Powerful

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

In 1977, the military in El Salvador helps the conservatives win the crooked election. Oscar Arnulfo Romero (Raul Julia) and Father Grande (Richard Jordan) help the poor. Romero as Archbishop of San Salvador has to balance the factions inside the church. The National Guard massacres dozens of worshippers. Grande is killed by death squads. Romero tries to free Rafael Zelada from the guerrillas. Atrocities continue as he struggles to find a way.This is an important biopic of a compelling historical figure. Raul Julia is pulling back to play a calming presence in uncertain times. He does have some power acting moments. His performance is mostly one-note and that keeps tension from rising. Maybe an energized inner monologue could heighten the tension.

The comment about the overall editing seems harsh. The first portion of the film is admittedly not the best editing, but after that it is bordering on great. One scene in particular is worth looking at again and again. The film has the feel of two different editors and in fact that is what happened. This film is one of my all time favourites. It evokes mood and place and emotion and passion and atmosphere. All the elements of exceptional visual story telling. The fact that it is based on a real man who followed a very disciplined life and belief system, and had the courage and desire to stand up to certain perils makes this film a standout on every level.

I'll always remember the name Raul Julio for this picture. I guess I don't really remember him in other films except for smaller roles. This was one of his acting career highlights, I would assume.This is a powerful movie based on history in the late '70s in El Salvardor, where a country's leaders were killing thousands of dissidents including clergy in the Roman Catholic Church. Julia plays "Archbishop Romero." He is interesting to watch and the center of the story.This is a violent, sometimes unpleasant movie to watch but if your concerned about profanity or sex, you don't have to worry: it's not here. That's hard to find in a modern action-drama.The downside was that despite the above, the story just wasn't that memorable to me. Also, I have serious questions about the slant in here. Knowing the film world, I know which way it would be politically and, frankly, I don't know the real story....but as a movie, it's not bad.

This film shows clearly how the great archbishop learned of the atrocities of his government and how he eventually came to side against them. Romero was not a Marxist or a member of the FMLN, he was a liberation theologist, which contained elements of Marxism but ultimately is not Marxism.One user here wrote a comment that the film was a propaganda piece, completely ignoring communist atrocities. With the exception of FARC and shining path, the US's beloved right-wing dictatorships were responsible for the overwhelming majority of murders. 70,000 were killed in El Salvador, across the border in Guatemala 200,000 were killed. These are only two examples of many other in Latin America. If you want to understand the beginnings of what would become genocide in El Salvador in the 80s, or even just to see the commitment of a great man to the poor and actually carry out what Jesus asked then see this movie.PS - Romero will not be canonized, the current Pope waged a virtual war against liberation theologists, almost eradicating them from the church. What would you expect from a Nazi youth?