Sayles was especially saddened, because the time he spent there put a very human face on a situation most Americans see as an alien issue. Sayles regrets the shallowness of the U.S. media coverage. They've been building bridges and taking over more and more of the place. This desire to reveal as many layers of truth as possible is hardly surprising from a director whose forte is shedding light on cultural myths and ferreting out people's myriad motivations. And in an age where frustrated teachers frequently turn to Hollywood historical fiction to spark discussion of historical fact, Sayles' approach seems to make the most sense.
People redefine history and use stories for their own purposes.
History is fraught with complexities and paradoxes which are very rarely found in historical films. This is one of the reasons why I made this particular film take place in no particular country. I felt like, if I make this El Salvador, if I make this Guatemala, or Bolivia, then I really feel a responsibility to be pretty accurate to the exact politics of that place and time. I wanted to tell a much more general story. There are incidents in this movie that happened in Vietnam.