Salvador (film)
Salvador | |
---|---|
Directed by | Oliver Stone |
Written by |
|
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Robert Richardson |
Edited by | Claire Simpson |
Music by | Georges Delerue |
Distributed by | Hemdale Film Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 123 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Spanish |
Budget | $4.5 million |
Box office | $1.5 million (US)[1] |
Salvador is a 1986 American war drama film co-written and directed by Oliver Stone. It stars James Woods as Richard Boyle, alongside Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy and Elpidia Carrillo, with John Savage and Cynthia Gibb in supporting roles. Stone co-wrote the screenplay with Boyle.
The film tells the story of an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War who becomes entangled with both the FMLN and the right-wing military dictatorship while trying to rescue his girlfriend and her children. The film is highly sympathetic toward the left-wing revolutionaries and strongly critical of the US-supported military dictatorship, focusing on the murder of four American Catholic missionaries, including Jean Donovan, and the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero by death squads. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Woods) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Stone and Boyle).[2]
Plot
Veteran
In the meantime, Boyle and María go to a mass led by
While attempting to get María out of the country, Boyle is harassed by military authorities, which eventually leads to the deaths of people either close to him or María. As rebels overrun the government forces in Santa Ana, Boyle witnesses them execute captured soldiers with the same cruelty the military had previously shown them, which greatly disgusts him. When the Salvadoran Army starts using American supplies to combat the rebels, Boyle's friend and fellow photojournalist, John Cassady (John Savage), is killed during the battle.
Boyle and María eventually leave the country for the United States. However, upon entering California, their bus is stopped by immigration officers and María allows herself to be deported alongside her children due to the guilt of leaving her home country behind while Boyle is arrested after desperately arguing with the officers. An epilogue reveals that María and her children survived and were last rumored to be in a refugee camp in Guatemala; Doctor Rock eventually returned to San Francisco; Cassady's photos were published; Boyle is still looking for María and her children; and that El Salvador continues to receive American military aid.
Cast
- James Woods as Richard Boyle
- Jim Belushi as Doctor Rock
- Michael Murphy as Ambassador Thomas Kelly (based on Robert E. White)
- John Savage as John Cassady (based on John Hoagland)
- Elpidia Carrillo as María
- Cindy Gibb as Cathy Moore (based on Jean Donovan)
- Tony Plana as Major Maximiliano Casanova (based on Roberto D'Aubuisson)
- Oscar Romero
Release
The film was released in the United States on March 5, 1986. In the Philippines, the film was released by Pioneer Films as Guns, Goons, Gold on March 26, 1992.[3]
Box office
The film was not successful at the box office, grossing a total of $1,500,000 in the United States.[1]
Critical response
As of September 2022, Salvador holds a rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews with an average score of 7.7/10 and the consensus: "Despite its somewhat disjointed narrative, Oliver Stone's Salvador is a vivid and powerful political drama that sets an early tone for the director's similarly provocative future projects."[4]
Salvador was popular among critics. Roger Ebert, a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, gave the movie three stars out of four, and wrote: "The movie has an undercurrent of seriousness, and it is not happy about the chaos that we are helping to subsidize. But basically it's a character study — a portrait of a couple of burned-out free-lancers trying to keep their heads above water."[5]
Walter Goodman of
Alex von Tunzelmann in The Guardian criticized the film's cartoonish characters and the mix of facts and fiction; for example, given that Boyle did not try to enter the US with Maria, and that no real reporter existed like Cassady whose photos Boyle published. [7]
Accolades
The film garnered two
Home media
The Region 1 special edition DVD was released on 5 June 2001, and includes the following bonus features:
- Commentary by director Oliver Stone
- 62-minute documentary "Into the Valley of Death"
- Eight deleted scenes
- 46 production photos
- Original theatrical trailer[8]
References
- ^ a b c Salvador at Box Office Mojo
- ^ "The 59th Academy Awards 1987". Oscars.org. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ Anonymous (March 26, 1992). "A grim reminder about greed and violence in today's politics". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 24. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
A THIRD WORLD country in Latin American [sic] is girding for the long-awaited political exercise of electing their president.
- ^ "Salvador". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (April 25, 1986). "Salvador". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ Goodman, Walter (March 5, 1986). "Screen: 'Salvador' By Stone". The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- TheGuardian.com. 9 April 2009.
- ^ "Salvador Review". Dvdtimes.co.uk. 16 July 2001. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
External links
- Salvador at IMDb
- Salvador at AllMovie
- Salvador at Rotten Tomatoes
- Richard Boyle at IMDb