Original subtitles

This story is inspired by real events.

The people and events shown were created for artistic purposes.

Any similarity to reality is purely coincidental.

Previously.

Then I can trust you to acquiesce?

-I have your word? -Yes, gentlemen.

The famous Colonel Pancho Villa.

Fucking drunk.

I'll going to report you to President Madero

for letting the Colorados get away.

That's insubordination.

Aim!

What do we do with Villa now?

Let's wait for the trial.

In the name of President Madero, I order you to stop.

I need some files.

To cut these bars.

I wrote another letter to Madero, warning him of the possible revolt.

He never responded.

[gunshot]

Stop there!

[gunshot]

Welcome, General Villa.

I'm the Mayor of Camargo.

Did Governor Abraham González appoint you?

Yes, he did indeed.

So you don't support that cockroach Huerta?

No, not at all, General.

Well, send a telegram

to apprise Abraham González of the fact that I'm here, ready to shoot.

I regret to inform you, General,

that Mr. Abraham González was brought under arrest

by order of Huerta.

How? Where did they take him?

Well, find out.

So we can go find those sons of bitches.

[wolf howls]

[González] Why did they stop the train?

Where is General Rábago?

[group's leader] President Huerta's orders.

You know how it is.

You have to take me to Mexico City.

Have the train run over the body.

Bury the remains.

Then tell President Huerta this mission has been accomplished.

And I'm on my way to the next.

[owl hoots]

PANCHO VILLA CENTAUR OF THE NORTH

[Villa] Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States.

He did not recognize Huerta's administration and removed

Ambassador Wilson for backing those who had overthrown and murdered Madero.

Venustiano Carranza became Governor of Coahuila, and wrote the Guadalupe Plan,

putting him into conflict with the usurper Victoriano Huerta, the cockroach I hated.

That's why I was returning to Mexican territory with urgency.

Meanwhile, old Carranza leaned on an astute soldier and politician,

Álvaro Obregón, whom he appointed supreme commander.

Pascual Orozco, who felt undervalued by Carranza,

pledged his support for Huerta,

and in doing so, betrayed the Revolution with his army, the Colorados.

It hurts to fight one's former comrades, but such is the Revolution.

[horse neighs]

Look, sweetheart. A treat, eh?

Uh, no, thank you. We don't have money on us.

For her it only costs a smile, eh?

[laughs] How embarrassing.

-Here you go, ma'am. -Thank you.

[Lucita] Look.

Here.

Mmm.

What's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong?

Help! Help, please!

Help! I don't know what happened. She just fainted.

Help, please!

There are 100. Pure silver, Pancho.

The cowards left it behind.

Have we heard from Abraham González?

No. Someone must've told them and they ran like a bat outta hell.

They got off easy.

For now.

Hide that money well.

[Villa] Silvestre Terrazas.

What brought you here from Chihuahua?

General, I need to speak to you.

In private.

A united revolution is important.

We can't have each leader deciding on what moves to carry out,

or we'll be lost in anarchy.

That's the reason for the Guadalupe Plan sent by Venustiano Carranza.

You in Chihuahua, Carranza in Coahuila

and Álvaro Obregón in Sonora. He was appointed supreme commander.

I'm trying to understand.

But I don't like having an outsider showing up to lead my troops.

Someone like Obregón.

Hey. You're not going to read it?

Why? It is what it is, isn't it?

Just tell Carranza

that I will agree to anything in support of the Revolution,

but we won't accept any foreigner telling us what to do.

There are ballsy men here too.

General.

What's wrong with you? Have you seen a ghost?

An urgent message just arrived.

It's from Miss Lucita.

They killed our daughter. Huerta and the Revolution poisoned her.

[bell rings]

[bell continues ringing]

[Lucita sobs] My daughter.

Miracle of our love.

[sniffles] A comet strikes and you're left alone.

I'm sorry I wasn't there, Lucita.

They poisoned her, Pancho.

Your enemy, Huerta.

Murderous vulture.

He won't take the Revolution from us.

The Revolution is here, asshole. [sniffs]

And you're not fighting over here, son of a bitch.

