This movie grapples with some serious issues.  What, exactly is going on politically in South America?  Where does individual responsibility lie? What does helping people really mean?  What kind of legacy is it possible to leave?  The setting of this movie is an unnamed country in South America. The writer/director, John Sayles, did this on purpose.  This is to show that the kind of thing depicted in the movie could happen anywhere.  However, it was shot in Mexico, in Spanish, with English subtitles.