MovieChat Forums > Salvador (1986) Discussion > I'm Salvadoran, a Few Facts about this F...

I'm Salvadoran, a Few Facts about this Film

posted 21 years ago by Alien_Latino
56 replies | jump to latest

Everything was accurate on the film, the roads, the violence, the army incidents, even roadside advertising posters depicted in the movie, but there were also gross and preposterous falsehoods, here are a few:

--Mexican accent being spoken by every "Salvadoran" in the movie (this doesn't look bad nor matters among anglo viewers since they can't tell the difference between the spanish of one country to another but for bilingual viewers it was very sad).

--The film was overtly pro-leftist. The guerrillas were portrayed as homely liberators getting themselves rid of a tyrannical government, that's far from the truth, half the rebels were common criminals and others joined just to get rich quick and to steal with their new-found power of carrying weapons.

--The army was portrayed as brutal, it was brutal, but so were the rebels who blatantly killed many innocent people, in some instances just to take over their ranches and houses.

--The movie depicted a cavalry battle, oh my gosh, is Oliver Stone for real? There isn't a single instance in the war where horses were used to charge against tanks or army bases, not even one instance.

--The scene of the Archbishop being killed was distorted, in the movie he was shot point-blank by a guy who had just taken the oyster in his mouth kneeling before him, in reality the Arhcbishop was killed by a sniper that was on the last bench near the back exit of the cathedral. He used a long-barreled rifle.

Hope this clears a few things up :)

[–] sockscats 12 years ago

Thank you for your input and i agree with most of your complaints.

As for the Mexican accents? What do you expect they certainly could not film this movie in that country. Guatemala neither. 1986 was simply too dangerous to send a crew down there so they had no choice but to film in Mexico.

Funny that today El Salvador is probably safer for Americans than Mexico is.

Romero was also shot in Mexico. Where else could they shoot such a film?

[–] queerever 12 years ago

You are alive, and have obviously profited from the suffering and recent, horrible history of El Salvador. One name for it is Bourgeois. Of course you have exaggerated the crimes of the Left and the guerrillas - and even if you were there, in the thick of it, watching Leftists massacre and steal from others - not you or anybody has a real clue about the whole situation, ie. EVERYTHING that happened. You believe in your side of the propaganda argument because it is comfortable and suits you. I don't buy it, it's a lie. Right wing governments are always an ACTIVE force oppressing the people, (if not Domestically, then Internationally); of course people will commit crimes in rebellion. Of course the Left was involved in and the perpetrator of horrors, also. But all in all, you are just an apologiser for Fascism. There is nothing worse than someone who thinks that they are the authority because it is "their" country - usually, that just leads to a total loss of perspective.

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 11 years ago

I wouldn't presume to argue with someone from El Salvador about what really happened in El Salvador, especially when I'm getting info from actually watching the movie, but I'd like to make two points about parts of Salvador, one of which was commented on, the other which is a counterpoint to the first:

1) I don't think Stone meant to necessarily imply that the Sandinistas fought on horses (although I may have if the Salvadorean poster had not corrected that part), I think that, when you see the happy reaction of Boyle and Cassady, it's meant to lead the viewer in the direction of "the Cavalry has arrived, everything is gonna be ok".

2) There is a point late in the film where Boyle screams "you'll end up just like them", when he sees Leftists executing unarmed soldiers in the street (which is essentially the opposite of what Boyle and Doctor Rock saw when they entered El Salvador), so while most of the movie did make it look like the Communists were the heroes, that scene makes it clear that Boyle sees them for what they are. A "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" type of thing.

"You will not hear me scream!" "I Will.
But it is not your screams I want.
Only your life."

[–] Magenzus 11 years ago

There is nothing worst or more pointless than arguing with someone who has very clearly set their ideas into what they believe is universally right.

The government did many horrible things during this war, so did the guerrillas, and the paramilitary groups of the time.

Its funny, in El Salvador you have people who are far right, or far left, they cheer for their political "idols" and "parties" as they would for a sports team. Most of the guerrillas who fought "for the people" are now basking in fine liquors and enjoying the best food and luxuries. The people are exactly the same as they were before though, poor,lonely, and forgotten.

Both ARENA (previous paramilitaries) and FMLN (guerrillas) are everything that is wrong with our country (El Salvador) nowadays, I would have to say that the guerrillas are worst since they were impeding the end of the war 10 years before it was ended just because they wanted some political parties to be dissolved to assure their election in office (that's what they wanted). They attribute many of the government's murders to the paramilitaries now since back then their enemy was the government, now its ARENA so they blame them for even the ones that were done by the government.

ARENA was and will always be filled with extreme right conservatists. FMLN with lazy socially resented extremists, and the people will always be f%cked. Th truth is if you want to know the true history of El Salvador, you really cannot. But you can listen to the political-right version of the story, and the political-left.

By the way, I like this film, bus in terms of history it's one of the worst I have ever seen. The only people from El Salvador that like it will be the ones defending the guerrillas. The ones that hate it will be the right-wing sympathisers.

For history, watch a documentary instead.

"She appeared like an angel, out of this filthy mess...she is alone...they, cannot....touch....her"