The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)

Director:

Peter Weir

Writers:

C.J. Koch (novel)
C.J. Koch (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 January 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

A Love Caught In The Fire Of Revolution

Plot:

A young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.

Plot Keywords:

President | Photographer | Political | Diplomat | Foreign Correspondent

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	Guy Hamilton
Sigourney Weaver	...	Jill Bryant
Linda Hunt	...	Billy Kwan
Michael Murphy	...	Pete Curtis
Bill Kerr	...	Colonel Henderson
Noel Ferrier	...	Wally O'Sullivan
Bembol Roco	...	Kumar
Paul Sonkkila	...	Kevin Condon
Ali Nur	...	Ali
Dominador Robridillo	...	Betjak Man
Joel Agona	...	Palace Guard
Mike Emperio	...	Sukarno
Bernardo Nacilla	...	Dwarf
Domingo Landicho	...	Hortono
Hermino De Guzman	...	Immigration Officer

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English | Tagalog | Filipino | Indonesian

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Iceland:16 | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Artransa Park Film Studios, Mobbs Lane, Epping, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

McElroy & McElroy

Trivia:

Linda Hunt is the only actress ever to win an academy award playing a man, no cross dressing or gender confusion involved. Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry (1999)) received the award for playing a biological female who identifies as a man. Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love (1998)) received one for playing a woman who was pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The song by Richard Strauss is incorrectly listed in the end credits. It's "Beim Schlafengehen" and not "September."

Quotes:

Guy Hamilton: It's not just A story, it's THE bloody story - can't you understand that?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Between Two Worlds: The Making of 'Witness' (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Beim Schlafengehen

Despite some weaknesses, a strong movie

Peter Weir's movie, set in Sukarno's Indonesia in 1965, can be seen as four films in one. The first is socio-political, focusing on the plight of the impoverished Indonesian people, the impending insurrection by the communist movement, and the bloody, chaotic aftermath of the coup. The second, coloured in Graham Greene-ish tones, has a cast of western journalists and diplomats failing to make sense of what's happening around them, and falling back on sex, drink and cynicism. The third - and most important in commercial-cinema terms - is a convincingly acted romance between rookie foreign correspondent Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) and British diplomat Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver), culminating in an unlikely and sentimental ending to the film.

But it is the fourth of these "sub-movies" which is the most intriguing; this concerns the diminutive and enigmatic Australian/Chinese photographer Billy Kwan, an astonishing - and Oscar winning - portrayal by actress Linda Hunt. Billy sees himself as a puppet-master, pulling the strings of friends and colleagues, particularly of Jill and Guy, whom he throws together. But his need to take control also motivates him to help local people, not through indirect and political means, but directly like an early Christian, and this apparently benign course leads to tragedy. Billy is the true heart and conscience of this film.

Weir is not entirely successful in weaving these strands together, and leaves a few gaps in both plot and characterisation. He is also occasionally guilty of melodrama (a fault which, in the movie, Jill warns Guy about), especially in the film's closing scenes - though certainly not where he shows communist sympathisers being shot, which is factual. On the whole, however, the movie works on both commercial and artistic levels, and should be seen.