CAST: Joel Torre, Garret Dillahunt, Yul Vazquez, D.J. Qualls, Rio Locsin, Dane DeHaan, Chris Cooper, Jemi Paretas, James Parks; DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER/EDITOR: John Sayles; PRODUCER: Maggie Renzi; RUNNING TIME: 128 minutes.
Technical Assessment: 3
Moral Assessment: 3
CINEMA Rating: For viewers age 13 and up with parental guidance.
Village Chief Rafael Dacanay a.k.a Amigo (Joel Torre) sends the remaining Spanish invaders to prison under the revolutionary government. A the end of Spanish occupation, a troop of American soldiers led by Lt Compton (Garret Dillahunt) under the command of his military superiors occupies the remote rural village in the Philippines . Lt Compton collaborates with Rafael in the course of their stay in the village and calls him Amigo, a Spanish word means friend. The Americans do not recognize the existing revolutionary government and therefore all supporters are considered rebels and subject to execution. Rafael is aware of the movement of the rebels because his brother is one of the leaders. Lt Compton suspects Rafael as an enemy and put him under surveillance.
Whilst the film Amigo is about war and American occupation in the Philippines in 1900, it was not likely to show the usual ground or air attacks rather isolated shootings that left dead bodies. It depicts a remote village with strong religious practices in view of the long time presence of Spaniards. The story focuses on the character of Rafael Dacanay or Amigo and his struggle to play his role as a friend to his constituents, the rebels and the Americans. The character of Lt Compton is also given equal exposure in the film. As a simple narrative the film uses variety of approaches such as mix of nationalities from the lead to the least characters, mix of languages, use of subtitles, sub-themes that include nationalism, love story, inter-cultural, religion and tradition. The director succeeded in putting them together and makes use of the sound effects and musical score for continuity. The production design for 1900 setting is good although it appears to be too refined and tidy for a remote area. The film has a good cinematography in conveying details such as the nipa hut construction in bayanihan scene. However, despite several interesting features of the film, the entire run of two hours can be dragging at some points and may invite viewers to sleep. Overall, the film Amigo is one those low budgeted films that obviously exerted efforts to put up a good one.
What makes a good leader? The film Amigo features three types of leader that are present at the same time in a remote village. They are, a native village chief, an American soldier officer, and a revolutionary one. First is the village chief who cares so much for his constituents aims for peace and unity. He is highly principled and willing to sacrifice to protect those who need it. He fought silently till the end of this life. Second is the American troop leader who leads by the rule, level-headed, not too bad but can disregard life when someone defies the rules. Third one is the revolutionist who defies oppression. He is passionate and aggressive in his fight for freedom. He can also be violent and disrespectful of life. Ironically, the rebel leader was even a former seminarian who attended religious formation. One common thing among the three leaders, none of them seeks discernment for wise decisions, all of them look only at themselves. The film shows strong religious inclination among the village people especially the woman, however, the image of the priest in the film is obviously tainted by power and politics. Whilst known historical names were mentioned several times and the American occupation really happened in the Philippines, the film does not necessarily present factual truth.
