''Choices of the Heart'' is an American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

based on the lives of the American

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

missionaries

Jean Donovan Jean Marie Donovan (April 10, 1953 – December 2, 1980) was an American lay missionary who was beaten, raped, and murdered along with three fellow missionaries—Ita Ford, Maura Clarke and Dorothy Kazel—by members of the military of El Sal ...

Dorothy Kazel Dorothy Kazel (June 30, 1939 – December 2, 1980), was an American Ursuline religious sister and missionary to El Salvador. On December 2, 1980, she was beaten, raped, and murdered along with three fellow missionaries – Maryknoll Sister ...

Maura Clarke Maura Clarke (January 13, 1931 – December 2, 1980), was an American Catholic Maryknoll sister who served as a missionary in Nicaragua and El Salvador. She worked with the poor and refugees in Central America from 1959 until her murder in 1980 ...

, and

Ita Ford Sister Ita Ford, M.M. (April 23, 1940 – December 2, 1980) was an American Catholic Maryknoll Sister who served as a missionary in Bolivia, Chile and El Salvador. She worked with the poor and war refugees. On December 2, 1980, she was beaten, r ...

, all of whom were murdered in El Salvador in 1980 during the

Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Ma ...

.1984 Humanitas Prize notation on film's IMDB page
/ref>John J. O'Conno

/ref> The story primarily focuses on Donovan, played by

Melissa Gilbert Melissa Ellen Gilbert (born May 8, 1963) is an American actress, television director, producer, politician, and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. Gilbert began her career as a child actress in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous co ...

. The film also depicts the assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, which occurred shortly before the women were killed.

Plot

As the film opens, Jean Donovan and Sister Dorothy Kazel meet Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford at the El Salvador airport, and the four pile into a van driven by Jean for the trip back to the mission where Jean and Dorothy live and work. Shortly after leaving the airport, the van is stopped by a group of armed soldiers. The women then go missing and the US Ambassador to El Salvador, Robert White, searches for them, eventually finding their bodies in a shallow grave. White's search for the women and then for answers about what happened to them is interspersed with flashbacks of Jean's life. In college, Jean drinks and parties with her friends during a study abroad year in Dublin, until she is contacted by Father Phelan, a Catholic priest seeking help with his ministry to the local poor. Self-centered and initially uninterested, Jean slowly becomes drawn to helping those in need. Back in the US, Jean lands a high-paying job with a business consulting firm, allowing her to spend freely on expensive toys such as a new car and a motorcycle, but she soon feels dissatisfied with her hedonistic lifestyle. Although she has begun a serious relationship with medical student Doug Cable, she applies for a Catholic lay missionary program and is sent to El Salvador, where she works with Sister Dorothy Kazel to help the local poor. Jean's assertive manner in standing up against injustice soon draws negative attention from the Salvadoran military, who run the area (with the support of the US government) and harass and intimidate the residents. A mutual romantic attraction develops between Jean and Armando, a local youth who is preparing for the Catholic priesthood. Armando sneaks over to Jean's house in the middle of the night, but Jean, realizing their feelings for each other are wrong, sends him away, only to have him be shot dead by soldiers as he is leaving. The charismatic Archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, who is loved and admired by the people, is also assassinated by the military for speaking out against their oppressive and violent regime. Despite Jean's grief and the obvious danger, plus a threat from Doug that he will end their relationship if Jean doesn't come home to the US, Jean cannot bring herself to leave El Salvador, especially when she thinks of the Salvadoran children she has grown to love. Jean's refusal to leave eventually results in a military death squad raping, torturing, and killing her along with the three religious sisters she was driving to the mission house. Ambassador White's attempt to get justice for Jean and her companions is frustrated by lack of cooperation from both the Salvadoran and US governments.

Background

The film is based on actual events. On December 2, 1980, a few months after the March assassination of Archbishop Romero, the three

religious sisters A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pra ...

