I was shown this movie in class during high school. It struck me then as well- intentioned but rather spineless, and new information released about the 1980 murder of four churchwomen during the ensuing years have only confirmed that impression.
The three nuns and the lay worker were only four of the tens of thousands that ultimately perished during El Salvador's 12-year civil conflict. They were repeatedly raped then murdered by Salvadoran soldiers, and the ensuing evasions and cover-up by both San Salvador and Washington were justified (and continues to be by many) in the name of holding the line against Communism. Evidence collected after the signing of the 1992 peace treaty has revealed that the killing of the women was not a matter of rogue soldiers on a rampage as the two governments long insisted, but was ordered by the Salvadoran military.
However, because the political backdrop is not well-drawn in this film, the viewer is likely to come away with any number of wrong impressions. In fact, an earlier user review of this film states that the women were killed for being Americans. This of course is utterly inaccurate. El Salvador's ruling junta was enjoying massive aid packages, not to mention weapons and military training, from the U.S.
The women were killed because they were associated with the Catholic liberation theology exemplified by Archbishop Oscar Romero (in fact, the lay worker Jean Donovan served as one of his pallbearers). By 1980, the Salvadoran military was increasingly enamoured of the idea that every poor, rural civilian was a potential guerrilla, and should simply be "cleaned up". While most religious activists like Romero and Jean Donovan made it clear that they also condemned violence by left-wing guerrillas, their vocal and material support for civilians caught in the crossfire made them military targets in the eyes of the junta.
"Choices of the Heart" claims to portray actual events, and as such, has certain responsibilities. In shying away from placing the murders within the context of the catastrophic Carter-Reagan policy in El Salvador, the film fails miserably in these responsibilities. The lives of these women cannot be honored unless we are willing to take a hard, honest look at why they died.