They killed our innocent daughter.

And you... [sniffles] ...a destructive hurricane in the desert,

look pretty stupid there, doing nothing.

I'll do something.

I promise you.

Huerta has poisoned my heart forever.

[inhales] Promise you'll send him to hell. If you have the balls, that is.

I promise you I will kill him.

Promise her.

I promise you, Luz Elena.

[sobs] She'd lift up her arms and I would carry her.

[crying]

I'm sorry.

-With all my heart. -[sniffles]

Well, that's the Revolution.

Some cry and others dance for the same cause.

Hipólito.

Take Lucita to El Paso.

Fix the house with the train money.

Buy guns with the rest.

Huerta put General Velasco in charge.

He's an old hand who supported Porfirio Díaz.

They say even Pascual Orozco is with him in Ciudad Juárez.

Even better.

Let's take those fuckers.

Gather all the men.

We're giving it all we've got.

Precisely, General.

Coronel Roque Medina wants to join us.

He turned on Orozco.

[Medina] General Villa.

I'm at your service.

[Villa] Have we met, friend?

At the taking of Juárez.

There was too much mayhem for us to see one another.

I brought you a gift.

What's that?

The Odyssey.

I heard you like to read.

Homer's Odyssey and the Trojan Horse.

[Villa] I'll be damned, that's good reading.

I'll read them.

Let's go.

[Villa] Medina knew how to treat troops.

He instilled trust.

I decided to hold a meeting with all the brigade leaders,

and I asked him to take care of it.

Gentlemen,

our forces have splintered into brigades.

They should unite into a single division.

Men, in a time of war, you have to know when to lead and when to follow.

When many forces join together, a commander in chief must be chosen.

Unless you think otherwise,

I think we should appoint Tomás Urbina

or Raúl Madero.

[clears throat]

Frankly,

the one man who knows war tactics

and has the revolutionary spirit to unite the Northern Division

is General Pancho Villa.

I agree. [places gun on table]

[place guns on table]

It would be my honor, men.

Long live the Northern Division!

[all] Long may it live!

[Urbina] Fierro!

Comrade, this is Rodolfo Fierro.

General Villa.

We met on the train.

I drove the train when Huerta sent you to prison.

Do you remember me?

[Villa narrates] Rodolfo Fierro was born in Sinaloa. A railwayman.

They say he's the son of the devil himself and has no fear of death.

[shouting]

What he loved most in the world was his wife,

but she died in childbirth along with his daughter.

Fierro spiraled out of control with rage after that.

They nicknamed him the "Beautiful Beast," and worse.

He deserved it.

[Villa] I'm going to drive you this time.

And we'll see if you're as hard as steel, as your surname suggests.

Just tell me where to go, General.

I won't let you down.

We'll go to the border first.

Welcome.

[horse neighs]

He says he has no guns. Just coal for Juárez.

They're well defended with cannons and Colorados over there.

There's no way in.

It's like in that book, Roque. The one you gave me.

The Odyssey.

What was the name of the walled city?

[Medina] Troy.

[owl hoots]

[Fierro] Careful, General. We've no idea how many federal soldiers there'll be.

How do we find out?

[crickets chirp]

There's a brothel next door.

So what, Fierro?

[Fierro] I have an idea.

[federal soldier] Good evening.

How come you're all alone?

[dog barks]

[Fierro shoots six times]

-[gunshots in the distance] -[dogs barking]

[distant gunshots continuing]

-Ready, General. -[victim groans]

[gunshot]

[Fierro] Now we're ready.

[distant gunshots continuing]

Let's get the others.

Let's go.

[gunshots continuing]

[rocket soars and bangs]

This is the music

of the Revolution!

[band plays]

[reveler laughs]

[laughing continues]

[cackles]

[laughing continues]

[rocket soars and bangs]

[fireworks soar and bang]

-[woman continues to laugh] -[band continues to play]

[Velasco] How were we caught off guard?

-[band stops] -[Orozco] No idea.

You don't want to cross the border to the American side?

We can organize a counterattack from there.

No.

I need to amass men in Torreón.

