The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

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 | Foreign Correspondent | Political | Australian

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:

Peter Weir cast Linda Hunt in the role of Billy Kwan after failing to find a male actor who could play the part in the way he wanted.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Billy's still camera is a Nikon F2 Photomic, which was not released until 1971, while the film takes place in 1965.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in This Revolution (2005)

Soundtrack:

Ain't That Lovin' You Baby

One of Weir's best

Saw this excellent film at a small town cinema in 1983. There weren't more than a dozen people in the audience --just more evidence (as if we needed it) that quality doesn't guarantee popularity. It stars Mel Gibson as Guy Hamilton, a journalist in Sukarno's Indonesia who is so naive that he is tempted to break the cardinal rule of reporting and "get involved". Linda Hunt is Billy Kwan, Guy's photographer and cultural interpreter, who finds inspiration in the Gospel of Luke for an ultimately tragic attempt to change the poverty and hopelessness around him. Sigourney Weaver is Jill, who may or may not be a British spy. On another level, the main characters in the film (hero, heroine, servant) parallel one of the seminal tales of Indonesian folklore. Having grown up in the tropics myself, I found the atmosphere of the film consistently authentic. It oozes heat and sweat, along with the uncertainty and quiet menace that's always just beneath the surface when one is a privileged foreigner in a poor country. "Don't take it personally", Billy says to Guy as they walk through a slum, the focus of everyone's abuse. "You're just a symbol of the West to them." "I feel more like a bloody spittoon", Guy replies. Jill doesn't share Guy's budding sense of compassion ("Watch out for the melodrama", she tells him) but she cares about Guy. The flip side of Guy's character is Pete Curtis (Michael Murphy), a grinning, amoral journalist who gets his comeuppance, though he doesn't yet know it, when he announces triumphantly near the end of the film: "I got Saigon!". This is not an action thriller or escapist romance, but something better: a journey to a place where flawed characters face hard choices --stand by and observe, or get involved -- that are no different from what the rest of us have to make.