The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Anthony Hopkins: Don Diego de la Vega, Zorro

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Don Diego de la Vega : There is a saying, a very old saying: when the pupil is ready the master will appear.

• Don Diego de la Vega : [Alejandro draws his sword]  Do you know how to use that thing?

  Alejandro Murrieta : Yeah. The pointy end goes into the other man.

  Don Diego de la Vega : [sighs]  This is going to take a lot of work.

• Alejandro Murrieta : Look at me, I look like a butterfly. This is the most stupid thing I've ever done.

  Don Diego de la Vega : I doubt that.

• Alejandro Murrieta : I miss my brother, sir.

  Don Diego de la Vega : Your brother is dead. We lose the ones we love, we cannot change it. Put it aside.

  Alejandro Murrieta : How? How can I do what is needed, when all I feel is... hate.

  Don Diego de la Vega : [holds up black mask]  You hide it, with this.

• Don Rafael Montero : [on Esperanza]  I would never have let any harm come to her...

  Don Diego de la Vega : She was never yours to protect.

• Don Diego de la Vega : You have passion, Alejandro, and your skill is growing. But to enter Montero's world, I must give you something which is completely beyond your reach.

  Alejandro Murrieta : Ah, yes? And what is that?

  Don Diego de la Vega : Charm.

  Alejandro Murrieta : Charm? And what is that?

  Don Diego de la Vega : Convince Montero that you're a gentleman of stature, and he will let you into his circle.

  Alejandro Murrieta : Me, a gentleman?... This is going to take a lot of work.

  Don Diego de la Vega : Yes.

• Don Diego de la Vega : [after beating Alejandro in a training session]  Lesson number one: never attack in anger. Lesson number two...

  [smells Alejandro, who is very dirty] 

  Don Diego de la Vega : Come with me.

  Alejandro Murrieta : [Don Diego de la Vega leaves; Alejandro sniffs his own underarm]  What?

  [later, as he washes in a pool] 

  Alejandro Murrieta : So what is lesson number three?

  Don Diego de la Vega : To get to lesson number four.

• Don Diego de la Vega : This is called a training circle, a master's wheel. This circle will be your world, your whole life. Until I tell you otherwise, there is nothing outside of it.

  Alejandro Murrieta : Capitan Love is...

  Don Diego de la Vega : There is NOTHING outside of it. Captain Love does not exist until I say he exists. As your skill with the sword improves, you will progress to a smaller circle. With each new circle, your world contracts, bringing you that much closer to your adversary, that much closer to retribution.

  Alejandro Murrieta : I like that part.

• Don Diego de la Vega : I gave my life to them, and in return I lost everything. My wife was murdered before my eyes, and my child was stolen to be raised by my mortal enemy.

  Alejandro Murrieta : Montero? Elena... she's your daughter.

  Don Diego de la Vega : Yes, she was.

  Alejandro Murrieta : So... you will simply take your revenge.

  Don Diego de la Vega : No, I will take my daughter. And don't pretend she means nothing to you.

  Alejandro Murrieta : She does. But you taught me to see beyond personal feelings, remember? Was that all a lie?

  Don Diego de la Vega : You're too young to understand.

  Alejandro Murrieta : To understand what? Betrayal? All the work, all the training, all the wise words, for *what*? To smile in the face of my brother's killer while you make your own plans?

  Don Diego de la Vega : Alejandro, I taught you everything you needed to survive. Now, I must look to my own heart. Elena is all I have left, I'm not going to lose her again.

  Alejandro Murrieta : What about California? What about the people?

  Don Diego de la Vega : They still have Zorro.

• Alejandro Murrieta : I would have killed him.

  Don Diego de la Vega : No, not today. He is trained to kill. You seem trained to drink. Oh, yes, my friend, you would have fought very bravely, and died very quickly. Who then would avenge your brother?

• Don Diego de la Vega : You cannot imagine, Rafael, how I have dreamed of this moment, night and day, twenty long years.

  Don Rafael Montero : Really? I haven't given you a second thought.

• Don Diego de la Vega : [telling a story to his baby daughter]  And suddenly lightning flashed and a mighty thunder shook the wasted land, and the evil king glared at the good prince and said...

  [sees Esperanza watching him] 

  Don Diego de la Vega : ... something very forgettable.

• Don Diego de la Vega : [When seeing his house on fire and trying to get out of the prison wagon]  ELENA! ELENA! ELENA!