With the Gómez Palacio and Monterrey garrisons,

we'll flatten those filthy Indians.

General Almazán will be there.

He's my best man. You can trust him.

[Villa] Right here, Mr. Carranza.

Ciudad Juárez has been under my control since this morning.

And I'm at your service.

Villa, I didn't expect this news so soon.

Congratulations. It's quite the achievement.

Thank you for that.

But I'm going to need money and more ammunition.

Our enemies can return anytime.

I'm speaking to you from Nogales because I have to provide all that

to General Álvaro Obregón's column.

I've taken Juárez twice now. I won't abandon it.

In fact, I want you to go to the capital of Chihuahua

to set up the government,

while Obregón and I take care of organizing the Northern forces,

strengthening relations with the American government

and at the same time...

[Villa] If we had to bring order to Chihuahua,

who better then a local to do so?

I called my good friend journalist Silvestre Terrazas.

Fierro, get up. We're leaving.

And take off that fucking thing. The attack's over.

We don't want you forming any bad habits.

I'll get straight to it, Terrazas.

I want you to be Governor.

Thank you for your trust, but I don't think I'm qualified, General.

But, look, if you're governor,

I could be your Cabinet Secretary. What do you say?

I agree, General Villa.

Nobody knows what the people need better than you.

[Villa] Well, true.

The thing is, I'm better at fighting and shooting.

Politics...

We have to decide what's best for the people.

Come on. I'll help you.

[sighs]

All right.

[Terrazas] Congratulations, General.

[crowd whistles, applauds]

[Villa narrates] That's how I became governor.

All of a sudden, and with no desire for it.

How hard could it be?

[telephone rings]

General,

I can read it and explain it you.

But I'm glad to have Mr. Jáuregui on board

as your personal secretary to transcribe everything.

Very well.

So start writing the decree.

To take back all the land that Creel and Terrazas

stole from all over the state.

I will prepare it and give it to you to sign.

By the way, John Reed has arrived,

the American journalist who's here to interview you about the Spaniards.

May I let him in?

No, no, no. I'll go.

You keep working.

[with American accent] Hello, Mr. Governor.

[in English] John Reed. Nice to meet you.

[in Spanish] How are you, gringo friend? Let's go for a walk.

I'm sick of being cooped up in my office.

I've heard a lot about you.

Journalist, communist, well-read.

I also know you like Mexicans just as we are.

I'll call you Juanito.

All right. I know you don't have much time.

I want to ask you

why you expelled most of the rich people.

Particularly the Spaniards.

What do you mean, "why?"

They supported Díaz, then Huerta.

They stole land and who knows what else.

They're lucky I didn't kill them.

But that's nothing. Come.

I'll tell you all my plans for the state.

[Villa] Juanito wanted to know everything I was doing.

I reduced the price of meat,

beans, corn.

I abolished taxes.

We founded the state bank.

I printed money so cash wouldn't run out.

We set up the first wireless telegraph,

streetcars and water and electricity for all.

And the best part,

I opened 50 schools for the kids.

All in one month.

[in English] Very impressive.

[in Spanish] People adore you. At least, the poor do.

Ranchers and foreigners, not so much.

Yeah, but I'm leaving the governorship to get back to my thing:

overthrowing Huerta the jackal and Orozco the traitor.

That's very noble of you. But why?

I made a promise.

First, I'm going to defeat all those bastards assembled in Torreón.

I won't rest...

until I get that cockroach Huerta.

We're set with the Americans. Ammunition gets delivered tomorrow.

Very good.

[in English] Oh, there you are, Mr. Villa.

[in Spanish] I'm William Benton. I'm here to reclaim my lands.

I won't return anything to anyone who supported the traitors.

You should be happy I'm paying you for your land.

On the condition that you get out of Mexico

and that you never speak to me that way again.

I will not be robbed by a bandit!

Return them to me right this minute, [in English] you bloody rat!

[Benton falls, groans]

[paper crinkles]

[in Spanish] It's a letter from the British ambassador.

I thought he was pulling out a gun.

Now we have a real problem, General.

[Villa] I assured Carranza that he was killed for treason

and that it was well within the law.

