Anatomy of American 'Benevolence' Circa 1900

MANILA, Philippines - The first thing that will catch your attention in the first few minutes of John Sayles’ Amigo is the work of cinematographer Lee Briones-Meily and production designer Rodell Cruz.

The supposedly 1900 Philippine landscape captured by the cinematography has the fine texture and old-world appeal of a Botong Francisco painting. It was enough to make you believe that you are going back to the 1900s when pollution and climate change were not yet the concerns of the century.

The film takes you to this barangay called San Isidro somewhere in Northern Luzon. As it is, everything that happens in the country during the Philippine-American war takes place in this barrio.

The once idyllic existence of the barrio under barangay head Joel Torre is disturbed by the arrival of American soldiers led by Chris Cooper and Garret Dillahunt. This does not sit well with the nationalists led by Bembol Roco and Ronnie Lazaro (the latter looking like the reincarnation of Macario Sakay, the true-to-life nemesis of the American conquerors). But as the Americans start their “benevolent” campaign to win hearts and mind of the natives, the Bush-like stunt of Cooper cries “blood” as some of their soldiers became casualties of Filipino resistance against the white invaders. The murder and torture scenes carried out by the American invaders gave life to the colonizers’ colorful phrase, “civilize ‘em with a Krag.”

Amigo also captures the Filipino institution called the fiesta and its innate barrio brand of piety. The film does not spare the holdover of Spanish colonization represented by the friar, Yul Vasquez, it showed how friars invoke the fires of hell to suppress the growing nationalist movement. Murder is not sin when it is committed against rebels. On the whole, the Sayles film is an indictment of both the American and Spanish colonizers, mostly of the former.

 Towards the end of the film, you begin to realize that Amigo is like a film rendering of Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil’s essay A Government Run Like Heaven By Americans from her latest book, Heroes and Villains.

The first barrio election in the film had echoes of Nakpil’s biting irony and observation on the country’s first democratic process (Read: Election). Wrote Nakpil of the criteria for that election: “You had to be a man, not a woman, at least 23 years old, have served in a pueblo office under the Spanish regime, or spoke, read, and wrote Spanish or English, owned real property valued at least P500, or paid at least P30 of established taxes. The most important requirement for suffrage was the oath of loyalty to the US.”

In the 1900, observed Nakpil, you can buy a whole house for P200 and Filipinos were getting a peso-a-year for building galleons or fighting in a misbegotten Spanish war in Asia.

The superb ensemble acting of the Filipino cast is the most admirable asset of this film. Pen Medina, Bembol, Spanky Manikan, Irma Adlawan, Joe Gruta and Rio Locsin, among others, gave life to the excellent peasant portrait of the Filipinos in the 1900s. In looks and temperament, Ronnie as the leader of the insurectos was Macario Sakay reincarnated; John Arcilla’s acting made betrayal looked vicious and insurmountable while Torre’s intense acting as the beleaguered barrio head showed profound courage and vulnerability.

On the other hand, the American cast did quite well. Cooper as Col. Hardacre looked every inch the 1900 hawkish caricature of President Bush with great contrast provided by the role played by Dillahunt as Lt. Compton. Yul Vàzquez as Padre Hidalgo was indeed Padre Damaso revisited.

The presence of guitar music as played by classical guitarist Raul Manikan added pathos to the story of the film. The film scoring of Mason Daring made use of Filipino artists and the voice of Grace Nono was a welcome audio presence.

Sayles’ screenplay drips with venom for that American misadventure in the Philippines. His direction is revealing of his style of simple storytelling with a big ax to grind against all forms of imperialism.

The film ending which shows the rebels surrendering to the Americans and being given cash remuneration was like a re-enactment of the Americans acquiring the Philippines for a   bargain price of $20M through the Treaty of Paris.

As it is, Amigo unmasks American benevolence as nothing but a cover-up for a systematic political and economic colonization. That the film was directed by an American shows that the widely known Pinoy’s Big Brother has come to terms with his countrymen’s penchant for repeating the big mistake that was Vietnam and now duplicated by another mistake in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If only for this revelation, Amigo should be watched by those unaware of the sordid side of American colonization of the Philippines.