?
HERNANDEZ: Sounds like a trap.
- But it's strange enough to be true. - Yes.
What proof did he give you of his good faith?
He executed Juan Calsavo, chief of police.
Further proof he leads to you.
All right. All right.
Be here at sunset ready to ride, and I'll think out some more proofs.
- What has happened? ZAPATA: Nothing.
- Emiliano, I want to know. - What?
- What is happening? - Are the hens beginning to crow?
Every night I have the same thought. My heart says to me:
"Now for the first time, you have your husband alone...
...without fighting, running, hiding."
But it also says soon you will be dead, and I have never known you in peace.
Josefa, I'm trying to make a plan.
- We're getting the ammunition we need. JOSEFA: I don't want to hear!
Josefa.
Soon you will be gone, and a stranger will come to tell me you're dead.
That is what is left for me. That is what is left for me.
A federal colonel is giving me his regiment and all his equipment...
- It's a trick. - I always suspect a trick.
- They'll kill you. - I haven't decided.
- Don't go. - We need the ammunition!
- I have a feeling. Don't go! - Enough! I will make up my mind.
- You want to die? - I must do what is needed.
- Do you want to die? - Josefa, that's enough!
I will make up my mind.
I must do what is needed.
I will be all right.
Look how the little clouds go across the face of the moon.
The moon is racing.
Time's racing too.
Yes.
It reminds me, you've made up your mind.
Shh.
I don't speak for myself now...
...but if anything happens to you, what will become of these people?
- What will they have left? - Themselves.
With all the fighting and the death, what has really changed?
They've changed.
That's how things really change. Slowly, through people.
They don't need me anymore.
- They have to be led. - Yes, but by each other.
A strong man makes a weak people.
Strong people don't need a strong man.
Here.
Well?
MESSENGER: The town is destroyed, its garrison dead.
ZAPATA: You saw it? - The garrison is destroyed!
- And the supplies? - I saw them stacked and waiting.
What do you think?
He's passed every test.
Paco.
When will you go?
ZAPATA: Now.
We leave tonight. It's safer by night.
Chamaco.
Suppose something happened to me?
We'll get along.
Someday we'll go down into the valleys again.
Until then, we know how to survive.
Don't, don't!
Emiliano, no. Don't go, I tell you.
Emiliano, don't. Don't!
Emiliano!
Emiliano Zapata.
Jesus Gaujardo.
- Where did you find him? - He's yours.
- Where have you been? - A federal officer had him.
Got old.
[BLANCO NEIGHS]
Get that horse! Shoot him!
[PRAYS IN SPANISH]
- The horse got away. - The horse?
Well, these people are very superstitious.
They must have been very afraid of him. They shot him to ribbons.
The tiger is dead.
- Well, that's the end of that. - I don't know.
Sometimes a dead man can be a terrible enemy.
Expose his body in the plaza so they can see it.
So they can all see that he's dead.
Who are they fooling? Shot up that way, could be anybody.
- He fooled them again. - You sure?
I fought with him all these years. They think they can fool me?
- They can't kill him. - They never will.
- Can you catch a river, kill the wind? - He's not a river, he's a man!
- And still they can't kill him. - Then where is he?
He's in the mountains.
You couldn't find him now.
But if we ever need him again, he'll be back.
Yes.
He's in the mountains.