Introduction
American rule over the Philippines left the majority of Filipinos a deep scar of the feeling of humiliation because of getting from them their liberty and freedom. But, looking at the other side of the coin, it also left us things that are still beneficial until these days as portrayed in the film Amigo.
Purpose of the director A question was formed to my mind during watching the film Amigo – what was the purpose of the director, John Sayles, to do this kind of film? After taking a while thinking of some possible answers, I ended up with this conclusion – I think he wants to portray how American regime ruled over the country and how Filipinos responded into it.
One thing is that when those colonizers took possession of this country, many revolutionary groups were formed. How come this happened? Those people really did not agree with the way those Americans controlled the Philippines. They even questioned the reasons of colonizing this country because on the other way around, we had then a form of government, and our way of living was good even before those colonizers came to this country. That’s why many revolutionary groups were formed. The form of government they introduced to us was democratic - the way of freely expressing one’s thought or idea and one can freely choose who they want to be their leader. Rafael, the protagonist in the story, said that he would only enjoy this new form of government when the Americans leave their barrio. Yes, this kind of government is still what we Filipinos have nowadays, and we are freely using this will the American colonizers brought us.
Problems I noticed I saw some sort of problems regarding this film. Some lines were inaudible and also other language was used that’s why I wasn’t able to understand what’s going on with the story. It’s better if it has subtitle.
Theme
Language of the Filipinos had been a problem to the Americans. John Sayles portrayed in the film the Filipinos taking advantage and making fun of the American’s innocence of our language.
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