The 20'th century history of Central and South America can be compressed into the film "Romero". I'm not going to comment on why this part of the world has been so long plagued by such violence and repression; that's up to sociologists. Although things as they stand in 2007 are no where near as bad as they have been, there are still completely wild areas in the America's (parts of Columbia are in anarchy with rebel groups still fighting a very long war). Central America saw some of the most brutal and repressive civil wars and regimes. Guatamala and El Salvador saw exceptionally horrible levels of death and destruction. El Salvador, which this film depicts, was in the throes of yet another wave of civil disorder, pitting the large and very poor underclass against the small numbers of privileged upper class with predictable results. The army was used as a brutal and murderous machine, acting out the dark ideas of the right wing. The US aided the right wing because US foreign policy blindly labeled all rebellious groups in the America's as "Communist" insurgents and worked overtime to eliminate them. That's the backdrop to this film.The murder of Archbishop Romero was but the beginning of a ten year civil war that saw over 50,000 deaths in El Salvador. The film is hard on the nerves to watch as all depictions of depravity and death are. The actors have put their best into this important film. Two of them are sadly no longer with us: Richard Jordan and Raul Julia. Jordan shone in this film (and even more in one of my favorites - Gettysburg). Julia probably gives his most memorable performance. He is by turns shy, sedate, stirred, outraged, shocked and broken down. His depiction shadows that of the real Romero and one gets a sense that Julia had more than enough raw material to work with and that the script and storyline would support strong acting. In short, by the tragic end, we are emotionally drained and very upset, as we should be. If there is ever to be justice in this world, and it's a big "if", then we can start by demanding that perpetrators of violence are dealt with appropriately and not allowed sanctuary and support. Of course the chances of this happening while you live in a client state of the US is slim. A sad, wrenching depiction of both Romero's short career as Archbishop and of the black hole that overcame El Salvadore. As grim as they come but important to watch and take note of.

Romero is easily one of the best films made in the 1980's. The film is astounding. It is in fact very depressing, but shows the cruel and unusual ways of the San Salvadorian government in the 1970's. The film is violent and sometimes disturbing. I showed this film to my freshman classes at school, and they were somewhat disturbed. The main reason this film is so good, is Raul Julia's performance. His role as Oscar Romero really gave light to the film, and also impressed many of my students. His assassination scene is handled very well. Great Film. You must see this wonderful adaptation of you are to get the truth of what happened in Oscar Romero's life. Rated PG-13 for Strong Violence, Language, and some Sexual References.

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.

Wow, I saw this only a year ago, and it still affects me. This is one of the films where it grabbed my attention and made me see reality in other countries. Central America is one scary place. Because of the film's impact on me, it has made me join Amnesty International. Great film, disturbing, but truly amazing..... 9/10