The film flashes back and forth between the 1970s and 1980s and centers on the relationship between Fielding Pierce, a young Coast Guard officer with political ambitions, and idealistic Roman Catholic Sarah Williams, who is drawn to programs designed to better the lives of the underprivileged and has mixed feelings about his career goals.In the opening scene, Fielding sees a television news program reporting Sarah's death in a Minneapolis car bombing following a church-organized excursion to Chile to feed the poor and organize resistance to the oppressive Pinochet dictatorship. He never quite recovers from the news, and he finds himself increasingly haunted by the past, in which the couple were as romantically close as they were politically apart, divided by his desire to work within the system and her conviction that the system is the root of all evil. His obsession with Sarah slowly puts his career, forthcoming marriage, and sanity in jeopardy.The question of whether or not Sarah actually was killed remains unresolved as Fielding's sister Caroline reports having seen her on the street some years later and Fielding himself supposedly meets her after being elected to the United States Congress, only to wonder afterwards if she merely was a hallucination.
Question: Was the bomb that killed Sarah in a building or in a car?, Answer: in a car Question: Does Fielding ever fully recover from the news of Sarah's death?, Answer: no Question: What does Fielding think of Sarah after meeting her?, Answer: That she was merely a hallucination Question: Where did Caroline report seeing Sarah?, Answer: On the Street Question: What country did Sarah go to on a church-organized excursion?, Answer: Chile Question: In what city did Sarah die?, Answer: Minneapolis Question: Did Fielding and Sarah have political differences?, Answer: yes Question: What kind of program does Fielding see in the opening scene?, Answer: a television news program Question: How long after her "death" did Caroline spot Sarah?, Answer: Some years Question: What is Fielding's sisters name?, Answer: Caroline Question: Has Sarah been killed?, Answer: It is unresolved Question: What office was Fielding elected to?, Answer: United States Congress