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Salvador
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At around the point of Talk Radio (1988), writer-director Oliver Stone’s work became increasingly overwrought, incoherent, hysterical and pompous. Which, to be frank, is interesting as a phenomenon in itself. But it’s also intriguing, now, to look back at his slightly more classical, earlier period, which displayed a different set or range of filmmaking talents. Salvador was Stone’s first dramatic feature to gain general notice, after two horror films (Seizure [1974] and The Hand [1981]), as well as, more impressively, a bunch of scripts for other directors, including Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983) and Michael Cimino’s Year of the Dragon (1985). In Salvador we can gauge Stone’s skill at more-or-less faithfully dramatising a complex political situation from contemporary history – and his daring penchant for putting ambiguous male anti-heroes up front of these messy panoramas. James Woods (every director’s favourite anti-hero in the ‘80s and ‘90s) takes the part of Richard Boyle [1942-2016], the photojournalist on whose experience the script (which he co-wrote with Stone) is based. At a sticky moment in both his career and personal life, Boyle heads for El Salvador with his DJ pal, Dr Rock (Jim Belushi). They team up with another reckless sort, fellow photojournalist John (John Savage) – modelled on John Hoagland (1947-1984). Freelancing has never been this much fun, or so dangerous! What these guys eventually stumble upon are the nasty facts of USA funding of the Salvadoran army. When it’s time to hightail it out of there, Boyle is stricken with enough moral conscience to want to help his ex-lover, María (Elpidia Carrillo), escape from the country with her kids. But it becomes increasingly hard to distinguish the brutal tactics of the rebels from those of the Army … The film clear-sightedly explores many of the ethical and social dilemmas inherent in this tangled milieu – and doesn’t pretend to neatly resolve any of them. MORE Stone: Alexander, Any Given Sunday, Heaven and Earth, JFK, Nixon, U Turn, Platoon © Adrian Martin 1 July 1990 |
