Salvador (film)

Infobox Film
name = Salvador


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Oliver Stone
writer = Oliver Stone,
Richard Boyle
starring = James Woods
Jim Belushi
Michael Murphy
John Savage
Elpidia Carrillo
Cindy Gibb
producer = Oliver Stone,
Gerald Green
music = Georges Delerue
cinematography = Robert Richardson
editing = Claire Simpson
distributor = 20th Century Fox
budget = ~ US$4,500,000
released = 28 February 1986 (premiere)
runtime = 123 min
language = English, Spanish
amg_id = 1:42687
imdb_id = 0091886

"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).