But the English government wanted official paperwork documenting his crime,

and even asked to exhume the body, so I had to take measures.

Well, orders are orders.

Ready?

-Ready! -[rifles cock]

Aim!

Fire!

[Villa narrates] They weren't convinced, but I didn't have time for their nonsense.

Bury him.

Another important corpse was unearthed a year after his murder:

that of Abraham González.

His death became a scandal.

That coward Huerta denied ordering it.

There was a celebration honoring Abraham in Chihuahua,

where he was loved.

I channeled my rage and prepared for war to avenge his death.

I want you to cut the telegraph lines tomorrow

so nobody tells the federal forces we're arriving early to the party.

Okay, General.

Take a look at The Kid and The Baby.

The Northern Division's latest recruits.

Recently expropriated from that bastard Huerta.

These cannons are huge.

Do you know how to fire them, man?

No, but we'll figure it out.

General Villa.

This message just arrived from General Felipe Ángeles,

the new Assistant Minister of the Army and Navy.

He congratulates you and says he's at your service.

[Villa] Felipe Ángeles was one of few generals

who remained loyal to Madero.

General Huerta?

I demand an explanation.

You're in no position to make demands.

But you can relax, General.

Honor among thieves.

And to honor your military career, I'm going to exile you to Paris.

And if you return...

don't turn to me.

But Carranza did call on him.

I was told I'd be Minister of the Army, not Assistant Minister.

[Carranza] Yes, General. Sorry. There was a slight change of plans.

We think, that as Assistant Minister,

you can help us organize our troops better.

But, that's an administrative role.

With all due respect, Mr. Carranza, I'd be more useful on the battlefield.

Trust my judgment, General.

Patience.

[Villa] Álvaro Obregón, the general closest to Carranza,

didn't want anyone overshadowing him.

I had a different view.

Long live General Felipe Ángeles!

[all] Long may he live!

General Villa.

Welcome.

At your service.

No, General. I'm at your service.

Especially our artillery.

It'd be an honor to have you join this battle.

Very well.

When do we leave?

Right now.

You're right on time for the party we have planned for General Velasco

and the Colorados in Torreón.

[Villa] So we went to fight in Torreón.

Only the horses rode first class on our trains,

the Northern Division's weapon of choice.

Our soldiers were coming together wherever they could.

They were intense, resolute, and brave.

[Velasco] They're coming.

Tomorrow they'll be between Gómez Palacio and Torreón.

Suffice to say, defending this bunker is paramount.

As requested by Pascual Orozco, I entrust it to you, General Almazán.

Don't worry, General Velasco.

My Colorados are willing to fight every last man.

If Villa thinks this'll be like Ciudad Juárez,

he doesn't know what's coming.

We'll focus our firepower on the horses.

Villa likes sending more horses than bullets.

But this time he won't have enough.

We must hold them back until reinforcements arrive from Monterrey.

Then we'll surround them and finish Villa and his Northern Division.

[bird caws]

[Madero] We must take the bunkers on La Pila mountain.

If not, we can't enter the city.

They'll hunt us like rabbits from there.

Surrounding the city isn't an option either.

I need time to calibrate the cannons that loosened during the journey

and get them within firing range of the bunkers.

Ángeles, you better get moving with The Kid and The Baby.

Time is just what the federal forces need.

The Monterrey garrison could arrive any minute.

Urbina, take one brigade north.

But if we divide the forces, man,

we'll leave you with fewer men, and then...

If not, they'll surround us.

Stop the train however you can and hold them back.

With everything you've got. Die if you must.

I'll notify your wife and take care of your kids. Don't worry.

-Thanks, buddy. -I told you to go.

So go. Got it?

Yes, General.

[Villa] Revolutionaries,

you know I'm a man of few words.

I'm more of a bullet man.

At the base of the mountain, lots of lead will be flying your way.

If you're considering retreating...

that's treason.

If you're having doubts about fighting,

step forward,

and we'll shoot you right now.

That'll eliminate any doubts.

I expected no less of you.

Victory or death!

Long live the Revolution!

