Amigo

Amigo
Teaser Poster
Directed by	John Sayles
Produced by	Maggie Renzi Mario Ontal Joel Torre
Written by	John Sayles
Starring	Chris Cooper Garret Dillahunt DJ Qualls Joel Torre Yul Vazquez Bembol Roco Rio Locsin
Music by	Mason Daring
Editing by	John Sayles
Distributed by	Variance Films (North America) Star Cinema (Philippines)
Release date(s)	July 14, 2010 (2010-07-14) (Cinemalaya)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Tagalog Spanish Chinese

Amigo is a 2010 American drama film written and directed by John Sayles.^[1] The film takes place in the Philippines in 1900 during the Philippine–American War. It is one of only a small handful of films directed by an American to address the war, the only other notable example being The Real Glory.

Plot

Amigo centers on Rafael Dacanay, kapitan of the barrio of San Isidro in a rice-growing area of Luzon. His brother Simón, head of the local guerrilla band, has forced the surrender of the Spanish guardia civil outpost and charged Rafael with the task of imprisoning the guardia Captain and the barrio’s Spanish friar, Padre Hidalgo, in the name of the revolutionary government. But when the American troops chasing General Emilio Aguinaldo arrive, the Spanish officer and Padre Hidalgo are freed, and a garrison under the command of Lieutenant Ike Compton is left to ‘protect’ the barrio. The American occupation policy now changes from ‘hearts and minds’ to ‘concentration’ (what was called ‘hamletting’ during the Vietnam war) and Rafael has to answer to both the Americans and the Filipino patriots, with deadly consequences.

Cast

• Joel Torre as Rafael
• Chris Cooper as Col. Hardacre
• Garret Dillahunt as Lt. Compton
• DJ Qualls as Zeke
• Yul Vazquez as Padre Hidalgo
• Lucas Neff as Shanker
• James Parks as Sgt. Runnels
• Dane DeHaan as Gil
• Stephen Taylor as Pvt. Bates
• Rio Locsin as Corazon
• Jemi Paretas as Zuniga
• Bill Tangradi as Dutch
• Bembol Roco as Policarpio
• Ronnie Lazaro as Simon
• Irma Adlawan as Josefa

Press

Cinematical reports that the film was once titled Baryo, and that the idea for it came from a yet-to-be-published novel Some Time in the Sun, detailing U.S. imperialism in the Philippines.^[2] The book will actually be called A Moment in the Sun, though the unrealized screenplay which inspired it was called Some Time in the Sun.^[3]

Distribution

Amigo had its New York premier at the 2011 Asian American International Film Festival on August 10. It screened on September 14 at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. It will also screen at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival.

In North America, the film was released on August 19, 2011 by Variance Films.

References

External links

• Amigo at the Internet Movie Database
• Amigo Official Site
• Amigo The Movie Blog
• Closer Look: U.S Indie in English and Tagalog in John Sayles' Amigo
• Amigo (2011) New HD Film Trailer