Salvador

Salvador is a 1986 American war drama film co-written and directed by Oliver Stone. It stars James Woods as Richard Boyle, alongside Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy and Elpidia Carrillo, with John Savage and Cynthia Gibb in supporting roles. Stone co-wrote the screenplay with Boyle. The film tells the story of an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War who becomes entangled with both the FMLN and the right-wing military dictatorship while trying to rescue his girlfriend and her children. The film is highly sympathetic toward the left-wing revolutionaries and strongly critical of the US-supported military dictatorship, focusing on the murder of four American Catholic nuns, including Jean Donovan, and the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero by death squads. 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). Plot Veteran photojournalist Richard Boyle (James Woods) has over 20 years of experience, and while he has good output, Boyle's substance abuse problems and his arrogance have marred his reputation and left him practically unemployable. One morning, he finds that his wife has abandoned him and taken their child. Broke and with no immediate prospects, Boyle and his close friend, Doctor Rock (Jim Belushi), an out-of-work disc jockey, head to El Salvador, where Boyle is convinced that he can do freelance work amidst the nation's political turmoil. After arriving, Boyle asks to meet a general he met during the Football War, and he and Rock are taken to him in a school-turned-barracks where both discuss the situation and he learns that the Salvadoran Army is being supplied by the United States. Sensing that disaster is imminent in El Salvador, Boyle eventually decides to leave, but he is reunited with an old flame named María (Elpidia Carrillo) and her two children, and is motivated to help them escape the country. In the meantime, Boyle and María go to a mass led by Archbishop Oscar Romero. During the mass, the Archbishop is assassinated by the far-right ARENA party while the army outside opens fire on the fleeing crowd with Boyle and Maria barely escaping. Afterwards, Boyle goes to the United States Embassy to convince the ambassador to cut aid for the Salvadoran government, but his suggestions are denied and he is told to leave the country for his own safety.