[all echo Villa]

[cheering]

[Villa] More than a battle, the taking of Torreón

was a military campaign on several fronts

that took many more days than we anticipated.

NORTHERN DIVISION

FEDERAL REINFORCEMENTS

Let's go, let's go!

[horse neighs]

[Fierro] Let's go, let's go.

-[neighing] -Ready, General.

[Durón] The one with the artillery is General Felipe Ángeles.

[Almazán] Do you know him?

Yes. He was my instructor at the military academy.

Well, now he's just an ungrateful traitor to General Huerta.

He even spared his life.

Make sure the cavalry is well hidden.

-Listen carefully for my signal. -As you command, General.

The key here will be the cavalry.

They'll be expecting the rest, who'll be on foot.

Let's go, my brave men!

[Almazán] Wait until they're closer.

Wait.

Wait!

Let's go!

Let's go!

Let's go! Let's go!

Long live Villa, fuckers!

Stop at nothing!

Keep going!

[Fierro] Let's go!

I'll kill whoever chickens out!

Fire!

Fire!

Let's go! Let's go!

[victim shouts]

[shouting]

Ángeles, The Baby.

Vitally, you're in charge of the two cannons.

One protects the middle, the other, the mountainside.

[shouting]

Cannon one!

Fire!

Cannon two!

Fire!

[Villa] The resistance was intense for several days,

but we were able to take one bunker.

[gunshots]

[division member] Long live Villa!

-Long live the Revolution! -[division member] Long live Villa!

[prisoner groans]

[Villa] I gave them 24 hours to win the battle.

And even though my methods were effective, the worst was yet to come.

[Urbina] That'll stop them for a while.

But we have to take Gómez Palacio as soon as we can.

Hide behind the mountains, and don't stop shooting.

Don't let them pass.

And if you run out of bullets, then hurl rocks and insults. Got it?

[everyone] Yes, General!

Let's go.

[Villa] We were able to delay the reinforcements,

but we still risked being surrounded

by the nearby Gómez Palacio garrison.

General Velasco decided to go there personally to direct the federal forces,

while Almazán remained in charge of the bunkers in Torreón.

[gunshots]

Kill them!

Kill them all!

No one lives!

Then, Fierro, you go to the mountains.

You go with him.

That'll be our surprise for them.

And that's how we'll wipe them out.

-Agreed? -[everyone] Yes, General.

[shouting]

[gunshots continue]

Fire at the cavalry! To the right flank, quickly!

Give it everything!

[division member] The rifle! Get to the rifle! Take the rifle!

Form a line of defense! Let's go, let's go, let's go!

Fire!

[soldier] They're surrounding us!

Adjust the angle of this cannon!

Traitor!

[Ángeles] Approach.

General Ángeles, you don't remember me like I do you. From the military academy.

At your command, General.

[Villa] So? Do you surrender or what?

[Ángeles] Better yet, they're joining us.

General Ángeles, order the cavalry to come, and leave the soldiers.

We have to take the mountain before sunrise.

Very well, General.

Reload!

Attention! Left flank. Attack the cavalry on the left flank.

Let's go, reposition. Reposition to the left flank.

Cannon one.

Fire!

[Villa] Let's get 'em!

[Ángeles] Fire!

Fire!

Fire!

[Villa] Let's go!

Cannon two.

Fire!

[neighs]

[shouts]

Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!

[Urbina] We took Gómez Palacio! And Torreón is ours, my man!

[cheering]

-Long live the Revolution! -[gunshots continue]

-[cheering] -[gunshots continue]

[spits]

[Villa] That coward Velasco fled, but we finally took the bunkers.

[division member] Long live Villa!

PANCHO VILLA, CONQUEROR!

What are we going to do, Venustiano? This could get out of hand.

Well, first we must congratulate them.

And then, discipline them.

MEXICAN TELEGRAPH COMPANY "VIA GALVESTON"

[Villa] Wait there, cockroach, I'm coming for you.

"Long live the Republic.

Warmly"...

[Villa] Pancho Villa.

[labored breathing]

[pants]

[shouts]

Warmly.

Translated by Michelle Bradley