From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article refers to the 1998 film. The last Zorro story written by the character's creator, Johnston McCulley, originated this title.

The Mask of Zorro
Directed by	Martin Campbell
Produced by	Doug Claybourne David Foster
Written by	John Eskow Ted Elliott Terry Rossio
Starring	Antonio Banderas Anthony Hopkins Catherine Zeta-Jones Stuart Wilson
Music by	James Horner
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	July 17, 1998
Running time	136 min
Language	English
Budget	$65 million
Followed by	The Legend of Zorro
IMDb profile

The Mask of Zorro (1998) is an American action film directed by Martin Campbell, and stars Antonio Banderas with Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stuart Wilson. In over 80 past cinematic productions concerning the fictional nobleman, Banderas was the first Spanish actor to ever portray Zorro, although his character is not Spanish but a Mexican-born Californian. Hopkins plays the traditional Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro who was popularized by Guy Williams.

The movie was a critical success. The Legend of Zorro, a sequel also starring Banderas, Zeta-Jones and directed by Campbell, was released in 2005. This epic was filmed in Mexico and Orlando, Florida.^{[citation needed]}

In 1820, the Mexican Army is on the verge of liberating its country from Spanish colonial rule. In the area of present-day California, the cruel and ruthless Spanish Governor Don Rafael Montero (Wilson) is about to be overthrown by the advancing Mexican Army. In a last ditch effort to trap his arch-nemesis, the masked swordsman Zorro, Montero lays a trap by condemning three innocent men to death. The trap is thwarted with assistance from the local peasant population, who see Zorro as their champion. Particularly helpful were two orphan brothers, Joaquin and Alejandro Murrieta. Zorro then lands in front of Montero and cuts a "Z" into his neck as a reminder to never return to California. Calling his faithful black stallion, Tornado, Zorro rides up into the sunset and waves his sword into the sky in front of the cheering populace.

However, Montero is able to surmise that Zorro is really Diego De la Vega (Hopkins), a Spanish noble living in California whom the governor thought to be his ally. Montero attempts to arrest him at his home later that evening, and proves Diego is Zorro by finding and aggravating a wound inflicted on Zorro in the attempt to trap him. In the ensuing fight, Diego's wife, Esperanza, is killed, his house is burned and his infant daughter, Elena, is taken to Spain by Montero to be raised as his own.

Diego remains imprisoned for the next twenty years; Montero returns to California and comes to the prison looking for him, but does not recognize him. He seizes an opportunity to escape, intent on killing Montero at the first possible chance, but retreats when he sees Montero has brought with him Elena (Zeta-Jones), now a beautiful young lady. She arrives on the shores of California for what she believes is the first time and is presented with a bouquet of local flowers. She recognises the scent and asks for the name of the flowers. One of the Dons tells her it is romagna, but that they only grow in California. Later, while walking in a local market, Elena meets a woman who claims to have been her nanny and that she used to hang flowers on her crib. Elena tells her that she must be mistaken, but the elderly woman disagrees, saying that she could never forget the daughter of Esperanza and Diego De la Vega.

Diego soon encounters a now-grown Alejandro Murrieta (Banderas), who has grown up to be a drunken, clumsy bandit, bitter over the recent murder of his brother by a sadistic United States Army Captain, Capt. Harrison Love. He recruits and trains him to become his successor. After becoming a better swordsman, Alejandro, dressed in a make-shift Zorro costume, goes out to steal a black stallion that resembles the original Zorro's horse, Tornado. On his way to the inn where the horse is stabled, Alejandro runs in to Elena and is struck by her beauty. After sucessfully stealing the horse, and blowing up most of the inn with gunpowder in the process, Alejandro hides in a local church, where the priest, who was once the guardian of Joaquin and Alejandro Murrieta, joyfully embraces his 'old friend' Zorro. Alejandro hides in the confessional, where Elena is waiting to speak to the priest. Alejandro pretends to take her confession, while really learning more about her. He then escapes through the roof and rides back to Zorro's lair on his stolen black stallion. Diego scolds Alejandro for taking the horse; he claims that Zorro was a servant of the people, not a thief. Diego tells Alejandro that, to enter Montero's world, he must have charm, be a gentleman and gain Montero's trust. They both agree that this project "is going to take a lot of work."

Posing as a visiting Spanish nobleman (dressed like a butterfly, in Alejando's derisive words), Alejandro infiltrates Montero's inner circle. He learns that Montero has been operating a secret gold mine known as El Dorado with the aid of Love, using peasants and petty criminals as slave labor. His goal is to buy California from Mexico (using gold that really already belongs to Mexico) and establish himself as California's leader.

