Exploring the American-Filipino War with "Amigo"

A film that I recently watched which brings about an interesting blend of history and movie-storytelling is the 2010 American-Filipino drama Amigo. Written and directed by written and directed by American independent director and writer John Sayles (who has Hollywood writing credits for such Blockbuster films as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Apollo 13, and Jurassic Park IV and directing experience with the John Cusack / Charlie Sheen movie Eight Men Out), the movie is set in the Philippines during the Philippine–American War. This little known conflict, which lasted from 1899 through 1902, is incredible controversial due to the way that American soldiers conducted the war and the reasoning for why the United States was in Philippines in the first place. 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 1939 film The Real Glory, staring Gary Cooper of High Noon and Sargent York fame.

This new addition to the movie-scape of the Philippine–American War stares established Hollywood actor Chris Cooper (who is a regular of Sayles' films) and movie newcomers Garret Dillahunt of Fox's Raising Hope sitcom and Filipino TV actor Joel Torre in the leading roles.

The History

Emilio Aguinaldo in the field cir. 1898

Following the conclusion of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States found itself on the world stage as a new imperial power with an overseas empire to boot. One of the areas that had been seized during the war with Spain had been the Philippine Islands, an archipelago of islands that had been a colony of the Spanish empire since the 1520's. Prior to the American war with Spain, the Filipino people had rose in revolt against their Spanish masters in 1896 behind the eventual leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, a former local mayor. Within a year of the start of the revolution, fighting had reached a stalemate and Aguinaldo agreed to an armistice that included his exile from the Philippines to the island of Hong Kong. It was while Aguinaldo was in Hong Kong that he started to meet secretly with representatives of the American government, who agreed to recognize Filipino independence in exchange for Aguinaldo's help in keeping the Spanish occupied in the Philippines while the US Army helped in the liberation of Cuba. With American help, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines and restarted local resistance. By 1898, Aguinaldo's resistance groups controlled much of the major islands and the US Navy's capture of the capital city of Manila signaled that the fight was all but over. However, events after that did not unfold the way the Filipino fighters had hoped. Under the new 1898 Treaty of Paris that ended the war, the Philippines now became the property of the United States and US government refused to recognize Aguinaldo's new government. President William McKinley issued a proclamation declaring the Philippines a US "protectorate" and dispatched American troops to the island to disarm and secure the Filipino rebels. By 1899, there was open skirmishing between American troops and Filipino rebels with casualties on both sides.

American troops in the Philippines, cir. 1899

The American military tactics for fighting the Filipino rebels were ones that would be copied again in future jungle conflicts like the Vietnam War. Their strategy included attempts to control key villages or areas with the segregation of the civilian population in "zones of protection" so they could not be provide food or active support to the rebels. The hope was that the rebels would get so desperate for food and supplies they would either surrender or be tracked down and forced into an open battle on the Americans' terms. While this strategy made sense on paper, it was far in advance of its times. American soldiers, hoping for a quick victory and a trip home, despised the slow pace of the war and often resorted to controversial measures to try and find the Filipino rebels. One such measure was the use of the "water cure", a  form of torture refers to a method in which the victim is forced to drink large quantities of water through a funnel in a short time. The "water cure" was used against Filipino prisoners in a attempt to try and make their reveal information about the insurgency. Burning of villages, public executions of sympathizers, and the turning of the "zones of protection" into little more that early concentration camps caused some American to question the motives behind the war with prominent citizens like Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, and William Jennings Bryan speaking out against the war. Needless to say, historians have now concluded that atrocities were committed on both sides during the course of the conflict. The Filipinos resorted with a kind of hit-and-run guerrilla conflict that they had used effectively against the Spanish. This style of warfare would be seen again in future conflicts against American troops, as the Filipinos tried to stay one step ahead of the American military.

An example of the American "water cure"
torture cir. 1901

By 1900, President McKinley had had enough and ordered a series of Congressional committees to come up with recommendations on how to stop the fighting in the Philippines. Their recommendations formed the basis for a popularly elected government in the Philippines and the promise of full independence by the year 1934. American troops officially left the islands in 1902 with new President Theodore Roosevelt offering a full pardon to all Filipino fighters who agreed to lay down their arms. While World War II slowed the march towards statehood, the United States did grant the Philippines its full independence in 1946.

The Movie

Colonel Hardacre (Chris Cooper) as
seen in the film Amigo

In the film, viewers are introduced to Rafael Dacanay (Torre), who is the leader of the village of San Isidro in a rice-growing area of Luzon set in 1900, in the midst of the conflict. His brother Simón is the head of the local Filipino guerrillas band and has charged Rafael with the task of imprisoning the former Spanish captain and the village's Spanish friar, Padre Hidalgo, in the name of the new revolutionary government. But when the American troops under the command of Colonel Hardacre (Cooper) arrive, the Spanish officer and Padre Hidalgo are freed and a garrison under the command of Lieutenant Compton (Dillahunt) is left behind to protect the village from the insurgency. Throughout the film issues of language, custom, culture, and government policy collide as Compton, Rafael, and Padre Hidalgo all via for their vision of what the new Philippines should look like. Against this is the continued threat of attack from Simón's rebels and the ongoing struggle to make sense of a conflict that has not clear mission or clear victor. The main storyline is also enhanced by several side stories among the men of Compton's garrison such as acts of compassion for the Filipino villagers and a minimized love story between an American soldier and a Filipino girl. In the end, Rafael (who has tried to remain a peacemaker and "friend" or "amigo" to all sides in the conflict) will be forced to lead Hardacre and his men to the rebels' camp, where the Americans are ambushed. Furious at what he sees as a carefully laid trap, Hardacre orders Rafael to be hanged as a sympathizer. Sadly, Rafael's life might have been spared had his brother's freedom fighters (which includes Rafael's own son) had not cut the telegraph wires to the village and President Roosevelt's call for amnesty had been heard. Ironically, it is Rafael's son who does the cutting.

Rafael (Joel Torre) prior to his hanging
by the American troops

Overall, the film comes off as pretty historically accurate. There are references to the "zone of protection" policies as Compton and his men construct barbed wire lines around the village to keep the people in and the revolutionaries out. There is also references to the "water cure" treatment of Filipino prisoners as Rafael will be tortured in this way later in the film in an attempt by Hardacre to find the location of his brother's camp. However, Sayles tries to pack too much history into one movie and the film starts to get a little draggy by the end.

Overall, it is a worthwhile watch and an interesting protrayal of a period in American history that doesn't get a lot of notice.

[To see the trailer for the film, click below]