Maura Clark, Ita Ford and Dorothy Kazel, and the lay Catholic

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Jean Donovan, were raped, tortured, and murdered by a Salvadoran death squad, possibly funded by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The sisters had dedicated years of their lives to working with refugees and the poor in El Salvador and elsewhere. Lay missionary Jean Donovan had been in El Salvador for over two years helping the poor, especially children, and repeatedly expressed in her letters to her family in the U.S. that God brought her to El Salvador.InterReligious Task Force on Central America: "Martyrs of Central America & Colombia"
Attempts were made by the Salvadoran and American governments to try to

cover up A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to :wikt:conceal, conceal evidence of wrongdoing, error, incompetence, or other embarrassment, embarrassing information. Research has distinguished personal cover-ups (covering up one's own ...

the murders.

Production

The production was filmed mostly in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Mike Farrell Michael Joseph Farrell Jr. (born February 6, 1939) is an American actor, best known for his role as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on the television series ''M*A*S*H'' (1975–83). Farrell was a producer of ''Patch Adams'' (1998) starring Robin Willi ...

plays Robert C. White, then U.S. President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

's Ambassador to El Salvador, who keeps running into official interference and noncooperation in his investigation concerning the murdered women.

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

appears as Matt Phelan, a

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

priest whom Donovan meets while spending her junior college year in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Cast

Peter Horton Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

- Doug (Douglas Cable) * Helen Hunt - Cathy *

Mary McCusker Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

- Sister

Mari Gorman Mari Gorman is an American actress perhaps best known for her work in television, particularly as a frequent guest star on the 1970s and 1980s sitcom ''Barney Miller'', but she is also known for her theater acting. She has won several acting awar ...

- Sister

Pamela Bellwood Pamela Bellwood (born Pamela King) is an American actress known for her role as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera, ''Dynasty''. Life and career Bellwood became interested in an acting career when she portrayed Emi ...

- Sister

* Patrick Cassidy - Patrick *

René Enríquez René Enríquez (November 24, 1933 – March 23, 1990) was a Nicaraguan-born American television actor of the 1970s and 1980s. He is best remembered for his role as Lt. Ray Calletano in the long-running television series ''Hill Street Blues'' (1 ...

- Archbishop Romero *

- Ambassador Robert E. White *

- Father Phelan *

Demián Bichir Demián Bichir Nájera (; born 1 August 1963) is a Mexican actor. After starring in telenovelas, he began to appear in Hollywood films. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in '' A Better Life''. Personal life Bic ...

- Armando *

Enrique Lucero Enrique Lucero (October 9, 1920 – May 9, 1989) was a Mexican-American film actor. He was known for such films as '' Macario'' (1960) and ''Two Mules for Sister Sara'' (1970). He also played the role of the "Indian Chief" in '' Buck and the Prea ...

- Colonel Rojas * Delores Devine - Gwen * George Belanger - Father Rich

References

External links

* *John J. O'Conno
New York Times, December 5 1983: "TV: DRAMA OF CHURCHWOMEN SLAIN IN EL SALVADOR"
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071206202302/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/124457/Choices-of-the-Heart/overview movies.nytimes.com: review summary and movie detailsbr>movies.msn.com: Choices of the Heart: overview, cast, synopsis, and ratingsvideoeta.com: cast verificationhollywood.com: synopsis, cast, and production informationallmovie.com: film information and plot synopsisspout.com: film synopsis and reviews
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080705140539/http://www.irtfcleveland.org/Churchwomen_Biographies.htm InterReligious Task Force on Central America: "Martyrs of Central America & Colombia"br>thebiographychannel.co.uk: biography of Martin Sheen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choices Of The Heart 1983 television films 1983 films 1983 drama films Films directed by Joseph Sargent NBC network original films Films about activists Films about Catholic nuns Films about the Salvadoran Civil War 1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador Cultural depictions of Óscar Romero American drama television films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films