"AMIGO"

 

1898. Long before Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam there was the Philippine-American War.

Spain has just ceded its former colony to the United States. The Philippines, however, still smarting from more than three centuries of oppressive Spanish rule, will not give in their hard-won freedom easily. Battle scarred but well entrenched, resistance to the new colonizers grows and gains popular support throughout the newly independent nation. But like any newborn its vulnerabilities are evident and easily exploited.

A barrio in Luzon finds itself in the middle of this war, a tug between freedom and subjugation, between nationalistic fervor and unquestioning military obedience. Its cabeza (Spanish for "head"), Rafael, is particularly torn. His son and brother are with the resistance. The whole barrio looks to him to keep them safe amidst American aggression. Rafael knows he must keep up appearances of civility and cooperation. Hence he proclaims himself their true amigo (friend).

He eventually wins the trust of US Lieutenant Compton whose job it is to pacify the area. Despite escalating tensions surrounding the barrio and the language barrier, these two forge an understanding and a mutual respect. Neither wants to be in this situation; in fact they have more in common with each other than with Rafael's revolutionary brothers or Compton's callous superior; both are pacifists at heart.

Friendship, however, has no room in this dirty war. When the American occupation policy gets tougher Rafael has to answer to both the Americans and the Filipino patriots, with deadly consequences.

 Cast Includes:

Joel Torre              Rafael

Garret Dillahunt    Lt Compton

Chris Cooper         Col. Hardacre

DJ Qualls               Zeke Whatley

Rio Locsin             Corazon

Ronnie Lazaro       Simon

Bembol Roco         Policarpio

Yul Vázquez          Padre Hidalgo

Jemi Paretas Zúñiga

Dane DeHaan        Gil

Irma Adlawan        Josefa

John Arcilla            Nenong

Pen Medina           Albay

Spanky Manikan    Tuba Joe

Bodjie Pascua        Sixto

  

AMIGO

A film by John Sayles,

Produced by Maggie Renzi

Country of origin: USA

Produced in 2010

Original language: English, Tagalog, Spanish, Latin

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Duration: 128 minutes

Screen ratio: wide screen (1:1.85)  4K (RED ONE)

Sound: Dolby Digital

PHILIPPINE CONTACT

Tammy Dinopol: +63920.906.4793
tammy@origin8media.com

Issy Camat: +63927.816.2087
christiane_c@live.com

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