  Don Diego de la Vega : [When seeing Rafael carrying his daughter]  Let me hold her.

  Don Diego de la Vega : [Rafael doesn't listen to him]  LET ME HOLD HER! RAFAEL!

  Don Rafael Montero : She has her mother's eyes.

  [And walks away] 

  Don Diego de la Vega : RAFAEL, YOU'LL NEVER BE RID OF ME! RAFAEL!

• Don Diego de la Vega : [to Elena as he lays dying]  The world is a very strange place... to have found you at last - only to lose you again.

  Elena : You will never lose me, Father.

• [at the ball] 

  Alejandro Murrieta : We will never get away with this.

  Don Diego de la Vega : Yes, we will. A nobleman is nothing but a man who says one thing and thinks another.

  Alejandro Murrieta : What if Montero realizes who you are?

  Don Diego de la Vega : Montero thinks of himself as a true nobleman. He will never look a servant in the eye.

• Esperanza de la Vega : [on Elena]  She loves to hear your stories.

  Don Diego de la Vega : It's only the sound of my voice. Soon she will have no time for them.

  Esperanza de la Vega : I never tire of them. Why should she?

• Don Diego de la Vega : Perhaps I can save you the trouble. Go on reach for it Captain!

  [Talking to Love] 

  Don Rafael Montero : [When being held at a swordpoint]  Who are you?

  Don Diego de la Vega : I've warned you long ago, Rafael. That you will never be rid of me.

  Don Rafael Montero : De la Vega.

  Don Diego de la Vega : Rafael.

  Don Rafael Montero : You were not the Zorro I saw last night? That was your master Don Alejandro.

  Don Diego de la Vega : Yes, but there are many who would proudly wear The Mask of Zorro.

  Don Rafael Montero : Either way there's a consequence, events have been set in motion that you cannot stop.

  Don Diego de la Vega : I'm not here to stop you.

• Alejandro : I've never lost a fight.

  Don Diego de la Vega : Except to a crippled old man just now.

• Don Diego de la Vega : You should not trade something like that for a mere glass of whiskey.

  Alejandro Murrieta : Why not? You think I could get two?

• [Don Diego has stopped a drunk and revenge-driven Alejandro from attacking Captain Love by defeating him in a sword fight] 

  Alejandro Murrieta : I could have killed him!

  Don Diego de la Vega : He is trained to kill. You seemed trained to drink.

• Esperanza de la Vega : Diego you promised me. No more nights waiting up, praying you'll come home alive.

  Don Diego de la Vega : The Spaniards are going home. Today is Zorro's last ride. From now on we'll grow old together with our five children.

  Esperanza de la Vega : Five?

  Don Diego de la Vega : Yeah. Is that enough?

• Don Diego de la Vega : You're drunk and you're angry and you're in no condition to fight a professional soldier.

• Alejandro Murrieta : I can't believe it. I never thought that one day I would be standing in the lair of the fox.. In the lair of Zorro.

  Don Diego de la Vega : This place was devoted to the training of Zorro.

  Alejandro Murrieta : Where were you all these years? I thought you were dead.

  Don Diego de la Vega : I was dead. And we will leave it at that.

• Don Diego de la Vega : Montero has come back.

  Alejandro Murrieta : Good. Then you can kill him.

  Don Diego de la Vega : No, there are complications. Too many complications for me to ignore.

  Alejandro Murrieta : What complications?

  [Don Diego does not answer] 

  Alejandro Murrieta : I can see we are not going to spend much time talking.

• Don Diego de la Vega : If you are ready, we will both tempt our fates.

• Don Diego de la Vega : You think stealing a horse and scratching marks in a wall makes you worthy enough to wear that mask?

• Don Diego de la Vega : You're a thief, Alejandro. A pitiful clown. Zorro was a servant of the people. He was not a seeker of fame like you. A buffoon. Zorro did what was needed.

  Alejandro Murrieta : And now he's needed again. I didn't ask for your help in the cantina, but I came here to learn how to fight like you. To have your strength, your courage. Now when I try to use them, you slap me down? Let me tell you something, I am tired of all your training, your lecturing! I am tired of waiting for you to tell me I am ready. I have my own scores to settle, a new life to find. I thought I could do it here. I was wrong.

  Don Diego de la Vega : Alejandro! En garde!

• Don Diego de la Vega : You are like your mother. Same eyes. Same mouth. Same spirit.