Amigo

I have long been a fan of writer-director John Sayles and even his failures are more interesting than most films produced.  I personally do not see Amigo (2010) as a failure, but it has garnered mixed reviews. It doesn't reach the heights of his masterpiece, Lone Star, but I think the statement that he is making about American imperialism. It was at its infancy in this film which chronicles the American occupation of the Philippines during the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902 that was a result of the Spanish-American War of 1898 that also led to interference in Cuba. I have had an interest in the country after visiting and reading Stanley Kurnow's Pulitzer Prize winning history of the region, In Our Own Image: America's Empire in the Philippines. Sayles focuses on a small village and revolutionaries that are camped out nearby as an American soldiers make a garrison of the small town and try to win the "hearts and minds" of the villagers. Then they resort to torture to get them to help fight he guerrillas in the jungle-thus drawing parallels to recent American interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. It stars Chris Cooper, a frequent star of Syales' films, as Col. Hararce as the Rumsfield-Cheney like leader of the brigade. Philippine actor Jose Torres plays the village head man Rafael. Throughout the film Sayles has juxtapositions between the villagers, soldiers, and rebel that are effective and insightful about what they must have been feeling during the conflict. Amigo ends with the 1901 surrender of General Aguinaldo, which didn't end the conflict but started a program of amnesty set by President Teddy Roosevelt (who succeeded the assassinated President McKinley). It's a timely and historical-based look at American foreign policy and its consequences to those who have been invaded.