The Caballero Revisited: Postmodernity in The Cisco Kid, The Mask of Zorro, and Shrek II
Catherine Leen
National University of Ireland, Maynooth

* * *

Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro (1998) is in some respects indebted to the action hero who is the protagonist of the director's earlier film, the Bond adventure Goldeneye. Both are suave, quick-witted, athletic ladies' men who engage in dramatic escapades. Campbell is keenly aware of the history of the Zorro character, however, and is successful in both paying tribute to it and making it relevant to contemporary audiences. Like the Cisco Kid, Zorro first appeared as a literary character, in Johnston Campbell's 1919 adventure story The Curse of Capistrano. The swashbuckling nobleman is almost universally believed to be Mexican, unless the theory advanced by The Honourable Society of the Irish Brigade—that Zorro was an Irish nobleman, William Lamport, who changed his name to Guillén Lombardo when he moved to Mexico to defend the rights of the poor while engaging in "steamy affairs" with Spanish noblewomen—is correct!⁸ The Zorro character was initially played by Douglas Fairbanks in the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro, which was remade in the 1940s with Tyrone Power in the lead role. Zorro has appeared in countless TV series and films and even in an animated series entitled The New Adventures of Zorro.

Like the Cisco Kid, Zorro is a social bandit who empathizes deeply with the suffering of the marginalized and constantly battles against cruel colonialist rulers in Mexico. The reaction to the film was overwhelmingly positive upon its release, with special praise reserved for Anthony Hopkins as Zorro and Antonio Banderas as his protégé and successor. People Weekly described it as "a stylish if old-fashioned swashbuckler best seen on a Saturday night with a giant tub of popcorn."⁹ Richard Schickel praises the film's many dueling scenes and humor, as well as its social awareness: "When cold steel is their weapon of choice, men can actually exchange snappy dialogue while engaging in mortal combat. Better still, when heroism and villainy go at it mano a mano, a certain clearly identifiable humanity as well as a certain cinematic grace and fluidity is imparted to their conflicts."¹⁰ Newsweek's reviewer also greeted the film enthusiastically, making special mention of its neat mixture of "parody and panache."¹¹

Although Schickel is the only reviewer to note the film's social content, from the opening titles it is clear that this is a central concern of the film, as the historical context is explained before the establishing shot:

In 1821, Spain's three hundred year domination of Mexico was about to come to an end. A people's rebellion, led by General Santa Ana, spread from the arid mountains of the North to the rich and fertile Southern province known as California. Peasants gathered in the street, calling for the blood of the last Spanish governor, Don Rafael Montero. Although under orders to return to Spain, Montero refused to relinquish power without one final reckoning.

In a sequence that neatly foreshadows the destiny of the protagonist, Montero's final standoff is seen largely though the eyes of two orphaned brothers, Alejandro and Joaquín Murrieta, who hide in a wagon near the town square. Alejandro tears two slits in the canvas of the wagon so that his eyes are framed by the fabric as they will later be framed by Zorro's mask. The youths are sent on their way by the wagon's owner but do not return to the mission where they live, preferring instead to watch the action from a vantage point above the city. Montero is jeered by the crowds as he appears on the balcony of a mansion. His crony Don Luiz begs him to leave as Santa Ana's troops are fast nearing the town. Montero divides the land held by the Spanish crown between Don Luiz and the other dons of California, then orders the square to be cleared of children in preparation for the shooting of three peasants drawn at random from the crowd. His plan to execute them is thwarted by Zorro, who moves through the crowd disguised as a priest before he overpowers the firing squad with a skillful use of his bullwhip. Zorro then escapes the shots of other soldiers through a mixture of his own agility and the help of the Murrieta brothers, who send a large statue of an angel crashing down on a group of soldiers about to kill the hero. In gratitude, he presents Joaquín with an amulet before confronting Montero on his balcony. Zorro is disgusted by Montero's willingness to kill three innocent men just to capture him and carves his initials on Montero's neck with his sword, saying, "Three men, three cuts, and a small reminder of Mexico, Rafael, to remind you not to return."

