Lent Reviews Year 6 Week 2: Romero (1989)

     Romero was released on August 25th, 1989. It is directed by John Duigan and written by John Sacret Young (The West Wing). It tells the story of Bishop (now saint) Oscar Romero (played by Raúl Juliá), who was killed for speaking out against the violent repression in San Salvador in 1980.

     The focus of the film is on Romero's transformation from a conservative priest, liked by the establishment in San Salvador, into a radical opponent of the military junta that ran the country. When he is first made Archbishop he declares, "We in the Church, must keep to the centre, watchfully in the traditional way but seeking justice." The assassination of his friend and fellow priest Father Rutilio Grande (Richard Jordan), along with three innocent civilians traveling with him, moves the Archbishop to begin taking a more radical position. There's a great scene where he turns away from the dead bodies in horror, and then turns around and takes courage, announcing that the only mass that coming Sunday will be celebrated in the Cathedral and it be a funeral mass for the three victims.

     Nevertheless, he continues to oppose both the right-wing government and the Marxist revolutionaries trying to overthrow it. He's greatly disturbed by some of the priests in his diocese who have taken up arms and joined the resistance. In a heated moment he confronts one of them, telling him that he has abandoned his call. When this priest replies that he is defending his people, Bishop Romero exclaims, "You're not defending, you're attacking!" Yet he himself often feels powerless as he often has to stand by while his people are killed.

     Ultimately he stands firm in his message of peaceful liberation and suffering in union with Christ. Despite what many of the Jewish people, including his disciples, expected, Christ did not come to bring earthly liberation, but spiritual liberation from sin and death. He didn't preach rebellion against the Romans but love for one's enemies. Romero echoes this in his speech, broadcast to the nation, after Father Rutilio Grande is killed, "What Father Grande preached was a liberation rooted in faith. And because it is so often misunderstood for it Father Rutilio Grande died. Who knows? Perhaps the murderers are listening to these words. So, we want to tell you murderers, brethren that we love you and that we ask, for repentance in your hearts."

     Like Christ, he continually gives brave witness to the faith. In one scene he goes to retrieve the Eucharist from a church that the military has seized for use as a barracks. When confronted by a brutal sergeant, who fires his weapon at the tabernacle to scare him off, he initially leaves, but then he returns, fully vested, and leads the people into the church for Mass. Earlier on, he meets with the communist guerrillas to plead for the lives of government officials who have been taken hostage, unfortunately, his pleas fall on death ears and they are killed. Also like Christ, he is ultimately killed for his message of liberation, shot down while saying mass.

     Geoff Burton's stark cinematography and naturalistic lighting suits the film well and it's edited with real panache by Frans Vanderburg. Gabriel Yared's sparingly used score is a bit of a mess, sometimes feeling cheery in very dark, dramatic scenes and at others being over-the-top and bombastic. The acting is solid all around with Raúl Juliá giving, perhaps, the performance of his career as Romero. The supporting characters are a little thin but the actors do the best they have with the material they are given. Richard Jordan is especially good as the charismatic Father Rutilio, whose death is so instrumental in setting off the events of the film.

     In the end, Romero is a sobering look at an embattled church in a poor, undeveloped country. Today, San Salvador is run by the Marxist revolutionaries who opposed the government that Oscar Romero spoke out so strongly against. This is after more then twenty years of increasing violent oppression from that government (the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front or FMLN). Despite efforts at reform, violence in San Salvador continues as a result of increasing crime, with death squads reportedly formed to put a stop to it. With this in mind the words of Saint Oscar Romero, which close the film, see especially fitting,"If they kill me, I shall rise in the Salvadoran people ... A Bishop will die but the Church of God which is the people will never perish."

Score: 8/10