Men with Guns (Spanish: Hombres armados) is a 1997 American political drama film edited, written and directed by John Sayles, inspired by the 1992 novel The Long Night of White Chickens by Francisco Goldman.

[3] Set in an unnamed Latin American country, it is the story of one man's discovery of what actually happened in the political history of his nation as well as his students.

He taught a group of seven - he views this as one of his greatest accomplishments - that trains young people to provide health care to impoverished citizens in the outlying hill country, where small agricultural communities struggle to survive.

On his journey he accumulates a few travelling companions: Padre Portillo, a fallen priest who has lost his faith; Domingo, a deserter from the Army without a country; Conejo, an orphan who survives by stealing; and Graciela, a woman who has turned mute after she was raped by the military.

He ends up travelling into the hill country, looking for his last student, who is rumored to be living in an Edenic village high in the mountains, safe from the violence which has engulfed the countryside.

The actors are said to be speaking in four dialects, and there's nothing about the film, other than the ill-conceived couple (Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody) used as comic relief, to give away its American origin.

"[10] Andrew Johnston wrote in Time Out New York, "The title of John Sayles's latest film suggests a Tarentinoesque lark, but don't be fooled: There are no wise-cracking hit men to be found here.

The various styles include: cumbias, the Colombian dance music; a brass band; an orquestra, of Mayan culture; Peruvian Susana Baca singing a cappella; El General's funky hip-hop; and Mason Daring's bass marimba and Spanish guitar-driven score.