SALVADOR (18)
D: Oliver Stone
Hemdale (Oliver Stone & Gerald Green)
US 1986
123 mins
Drama/War
W: Oliver Stone & Richard Boyle
DP: Robert Richardson
Ed: Claire Simpson
Mus: Georges Delerue
James Woods (Richard Boyle), Jim Belushi (Doctor Rock),
Michael Murphy (Thomas Kelly), John Savage (John Cassady), Elpidia Carrillo (Maria)
James Woods gives his career best performance in this war
drama based on Richard Boyle's experiences in El Salvador during a period of political unrest and civil war.
Woods plays the controversial and ill-tempered American
journalist who gets involved with opposing political factions during his visit to the country and eventually has to venture into the war zone to rescue his girlfriend and her
children.
The film does have a slight bias to the left wing
revolutionary group depicted in the film and highly critical of American involvement in the troubles.
Not quite as gut-wrenching as 1984's The Killing Fields, which
focuses on similar troubles in Cambodia, but it's still a powerful film, particularly due to James Woods' Oscar-nominated performance.
7/10