Salvador (film)
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| Salvador | |
|---|---|
| File:Salvadorposter.jpg Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Oliver Stone |
| Written by | Oliver Stone, Richard Boyle |
| Produced by | Oliver Stone, Gerald Green |
| Starring | James Woods Jim Belushi Michael Murphy John Savage Elpidia Carrillo Cindy Gibb |
| Cinematography | Robert Richardson |
| Edited by | Claire Simpson |
| Music by | Georges Delerue |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date | 28 February 1986 (premiere) |
Running time | 123 min |
| Languages | English, Spanish |
| Budget | ~ US$4,500,000 |
Salvador is a 1986 film which tells the story of an American journalist in El Salvador covering the Salvadoran civil war. While trying to get footage, he becomes entangled with both leftist guerrillas and the right wing military. It stars James Woods, James Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage, Elpidia Carrillo, Tony Plana, Cynthia Gibb, Juan Fernandez and José Carlos Ruiz.
The film was written by Oliver Stone and Richard Boyle, and was directed by Stone. Stone's portrayal is sympathetic towards the left wing peasant revolutionaries, but deplores their killing of prisoners in a crucial scene. He is strongly critical towards the U.S.-supported right wing military and the allied death squads, focusing on their assassination of four American churchwomen, including Jean Donovan. Stone's portrayal of the Catholic Church as a force for justice reflects events of the time, exemplified in the political sermon of Archbishop Óscar Romero, which is based almost word-for-word on the speech Romero made before he was assassinated by a death squad.
Salvador was popular among critics, but relatively unsuccessful at the box office. 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).