Men of the South! It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.
Emiliano Zapata
Elia Kazan’s Viva Zapata (1952) employs fictional events and characters to telescope the complex events of the Mexican Revolution and to give the audience a sense of Emiliano Zapata, mesmerisingly portrayed by Marlon Brando.
Fernando Aguirre, played enigmatically by Joseph Wiseman, is a fictional character in the film always egging Zapata on to be a revolutionary. He stands in for the professional agitators who would wreak such havoc in the last century. In the above scene Zapata finally understands that Aguirre is a completely negative force who lives only to destroy. A masterful and profound scene in such a short space.
Bonus:
There was little doubt that Zapata had the interests of the peasants at heart despite questions of his competence. This in contrast to his rival, Villa, who was simply a brigand looking for the next big score.