Diego then passes the mask of Zorro (along with the rest of the costume) to Alejandro and sends him to Montero's mansion to steal the map leading to the gold mine. At the mansion, Zorro succeeds in stealing the map and also duels and fights off Montero, Love, and all of the guards. As he escapes, he is confronted by Elena, who attempts to retrieve the map belonging to her "father." They engage in a sword fight, and Elena shows her own skill with a sword. She disarms Zorro and forces him back. But Zorro manages to retrieve Elena's own sword and cuts her dress, which sufficiently distracts her from further attempts at assault. Zorro is then pursued by Montero's soldiers as he makes his escape, but he knocks all the soldiers off their horses and escapes on his horse, the new Tornado.

Together, Diego and Alejandro use the stolen map to locate the mine and save those working there before Montero and Captain Love can "destroy all the evidence". However, De la Vega says that he will not be going with Alejandro, he has other business to finish. Alejandro realises that Elena is De la Vega's daughter and that he intends to kill Montero in revenge.

While Alejandro, as Zorro, sets off to save the mine workers, De la Vega heads to Don Montero's mansion to confront his old nemesis. At last, Montero recognises De la Vega and realises the identity of the new Zorro. Montero believes that De la Vega has come to punish him for the illegal mine, but his confident manner fades when De La Vega, with a sword to Montero's neck, orders him to call for Elena. Elena comes down to see her 'father' apparently being held hostage by a man she has only known as a servant. Elena recognises the name Diego De la Vega and asks the two men what flowers used to hang on her crib. Montero then holds a gun to De La Vega's head and says he would shoot him even in front of his own daughter, forcing De la Vega to stand down. As he is lead away by guards, Diego turns to Elena and tells her that the flowers were romagna. This convinces Elena that she is actually his daughter rather than Montero's, and she helps him escape. They then head to the mine to assist Zorro.

At the mine Zorro encounters Captain Love and Monterro as they are trying to transfer the gold. Love goes after Alejandro and Monterro is confronted by De La Vega. Elena arrives and Diego tries to make Raphael admit he isn't her real father. Monterro threatens Elena with a gun to make De La Vega back off. In the end, Zorro impales Love with the Captain's own sword while Diego sends Montero off a cliff, dragged by a moving cart of gold, which crushes the unexpecting Love. Elena frees the captive workers before explosives set by Love to wipe out the evidence of the mine can go off. Zorro helps Elena free the slaves just as the mine is destroyed by a spectacular explosion. Diego dies of a gunshot injury received from Montero during the battle and is given a grand funeral. Alejandro and Elena marry and have a son whom they name Joaquin, in honor of Alejandro's brother. Zorro has returned as the defender of the People of California.

The Mask of Zorro, like its sequel The Legend of Zorro, weaves several historical figures and incidents into its narrative. The younger Zorro is a fictional brother of Joaquin Murrieta, a Mexican outlaw killed by California State Ranger Harry Love, portrayed here as U.S. Army Captain "Harrison Love", in 1853. (The film takes place about a decade earlier.) Similarly, there is a character called Three Fingered Jack although the real person was a Mexican named Manuel Garcia rather than an Anglo-American. The opening sequence is set during the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, and a war between the United States and Mexico is alluded to. Too early to be the Mexican-American War of 1846-8, this may refer to the Republic of Texas' continual conflicts with Mexico.

Montero's plan for an independent "Republic of California" (colored pink) is unveiled. Murrieta, disguised as a wealthy Spaniard, stands apart from the table.

Alejandro tells Montero that he came to Mexico via Paris, Lisbon, and San Francisco, though in 1841, San Francisco was still Yerba Buena. (The name change didn't occur until January 1847.) An original ending on the DVD includes an appearance by Antonio López de Santa Anna, who appears familiar with the Zorro legend, and Montero's plot concerning Californian gold (and its climactic concealment) foreshadows the California Gold Rush.

Diego uses the name Bernardo when posing as the new Zorro's servant. In numerous Zorro books, Diego had a mute servant (later re-imagined in Isabel Allende's Zorro: A Novel as an equal) named Bernardo. Both Zorros conceal their costume under a priest's robes, a tactic used in numerous Zorro-related works, including The Mask's sequel. Diego's hacienda has a secret passage in a walk-in fireplace, which has also appeared in previous films. Esperanza de la Vega, Diego's wife, is not Lolita Pulido, the first woman he married, though Esperanza is alluded to in the epilogue of Allende's novel. Allende would continue the Campbell-directed Zorro films' practice of portraying historical figures interacting with fictional protagonists in her novel.

The Zorro silhouette that bookends the film, as well as the action-packed opening scene, recall popular James Bond film structures. (Mask director Campbell had directed 1995's GoldenEye, the first Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan, and would later direct 2006's Casino Royale, which did the same for Daniel Craig; Campbell performed a similar service for Antonio Banderas in this film.)

• The Mask of Zorro (1998) at the Internet Movie Database