After this, Zorro escapes to his home, where his wife Esperanza and infant daughter Elena await his return. He tells his daughter a fairy tale based on his adventures, then assures his wife that his adventures are at an end, as the departure of the Spanish means that the people no longer need Zorro's protection. Their embrace is interrupted by the arrival of Montero and his men. Montero confirms that the nobleman Diego de la Vega is Zorro by revealing his wounded arm and accuses him of being a traitor to his country and his class. In the struggle to capture Zorro, Esperanza is accidentally killed by Montero's henchman. Montero, who has long harbored an unrequited love for Esperanza, is outraged and kills the hapless soldier. Zorro is overpowered and taken prisoner. His last view of his home is to see it destroyed by fire while Montero steals his child.

After this sequence, which is revealed to be a flashback from twenty years before, the camera cuts to the present day. The Murrieta brothers have become bandits who pose as the prisoners of a bounty hunter, a North American called Three-Fingered Jack, in order to catch a troop of Mexican soldiers unaware and steal their strongbox. As the trio flees with its booty, a group of North American soldiers, led by Captain Harrison Love, detains them. Jack and Joaquín are injured in their attempts to escape, and Joaquín shoots himself before being decapitated by Love. Alejandro watches, horrified, then goes to drown his sorrows in a cantina. Meanwhile, Montero returns to Mexico after spending two decades in Spain. His first stop is the prison where he believes Zorro may still be detained. In the confusion that follows his visit, Zorro escapes, although an unsuspecting Montero believes him dead. The following day, Montero is welcomed back to California by the dons and by a rather unenthusiastic crowd of Mexicans. Montero turns to them, acknowledging that they are not really happy to see him return and outlining the history of their repression by a succession of leaders: "Why should you care about any of your leaders, past or present? What did they ever do for you? The Spanish oppressed you, the Mexicans ignored you and the dons, well, the dons, the dons . . . The dons seem content merely to cheat and lie to you. In fact I put it to you, who in your entire history has ever helped you?"

At this, a friar immediately responds by saying that Zorro fought for the people, an answer that prompts enthusiastic chanting of Zorro's name by the crowd. Zorro is, in fact, in the crowd with the intention of killing Montero, but he stops when Elena appears by Montero's side. In the following sequence, Alejandro drinks heavily in a cantina and is about to trade his amulet for more drink. Zorro recognizes the piece and chides Alejandro for throwing away something so precious. He then prevents him in his drunken state from attacking Love, who appears across the square. Zorro pledges to train Alejandro to enable him to properly avenge his brother's death. In turn, he will help Zorro thwart Montero's plan for California. There follows a lengthy training regime for Alejandro, who interrupts it to steal a magnificent Andalusian stallion from the Mexican soldiers. During this escapade, he meets Elena for the first time, and there is an immediate attraction between them. When Alejandro, dressed as Zorro, barely escapes the garrison with the horse, he is forced to hide in a confessional to avoid Love but eventually returns to Zorro's hideout with his horse.

On his arrival, he is chided by Zorro for appropriating the Zorro name before he is ready, but they decide that the best strategy is for Alejandro, in the guise of a Spanish nobleman, Don Alejandro del Castillo, to ingratiate himself with Montero at a ball held by the latter. Alejandro performs the deception with aplomb, even finding time to perform a sensual dance with Elena. He learns during the evening that Montero plans to deceive Santa Ana into selling him California by paying him with his own gold. The following day, Alejandro and the other dons visit the mine, where legions of the disappeared, including children, toil in appalling conditions. After this visit, Love insists on speaking with Alejandro, while Elena chats with Don Diego, who she believes is the servant of Don Alejandro, and tells him that her mother died in childbirth. During their simultaneous meeting, Love shows Alejandro his brother's preserved head, telling him that he suspects his true identity. Meanwhile, Elena meets her former nanny, who casts further doubt on Elena's history and parentage by saying that her father is Don Diego de la Vega. On Alejandro's return from his meeting with Love, he and Don Diego decide to find anything they can in Montero's house that will help them foil his plans. As Montero and Don Luiz share a toast to the confirmation of their deal with Santa Ana, an alarm sounds and they see a huge burning "Z" on the grounds of the mansion. Alejandro, who is already inside the mansion, steals a map that shows the way to the mine. Montero and Love decide to destroy the mine, along with the workers, in order to hide the evidence of their treachery. Love notices that the map is missing and fights Alejandro with the aid of Montero. Alejandro escapes, only to meet Elena in the stable and to engage in a duel with her, which ends with him playfully wielding his sword so that her dress falls to her ankles. They kiss briefly and he disappears. Alejandro defeats a troop of Mexican soldiers through ingenious stunt riding and escapes. Don Diego is pleased at Alejandro's achievements but refuses to accompany him to save the mine, as his priority is to get his daughter back.

