‘’AMIGO’’

In 1900 on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. ‘’Rafael’’ is the mayor of a small village where most of
the people are Catholics. He's the man who collects the taxes and settles disputes.

The community is caught in the crossfire between two armed forces. Hiding in the jungle nearby is a
group of rebels who are fighting for independence. Rafael's brother (Ronnie Lazaro) is their leader, and
his teenage son has joined them. The United States has annexed the former Spanish colony of the
Philippines and American troops are now trying to put down the insurgency. They also want to introduce
democracy to the villages.

Under the command of Col. Hard acre (Chris Cooper), a small American convoy occupies the village. A
cynical and violent man, he puts the relatively mild-mannered Lieutenant Compton (Garret Dillahunt) in
charge as he goes off on his own mission. The Americans are aided by Padre Hidalgo (Yul Vasquez), a
power-hungry Spanish priest who volunteers to serve as translator. He is quite pleased when Rafael is
ordered to work in the fields along with everybody else. The two of them have never gotten along even
though the mayor's wife is a very devout Catholic and obedient to her priest.

The American soldiers, very young and inexperienced boys from the South, grow restless in the long
succession of rainy days. One of them even falls in love with a pretty village girl. When the Colonel
returns, he is enraged that his troops have not yet killed the rebels. His lust for blood sets in motion a
series of events including torture of the mayor and destruction of the village's crops and water buffalo.

The United States has always been a war mongering country, eager to extend its power and special
brand of materialistic democracy. Military leaders like the Colonel have always been willing to use
torture to gain information and have no qualms about sacrificing the lives of innocent civilians for
military victories.
Amigo has high production values, depicting fully formed, full dimensional characters. Some
of the characters really stand out. Prominent is the priest, played by Yul Vasquez. The
extent to which this character deliberately misinterprets whatever is being said by the local
population which he secretly holds in such contempt to the Americans is truly breath-taking.
It goes over the top at times, but not by much. The Filipino community is seen to be very
close-knit but with volatile characters. The American foot soldiers are shown as young,
inexperienced, uneducated rookies from the sticks, their lieutenant as a conflicted army
officer trying to achieve a balance between American objectives and letting the local
population rule themselves, and the commanding officer a hardened scrapper. Amigo shows
the many many ways in which an invasion between two very different cultures can go
wrong.
It is always difficult to tackle a war on film equally and fairly. Each side has its own interests to protect
and uphold. Everyone regards the other as an enemy against them. There will be losses from all sides,
direct and collateral. Yet, in the end, no one really wins. In "Amigo" by veteran director John Sayles,
attempts to show all sides of a multi- dimensional conflict that was the Philippine-American War.