At the mansion, Montero and Love have a heated discussion, with Montero voicing his concerns about a possible battle with Santa Ana if their plot is discovered. At this, Don Diego appears and Montero recognizes him for who he is. After a prolonged fight, Don Diego overpowers Montero and demands to see Elena. At this point, Elena's doubts about her true identity are confirmed, but she cannot bear to allow Diego to kill Montero, so he lets him go and is imprisoned once again. Alejandro visits the mine disguised as a priest and thwarts Love's plans to explode it. Meanwhile, Montero arrives, as does Don Diego, who has been freed by Elena, and they are soon locked in a duel. As the two pairs of adversaries continue to fight, the mine catches fire. Elena opens the cages where the workers have been imprisoned. Alejandro fatally wounds Love, while Montero is dragged to his death by a runaway horse. Alejandro helps Elena free the remaining workers. Don Diego has also been fatally wounded and dies having reconciled himself with Elena and blessed the nascent relationship between her and Alejandro. The final scene sees Alejandro and Elena some time later in their home with their infant son in a sequence that echoes Don Diego's storytelling to Elena at the start of the film.

In a rather sardonic commentary on the film, reviewer Richard Schickel reflects on the decision to include not one but two Zorros in the story:

Generous almost to a fault, the movie offers us not one but two Zorros. There's an aging one, Don Diego (played with impeccable elegance by Anthony Hopkins), making a comeback after suffering a long imprisonment, to fight a resurgence of tyranny in old, Spanish-controlled California. In the process, he recruits a young nimbler apprentice, Alejandro (portrayed by Antonio Banderas), who's not afraid of acting a little dumb until his mentor smartens him up, cools his ardent blood and teaches him the skills that make him worthy of wearing the black mask of the gallant outlaw.¹²

Certainly, the narrative device of introducing two versions of the same character is ingenious, for the original Zorro both embodies the legend of the swashbuckling hero and imparts his skills to his protégé. The discrepancy between the suave original Zorro and the initially unskilled, rustic pretender to his role is the source of much of the comedy in the film. The fact that Alejandro is the brother of the deceased Joaquín Murrieta has a much deeper sociohistorical significance, however. As María Herrera-Sobek persuasively argues in her essay "Joaquín Murrieta, mito, leyenda e historia," Murrieta is an important example of the social bandit whose exploits have been celebrated in border corridos for generations.¹³ She notes that Murrieta fits the "noble bandit" model outlined by Eric Hobsbawn in his seminal work Bandits because he is a victim of injustice who seeks to avenge the wrongs done to him—in the case of the ballad tradition, the murder of his brother and his wife. He is also a revered member of his community who seeks to gain justice for his people and who is practically invulnerable, thanks to a mixture of skill and cunning. While the facts of Alejandro's case differ somewhat from those of the ballad tradition, the many references to his dead brother and his burgeoning desire to end the oppression of the Mexican people link him strongly to the legend. Another aspect of the film that self-consciously evokes the Murrieta legend is the identity of Alejandro's adversary, who, as in the ballads, is a North American captain named Harry Love. Herrera-Sobek concludes that Murrieta has become "a metaphor that represents the frustration and courage of an oppressed people who seek liberation and justice."¹⁴ The linking of the new incarnation of Zorro to a legendary Mexican defender of the people reclaims the Zorro myth for a Mexican and Chicano audience and gives it an added authenticity and resonance. The appearance of two Zorros in the film has a further significance in that it refers back to Fairbanks's portrayal of both Zorro and his son Don Q in Don Q, Son of Zorro (1925). In that film, Zorro and Don Q appear together in several scenes, which was quite an innovation at the time.¹⁵